...actions determine their future. This is the case for the protagonists in both Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Sophocles’ Oedipus The King. Macbeth was given a prophecy that he would become King of Scotland, yet with his power-hungry nature, took it upon himself to speed up the process. Oedipus, similarly, was given a prophecy which read that he would kill his father and his mother, which his hubris allowed him to disavow and try to prove wrong. Their actions...
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...n Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King. Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported. The Greeks believed in the idea that personality of the individual greatly affected his or her life (Nagle 120). Their personality was what decides their own free will. A wise man will make good decisions in his life; an ignorant and stubborn man won't be so fortunate. The character traits of a person have a certain positive or negative affect on the choices that he or she makes. For Oedipus, one of these attributes was the desire for knowledge and truth about his own existence. This driving force in the play led to the truth of his origin. This ties in with his own aspect of free will. His free will is based on his drive for knowledge. Throughout the entire play, Oedipus pushes Tiresias, Creon, Jocasta, the oracle, the messenger, and the shepherd for information regarding his beginnings. Each one of these characters in some way or form refused to give him a thorough answer...
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...Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his identity...
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...1220 Date: 18 December 2008 Name: Marc Krishke Instructor’s Name: Professor Karen Richie Course: English 1220 Date: 12/10/08 Title: Oedipus the King: A Story of Fate Thesis: “Oedipus the King” by is generally a story about fate as it deals with its unalterable nature and the consequences that come with the attempt to change it. I. Fate and its Characteristics A. Characteristics of Fate 1. Fate as controlled by external force 2. Insignificance of man in relation to fate B. Fate according to Sophocles 1. Determined nature of fate 2. Freedom of man as manifested through his attitude towards destiny II. Oedipus A. His destiny as determined before his birth 1. The attempt of King Laius and Queen Jocasta to alter his fate 2. The futility of such attempt B. Oedipus’ lack of knowledge as instrumental in determining his fate C. Oedipus’ negative attitude towards his destiny D. Man’s attitude as uncontrolled by fate but possesses the power to influence 1. The role of arrogance and self-confidence in the fulfillment of the prophecy 2. Arrogance as a result of experience 3. Self-confidence as contributed by the people of Thebes 4. Arrogance and self-confidence as his response against fate III. Fate according to Epictetus A. Fate must not be feared and wanted B. Fate must be accepted with grace and...
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...temptations of mankind and their rise to glory and honour, which can ultimately lead to their demise. Through the three plays Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Hippolytus by Euripides, there are three prevalent themes. These are the role of the gods, the difference between good and evil and human responsibilities. All three of these tragedies reveal the importance of the role the gods play to mankind. The gods have control over mankind and sometimes use them as pawns to achieve their ambitions; the gods also ensure that each individual’s fate is secured. The tragedies also reveal to the audience the difference between good and evil; quite often the individual’s good intentions are misconstrued and in turn cause them to do evil. Another common theme in the tragedies is the responsibility of humanity; although often tempted or controlled by the gods individuals need to learn to control their emotions and take responsibility for their own actions. The role the gods play is an essential part of the Greek tragedies and without them the stories would be drastically different. The role of the gods is to watch over the people and ensure that they fulfill their destiny. In the ancient times, they believed that each person’s life was determined by destiny or fate, which they could not escape; no matter what a person does to avoid their fate, the gods made sure that their destiny was fulfilled. An individual’s destiny is planned and organized, and it is the role of Zeus...
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...Greeks knowledge was such an important aspect of life they had a divinity symbolize it. Apollo was the god of knowledge and medicine, in many Greek myths the quest for knowledge, or attaining too much knowledge altogether was a common source of tragedy. Ancient Greek cultures believed that even if mortals had the knowledge they sought, once they acquired it they did not know what to do with it. There are many examples in Greek myth that plainly show how knowledge eventually leads to tragedy. For instance, Oedipus’ search for knowledge of the king’s murderer ends up becoming his demise and the major source of pain in his life. Oedipus needed to find out why Thebes was suffering from a plague, so he sent Creon to the temple of Delphi to ask Apollo what he could do to life the plague from his people. As the oracle of Apollo Tiresias goes to Thebes and tells him that the person responsible for the death of the prior king, king Laius was living amongst them, and the plague would only be lifted once they found the murderer. In the quest for the knowledge that would save his people, King Oedipus summoned the messenger that was given the task of killing the newborn son of King Laius (in an attempt to escape the prophesy that would kill his father and wed his mother). Oedipus was angered by the messenger’s reluctance to answer his questions about the death of King Laius and threatened to kill him if he did not speak. Even though the messenger fearfully warns him that if Oedipus is who he thinks...
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...Tragic Hero Chase Cummins In the plays of Sophocles Creon was a powerful king and Antigone was noble and was firm in her beliefs. Antigone and Creon both played major roles throughout the play of Antigone. The play taught us new concepts, such as the concept of the tragic hero. The tragic hero is someone who has many positive attributes, but also has one grave flaw, which causes their life to end in a sad, yet heroic tragedy. Antigone fits the role of the tragic hero because Creon lacks the qualities of a heroic. Antigone is a tragic hero due to her courageous acts and flaws. In the play of Antigone, Antigone was very courageous. Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and the fiancé of Haemon, who was the son of Creon. She takes up a noble cause when she goes against Creon’s orders...
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...no one is to touch Polyneices body because he was a traitor. Antigone wants to honor the Greek gods’ while giving her brother a proper burial. She is telling her sister Ismene “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holly: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me’’ (i.57-60). Antigone wants to bury her brother even if it means being executed for disobeying Creon’s orders. Antigone shows stubbornness when she rejects Ismene advice and chooses to listen to her own convictions. Ismene is telling Antigone “Think how much more terrible than these. Our own death would be if we should go against Creon. And do what he has forbidden! We are only women, we cannot fight with men, Antigone’’(i.44-47)! Antigone responded with “If that is what you think, I should not want you, even if you asked to come. You have made your choice, you can be what you want to be’’(i.53-55). Antigone completely rejects Ismene advice and stated that she will bury Polyneices by herself since the laws of god mean nothing to...
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...widely differing concepts. Antigone, the cursed daughter of Oedipus and the mourning sister of Polyneices and Ismene, continues to collide with the King Creon for what she believes to be the right thing to do. Antigone is desperate to give her brother the rightful burial that she believes he deserves, while Creon is determined to uphold his laws and traditions to keep order with the values that he holds so dearly. Throughout the course of the play, the reader is stricken with the decision and dissolution of what is ultimately the “right” thing to...
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...King Solomon was a scholar and intellectual who knew the importance of discernment and wisdom in governing the people of Israel. He knew that it was important enough to ask God to grant him this wisdom rather than health, wealth or prosperity. The granted wisdom would ultimately lead to his downfall from God’s grace. Solomon, born to David at the height of his reign, never knew simplicity, David had erred once in fidelity, resulting in marriage to Solomon’s mother; Solomon erred many times over by marrying hundreds of pagan wives. Any service Solomon did perform for his people was more self-centered than other-centered. Living a lifestyle so far outside of God’s protective ideals resulted in a growing love for self, rather than for God. Solomon differed greatly from David, even early on, in his seeming lack of the passionate love for God that David possessed. His choices did nothing to kindle a growing love for the God he honored (Foster, 2005, 492). This paper will discuss how Solomon’s request for wisdom is an example of dramatic irony on the part of the Kings historian. This will be accomplished by defining what dramatic irony is and then examining Solomon’s character and the early years of his reign as king of Israel. The wisdom that he requested led to choices that he made in his personal and professional life that ultimately derailed the leadership qualities in his monarchy and his relationship with God. The lifestyle choices that Solomon made, led to his apostasy later...
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...absolve himself from the guilt of killing his sister. He has to bear the brunt of his grandfather’s and mother’s cruelty .He considers himself responsible for his sister’s death. In this play Dattani plays with the idea of female infanticide that is prevalent among the Gujratis and also suggests Patel`s hegemonic patriarchy when he insists that proper division in the gender roles be made Tara gives us a glimpse into the modern society which claims to be liberal and advanced in its thought and action. In a society which claims that its mothers are educated today and have `Devis` like Durga, Kali, Saraswati , Lakshmi etc whom not only women but men also pay obeisance , differentiate between a male child and a female child. All the propagandas of equality between male and female, equal opportunities to women in all the fields are belied. Dattani’s deep preoccupation with gender issues leads to the emergence of the idea of the twin side to one`s self –quite literally embodied in one body and the separation that follows Mahesh Dattani mentioned in one of his interviews with Lakshmi Subramanyam: ``I see Tara as a play about the male self and female self. The male self is being preferred in all cultures .The play is about the separation of self and the resultant angst` Erin Mee writes in the note of the play,``Tara centres on the emotional separation that grows between two conjoined twins following the discovery that their physical separation was manipulated by their mother and...
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...Home > Why Hamlet Delays His Revenge Why Hamlet Delays His Revenge (Excerpt from Quintessence of Dust: The Mystical Meaning of Hamlet) Kenneth Chan ... Hamlet is finally alone, and the stage is set for the soliloquy that gave rise to one of the most persistent mysteries in literature: Why does Hamlet delay his revenge? Hamlet Ay, so, God buy you. Now I am alone. Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his whole conceit1 That from her working all his visage wanned, Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, A broken voice, and his whole function suiting With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing! For Hecuba! What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty and appal the free,2 Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled3 rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams,4 unpregnant5 of my cause, And can say nothing--no, not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward? Who calls me a villain, breaks my pate across, Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face, Tweaks me by the nose, gives me the lie i'th'throat As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha, 'swounds, I should take...
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...Tradition And Modernity In the instinctive mode of western scholars, I had once thought of Tradition and Modernity as individual chapters, each of them thinking about its topic as an entity to be understood in its respective essence and unity. But I have come to understand in perhaps an equally perennial move by western students of Indian culture that these two terms do not in themselves exist. But they do function, dialogically. They work in relation with each other. Modernity functions as an economic and social tool to achieve some wealth, flexibility, and innovation for individuals and groups; Tradition functions, partly and at times largely, as a mythological state which produces the sensation of larger connectedness and stability in the face of shockingly massive social change over the last half-century. One might also say that Modernity is an economic force with social, cultural, and political correlatives; Tradition is a cultural force with social, economic, and political correlatives. Satisfyingly asymmetrical in their relation, they require us, in talking of one, to talk also of the other, just as they induce us to move as nimbly as possible between theoretical abstraction and experiential reality. But their separation is itself part of the mythological drama in current Indian thought, just as their mutual implication is the import of the same ironic smile that brings to an effective close any conversation one hears here about them. And so we take them in turn only...
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...LACAN AND CONTEMPORARY FILM EDITED BY TODD McGOWAN and SHEILA KUNKLE OTHER Other Press New York Copyright © 2004 Todd McGowan and Sheila Kunkle Production Editor: Robert D. Hack This book was set in 11 pt. Berkeley by Alpha Graphics, Pittsfield, N.H. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Allrightsreserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. For information write to Other Press LLC, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1807, New York, NY 10001. Or visit our website: www.otherpress.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGowan, Todd. Lacan and contemporary film / by Todd McGowan & Sheila Kunkle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-59051-084-4 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures-Psychological aspects. 2. Psychoanalysis and motion pictures. 3. Lacan, Jacques, 1901- I. Kunkle, Sheila. II. Title. PN1995 .M379 2004 791.43'01 '9-dc22 2003020952 Contributors Paul Eisenstein teaches literature and film in the English department at Otterbein College, Columbus, Ohio, and is the author of Traumatic Encounters: Holocaust Representation and the Hegelian Subject (SUNY Press, 2003). Anna Kornbluh...
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...Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? - 81 'Landmarks' in postmodernism: Habermas, Lyotard and Baudrillard - 85 Stop and think - 90 What postmodernist critics do - 91 Postmodernist criticism: an example -...
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