As the truth is finally been revealed and the guilt of killing his own father and marrying his mother, Oedipus has fallen into shame and have lost all pride. His arrogance and hubris drove him into blindness, literally in the end, that he was unable to see the truth of everything. However, the curse of the land was unknown until the prophet, Tiresias, targeted Oedipus as the murderer and the curse of himself. (1)He was quite explicit in revealing that Oedipus is the one who was responsible, but it was surely not Oedipus's fault. The play was intentionally made that way to show the tragic flaw of the protagonist because he had so much confidence in himself that he did not realize what he was doing. Was Oedipus truly trying to find out who killed Laius or was he just defending his own head?
(3)However, to concur with the interpretation of not knowing the truth and blame his ignorance, Oedipus's natural parents are the one to blame. If they did not listen to the little stupid prophecy then the actual curse wouldn't have afflicted them in the future. (5)Jocasta is quite a woman here, a queen who marries her own son and made brothers and sisters for him as we portray them as Oedipus's children. She does not represent a generalized queen figure, but a woman who possess a mother-like personality. In the play, she tries to calm her husband (her son) down and tells him that prophecies are lies once those prophecies have passed already. However, she is naive in believing this because, according to Greek mythology, the oracles are influenced by the gods who controls the fate of humanity.
(6)One major element that may contribute to the play is dramatic irony. We do know, however, that dramatic irony is when a character of a work of literature does or says something that may be of a great importance that they are limited of knowing it. For example, when Oedipus argues with the blind prophet, Tiresias, he does not know that Tiresias did not call him the murderer or the curse of the land out of anger, but from the truth. This sets a prime example in leading the readers to see the hamartia of Oedipus by the blindness of pride.
(7)The offstage violence or so to speak, the climax of the play, holds a suspenseful part of the story where the readers question why the characters are treating themselves like they do. This will give an advantage for the play to proceed to the falling action of the play as the protagonist is reaching his demise or the end of his power as he recognizes his faults or actions. (8)In blinding himself, Oedipus chooses to disable himself from seeing the world of truth. The use of a golden pin to stab his eye is such a meaning as the pin that pinned his ankles together when he was a baby. Although Oedipus is an arrogant and prideful man who led his own demise, he is not to blame for his actions. According to the prophesy and the doctrine of determinism, the law of nature or the gods were responsible for his actions. Oedipus was doing what he was destined to do by the prophecy and there was no where to hide that fact. (9)So to say, I pity him in the end as he realizes and sees the truth that he cannot hide from and so he chose to blind himself.
(11)The gods in the play seems to portray cruelty and viciousness, however, the citizens and the oracles believe that gods determine the fate of each individual. I believe that believing in gods during that time is absurd because if gods inspire the people who believes in them and curse those who gods believe that they should be cursed, then what's the point in believing them? Wouldn't the process continue on and on and eventually curse yourself then basically, gods are cursing everyone. (12)But to end this perspective, the play does not, at all, end in total gloom. Oedipus, the cursed king, did not die in the end in order to break the curse among the people. He was rather exiled from Thebes and to never return. The people are finally free from the curse and can live under another reign led by Creon, but they will still remember the powerful Oedipus.
No comments:
Post a Comment