...Many people believe irony gives comedic relief; however, irony also conveys the underlying message or theme. Sophocles, the author of Oedipus the King, used three main types of irony to develop the theme: no matter the difficulty of the feat, fate predetermines the outcome. Verbal irony occurs when a character says the opposite of what they mean. Oedipus uses sarcasm in his discussion with the chorus to attack Apollo. The second type of irony, dramatic irony, happens when the audience knows more than the characters. For example, no one but the audience knows that Oedipus killed King Laius. The last type of irony, situational, happens when the characters does the complete opposite of what the audience expects. For instance, the audience expected...
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...Importance of Dramatic Irony in Oedipus the King From the Roman writings of Cicero to the Russian writings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, literature has been growing and stemming from many famous origins. One of the great originators of literature that is seen in our current society is Ancient Greece. Greek literature is famous for its writers, Aristotle, Sophocles, Plato, etc., as well as, various genres of literature, which ranged from comedy to tragedy to drama. There is a combination of one writer and one genre that I will be focusing on in this paper and that is Sophocles and his great tragedy, Oedipus the King. This play, however is not a simple tragedy, it is a branch of theater that we know as dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is defined as the discrepancy between what the characters of a drama know and what the audience knows, what is being said in the play that we know has a different meaning than it has for the characters in the play. This form of theatrical literature is seen over and over again in Oedipus the King. Oedipus sets forth on a mission that is very unknown to him, but very obvious for the audience, thus simplifying the importance of dramatic irony in this play. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ ignorance and the audience’s knowledge work hand-in-hand together to give a greater understanding of dramatic irony. The theatrical play on dramatic irony doesn’t only play a role on the characters, but the audience and the reader as well. Oedipus the King is one of the Three...
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...Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. In this play, he developed dramatic irony to a high level. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows the tragic truth before it disclose to the characters within the story. There are many examples of the irony in this play, which play the key role through the story. The main dramatic irony in this play is that everyone in the audience knows from the beginning of the play that Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother. In this play, Sophocles uses irony to create sense of sadness and agony in the audience. At the very beginning of the play, when Oedipus found out about the previous Thebes' king, Laios, he says, "I learned of him from others; I never saw him.” The very first irony that comes out to the audience is that Oedipus actually saw Laios when he killed him, and the worse feeling that audience experience is how sad it is that a son does not know anything about his father and knows a little from others. Another example of irony in this play comes when Oedipus announces, "Whoever killed King Laios might--who knows?--decide at any moment to kill me as well. By avenging the murdered king I protect myself." The irony is that Oedipus is the King killer, and now he wants to retaliate the king murderer to protect himself from the killer; how is that possible to kill the murderer and protect himself even though they are the same person. In that proclaim, he is very solicitous to find and punish the murderer...
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...Irony Used By Sophocles in Oedipus The King Sophocles’ play Oedipus The King is filled with many situations of Irony from beginning to the end. There is irony in Oedipus’ name itself; also Oedipus’ entire life from birth is set up to be a tragedy spoken by the god’s. In the end of the play there is also irony in the way Oedipus becomes blind, both literally and metaphorically. Another example of irony in this play is the three-way crossroads where Oedipus slain his own father. Oedipus gets his name, as the Corinthian messenger tells us in Oedipus The King, from the fact that he was left in the mountains with his ankles pinned together. Jocasta explains that Laios abandoned him in this state on a barren mountain shortly after he was born. The injury leaves Oedipus with a vivid scar for the rest of his life. Oedipus’s injury symbolizes the way in which fate has marked him and set him apart. It also symbolizes the way his movements have been confined and constrained since birth, by Apollo’s prophecy to Laios. There is irony in the way Sophocles picks this name for Oedipus because it shows how he is marked and doomed for the rest of his life. Another instance of irony in this play is when Jocasta says that “Laios was killed by marauding strangers where three highways meet” (1081). This crossroads is referred to many different times during the play, and it symbolizes the crucial moment, long before the events of the play, when Oedipus began to fulfill the dreadful prophecy that...
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...Why do most teams go for the difficult win when they could go for the easy tie? The thinking that goes on after going for the win and losing is similar to what Oedipus from Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello the Moor must think after they have lost everything they once had even though they didn’t have to. Oedipus the King, born royal, runs away from his prophecy to Thebes, his new land, where he completes what the prophecy had in mind. Othello the Moor, a general, questions his wife, Desdemona, after an evil man manipulates his mind. Though both authors use irony and a tragic hero to move their audiences, Sophocles uses those elements to stress the role of fate, while Shakespeare uses them to demonstrate the importance of personal choice. Both Oedipus and Othello are tragic heroes, and the downfall of each moves the audience. Both heroes are blinded by their emotions. Oedipus was blind to his prophecy that he never realized that he actually married his mother and killed his father. He thought that he could run away from it, and got mad at anyone who suggested that he already reached the destination. For example, when Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is the cause of Thebe’s plague, Oedipus says to him, “Your infantile riddles! Your damned abracadabra!” (Sophocles 24). He is basically getting angry because he believes that Teiresias is threatening his power. Similarly, Othello is blinded by his trust in Iago that he falls for all of his tricks....
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...reading both “Oedipus Rex” and “The Kite Runner” the authors of each employ the device of irony to develop the major themes in both text. Irony is the expression of using one’s meaning by language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for emphatic effect.Throughout each story the irony was used to reveal truth, mood, and lessons. Displayed in the book “The Kite Runner”, many ironic scenes were present. This leads to the reveal of the mood of the story. In the book it states “ You steal a wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father.”(pg18) In this quote Baba tries to give knowledge to his son Amir but the shaded fact about it is that he steals his servants wife and has a son with her. The son that has become from...
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...Honors 9/30/13 Irony in Sight Throughout Sophacles’ play Oedipus Rex, he uses sight and blindness to demonstrate irony and the hubris of Oedipus. This is marked by Oedipus’ unwillingness or inability to understand that which is clear to the audience. His hubris (extreme pride) is his tragic flaw, truly blinding him from the truth. Oedipus eventually blinds himself, and it is then that he can finally “see”. From the very beginning, Oedipus was blinded by pride. Throughout the play, it is the one greatest irony that those with physical sight are blind, yet those who cannot actually see can see the truth. With the city of Thebes dying, Creon, having been sent to do so by Oedipus, comes from Delphi and the Oracle to deliver the message that the "the pollution of this land" (Sophocles 232), the murderer, be killed to bring an end to their strife.. Oedipus shows hubris when he demands Creon talk with him publicly, so convinced is he that he can solve any problem. Oedipus Has already solved the riddle of the Sphinx, that which had thwarted so many before him; "Oedipus knew the famous riddles. He was a mighty king, he was the envy of everyone who say how lucky he'd been. Now he's struck a wave of terrible ruin" (276) The chorus wishes for Oedipus to appeal to the gods to find the killer, Oedipus asserts that "to force the gods to act against their will- no man has the power."(320) Here, at least, he seems to humble himself before at least Apollo. Oedipus calls for Tiresius,...
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...Ironic Tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a drama in which King Oedipus suffers a tragic fate. He leaves his country in order to avoid killing his father and sleeping with his mother (Sophocles 1327). In his attempt to prevent his foretold fate from coming to pass, he unknowingly brings it to fulfillment. After speaking to a shepherd, he realizes that the woman he is married to is his mother and that her former husband, whom he murdered, is his father. Sophocles uses several types of irony in the story of Oedipus’ fate. For instance, verbal irony is used in this drama. Oedipus Rex pronounces a curse on the “criminal” who has murdered King Laius (Sophocles 1314). This is ironic because he “curses the murderer of Laius and it turns out that he has cursed himself” (Knox 1383). Verbal irony is seen also in Oedipus’ conversation with the prophet Teiresias. Oedipus calls Teiresias “sightless,” and Teiresias calls Oedipus “blind” (Sophocles 1317-1318). The irony of this conversation is that Oedipus becomes physically blind when he repeatedly strikes his eyes with golden brooches after seeing his dead wife (1340). Also, the usage of irony of situation is present in Oedipus Rex. Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife and mother, believes that her son is dead (Sophocles 1325). The discrepancy lies in the fact that her son is alive and that her son is Oedipus. Irony of circumstance is seen again in Oedipus believing that the prophesies were a lie because Polybos died (1332). Oedipus’ joy over the news...
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... Extract 4 (Sophocles, Oedipus the King) In Greek Tragedy the medium, as in all forms of poetry is language, to convey a story through an imitation of an action, or as Aristotle defines in S.H. Butcher’s translation of Poetics “Tragedy is a mimesis of a praxis.” (Jones, 2000). This translates to an imitation/ representation of an action. Oedipus the King is structured into five episodes with a prologue to begin, each scene is introduced by the Chorus (the citizens of Thebes) who depict the state of affairs within Thebes. The city is plagued, as a Priest describes to Oedipus “look around you, see with your own eyes- our ship pitches wildly, cannot lift her head from the depths, the red waves of death… Thebes is dying. A blight on the fresh crops and rich pastures, cattle sicken and die, and the women die in labor, children stillborn, and the plague, the fiery god of fever hurls down on the city.” (L 28 – 34) This shows us that Thebes is being punished, and Oedipus, as the King of Thebes is begged by his subjects to put an end to the curse. This shows a good use of dramatic irony, as in fact it was Oedipus who is responsible for the actions of the gods. Oedipus has two conflicts going on within him, the first is that he does not want to kill who he believes is his father, “the man who reared me” (L 916) and the second is he does not want to lay with his mother. These conflicts have followed Oedipus and his father Laius throughout the play, although...
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...Sophocles in Oedipus Rex (represented in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 8th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 2002] 1310) not only uses quite a bit of irony. From the beginning one is faced with the tragedy in the story, the murder of King Laios. Soon we learn that his murderer is in Thebes, and until the murderer is driven out of the town, the terrible plagues will continue haunting Thebes. After hearing the story, Oedipus resolves to solve the mystery himself and says that the murderer will be exiled even if it is a member of his own family. At this point, the reader is faced with irony, which he will better understand later in the story when he finds out that not only was the murderer in Oedipus’s family, but the murderer was indeed Oedipus. Not only does Sophocles use irony, but he also gives the reader the desire to better understand his seeing and blindness elements that are used throughout his drama. Oedipus Rex is filled with many surprises and some upsets but plenty of drama, irony, and entertainment. As one reads, he feels many different emotions, such as confusion, sadness, and then simply anger. Although one may not agree that blinding himself was the best idea, Oedipus’s reasoning behind his action is not quite as complicated if looked at from a simpler point of view. At the end of the story when Oedipus goes into his wife’s bedroom, he finds her hanging from a noose. Oedipus immediately begins to sob and runs to embrace...
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...In his Poetics, Aristotle outlined the ingredients necessary for a good tragedy, and he based his formula on what he considered to be the perfect tragedy, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in itself. A good tragedy will evoke pity and fear in its viewers, causing the viewers to experience a feeling of catharsis. Catharsis, in Greek, means "purgation" or "purification"; running through the gamut of these strong emotions will leave viewers feeling elated, in the same way we often claim that "a good cry" will make one feel better. Aristotle also outlined the characteristics of a good tragic hero. He must be "better than we are," a man who is superior to the average man in some way. In Oedipus's case, he is superior not only because of social standing, but also because he is smart ? he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx's riddle. At the same time, a tragic hero must evoke both pity and fear, and Aristotle claims that the best way to do this is if he is imperfect. A character with a mixture of good and evil is more compelling that a character who is merely good. And Oedipus is definitely not perfect; although a clever man, he is blind to the truth and refuses to believe Teiresias's warnings. Although he is a good father, he unwittingly fathered children in incest. A tragic hero suffers because of his hamartia, a Greek word that is often translated as "tragic flaw"...
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...The audience knows the outcome of the story already, but the hero does not, making his actions seem ignorant or inappropriate in the face of what is to come. Dramatic irony plays an important part in Oedipus the King. Its story revolves around two different attempts to change the course of fate: Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus at birth and Oedipus's flight from Corinth later on. In both cases, an oracle's prophecy comes true regardless of the characters' actions. Jocasta kills her son only to find him restored to life and married to her. Oedipus leaves Corinth only to find that in so doing he has found his real parents and carried out the oracle's words. Both Oedipus and Jocasta prematurely exult over the failure of oracles, only to find that the oracles were right after all. Each time a character tries to avert the future predicted by the oracles, the audience knows their attempt is futile, creating the sense of irony that permeates the play. Another feature of a good tragic story is one in which the protagonist is an intelligent person and a good thinker so he may learn from his mistakes. In his search for the truth, Oedipus shows himself to be a thinker, a man good at unraveling mysteries. This is the same characteristic that brought him to Thebes; he was the only man capable of solving the Sphinx's riddle. His intelligence is what makes him great, yet it is also what makes him...
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...Sign in Google oedipus rex thesis research paper WebImagesVideosNewsShoppingMoreSearch tools About 365,000 results (0.35 seconds) Search Results Free oedipus Essays and Papers - 123HelpMe.com www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=oedipus Free oedipus papers, essays, and research papers. ... Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles - In “Oedipus the King,” an infant's fate is determined that he will kill his father ... Oedipus the King a Story of Fate - Research Papers ... www.termpaperwarehouse.com › English and Literature Feb 8, 2012 - Read this essay on Oedipus the King: a Story of Fate . ... Thesis: “Oedipus the King” by is generally a story about fate as it deals with its ... Oedipus Rex and Blindness Research Papers are Written ... www.papermasters.com › Research Paper Topics Oedipus Rex and Blindness research papers are custom written according to your literature or English 101 research paper requirements. Oedipus the King Research Papers on the play by Sophocles www.papermasters.com › Research Paper Topics In research papers on Oedipus the King by Sophocles, there is the example of the classic tragic hero in the character Oedipus. Often defined in research papers ... Oedipus the King Term Paper Topics - Planet Papers www.planetpapers.com/professional-essays/Oedipus-the-King.aspx Oedipus the King term papers available at Planet Papers.com, the largest free term ... 1000's of FREE Term Papers, Essays, Book Reports & Research Papers. Oedipus Rex Essay - Critical...
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...Sophocles' Oedipus is a perfect fit to Aristotle's Ideal Tragic Hero. Oedipus follows all of the rules, with a hamartia, an anagnorisis, and a peripeteia. The audience is introduced to the hamartia, or tragic flaw, of Oedipus early in the play. Oedipus believes he can dodge the oracle given to him at Delphi that he will kill his father and marry his mother. By leaving the city of Corinth and heading to Thebes, Oedipus thinks that he can outsmart the will that the gods have for him. However, the audience knows that one cannot run away from an oracle. The oracle will come true no matter what is done. Therefore, the hamartia of Oedipus is his belief that he can evade his oracle. Oedipus' anagnorisis, recognition, later comes when he is told that it was he who killed the former King Lauis and that he is, in fact, now married to his own mother. The city of Thebes had been searching for King Lauis' murderer in order to drive him out of Thebes to save the city from the plague. With this anagnorisis Oedipus is finally led to his peripeteia, or downfall. First of all, Oedipus is put to shame in front of his entire city because of his incestuous act of marrying his mother. But, more importantly, he realizes that he had not successfully avoided the oracle. In order to try to save himself he blinds himself. If he is not able to see the truth with his own eyes, he should not be able to enjoy the gift of sight. http://personal.monm.edu/ysample/aristotle.htm Oedipus follows ten of the points...
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...The Greek play called Oedipus Rex is a very interesting and tragic play. It has a main tragic hero. It has dramatic irony which is when the audience know what the characters do not. It has a role of a man that sees into the future called a oracle. In this play there are many turns and flips. In the beginning there was a king who had a baby boy and he was told by an oracle that his son would kill him in the future so out of fear this king stabbed his baby boy in the ankle so he could not walk. He ordered a shepherd to take it and throw it away but, the shepherd gave it away to another king and queen who never had a child of their own. They name him Oedipus and he grew and heard about the prophecy about him killing his father and left so it...
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