Thus, Oedipus' reference to his cursed birth at what is very nearly the end of the play refers back to the very opening lines of the Argument by repeating the image of the prophesied birth, but this time the characters are seeing that image with the Continue Reading...
As a king in ancient Greek literature, Oedipus was required to have a dramatically catastrophic fall, while modern literature needs a tragic hero who is an "everyman." But both suffered greatly in their own ways, and in ways that the audience both e Continue Reading...
Antigone and Oedipus Rex are both tragic plays by Sophocles. In many ways, these plays are similar to one another as tragedies. For one, they are part of the same set of texts by Sophocles. Antigone is the first installment in the series of three pla Continue Reading...
Poetry, Drama, Aristotle, Sophocles's Oedipus To Aristotle, Oedipus the King represented the embodiment of the perfect tragedy and the idealistic representation of a hero. He saw the renown figure of a hero battling mythical creatures transposed int Continue Reading...
Willy Loman's Failures as a Husband, Employee, and Father in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman (1949), depicts the slow disintegration of an ordinary man, a traveling salesman named Willy Loman. Willy is p Continue Reading...
Relationships in a Rose for Emily William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily concerns the life of Emily Grierson, an eccentric recluse who changes from an energetic and hopeful young girl to a secluded and mysterious old woman. Born into a well respected, Continue Reading...
He prided himself on being a king that put the needs of his people above his own, struggling to keep his own feelings under wrap and focus instead on what his people needed. This desire to help the people led him to seek a cure for the plague, which Continue Reading...
This is why he fled his adoptive parents' home, and confidently volunteered to solve the riddle of the Sphinx. Because he believed he had the ability to outwit fate he confidently issued a proclamation to Thebes, telling the suffering citizens he wo Continue Reading...
His failure at both appears to perpetuate each other: his failure as provider translates to his failure as business and family man, and indeed to his failure as American success. In this way, the American Dream is representative of ultimate success. Continue Reading...
How could that be true when that child was left in the woods to die? Oedipus is calmed, but he still sets out to solve the murder-mystery and punish the man who committed regicide. As more details come to the surface, however, Oedipus starts to get Continue Reading...
Tragedy in the Oedipus Trilogy Sophocles is considered to be one of the greatest Greek dramatists, and remains among the most renowned playwrights even today. The Greek tragedy is one of the most influential genres of literary and theatrical history Continue Reading...
He kills his father as he flees his home and marries his mother after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. His end is inevitable, but Sophocles clearly shows the role negative character traits play in Oedipus' tragedy, while Hamlet's supposedly negativ Continue Reading...
Sophocles' Oedipus the King Look up and/or reflect on the meaning of: Tragedy: A tragedy is any event which causes great suffering and stress, such as the death of a loved one or a natural disaster. In the context of Greek literature, tragedy was t Continue Reading...
Faulkner utilizes many techniques in setting up this mystery and one is imagery. The images associated with the house are ones that conjure up visions of death. For example, we read that the house had "a big, squarish frame house that had once been Continue Reading...
..render up myself...Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night...And for the day confined to fast in fires, / Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature/Are burnt and purged away." (I.5). At first, Hamlet believes the ghost is from Purgatory be Continue Reading...
Ismene would later be pardoned, but Antigone's decision to include her sister in the plot denotes further criminality on Antigone's part. In any case, the crime that Antigone commits is relatively minor: she is not harming anyone and is actually fo Continue Reading...
Antigone: A Feminist Heroine or Just a Dutiful Sister? The question of whether Antigone, the title character of the third tragedy within Sophocles' Theban trilogy, is indeed a feminist heroine is a debatable one. Considering the literal definitions Continue Reading...
body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6; } h2 { font-size: 1.2em; } Sophocles, one of the three great tragedians of ancient Greece, authored many plays that have become foundational texts in the study of cl Continue Reading...
In this sense, the time and setting of these two plays are less significant because each of the two addresses universal questions of fate, destiny, free will, and the meaning of life, which are as current today as they were over 2000 years ago, when Continue Reading...
Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Specifically, it will explain how the suffering brought upon others by Oedipus contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole. Oedipus is the classic tragic hero, as he not only adversely affects his own life, Continue Reading...
The fact that most men sublimate this feeling, and instead identify with their father to obtain the maternal figure in the form of another woman, is the reason the Oedipus myth was generated in the first place. Freud's theory was popular not only ' Continue Reading...
Human emotions and values are detached and unreal in this work, as well. Pynchon paints vivid pictures of the characters, but they are all flawed, somehow. Oedipa is married to a disc jockey junkie, Dr. Hilarius is a psycho afraid of Nazi retributi Continue Reading...
Greeks The narrator is coy about whether or not he views Alexander as Great. He makes a lot of jokes about people want to be great and starts off the lecture with a bit about Kim Kardashian -- but it's not really a fair comparison in my estimation. Continue Reading...
For Oedipus to be considered successful, then, he would have had to challenge his own fate and succeed, rather than enact it entirely according to what was set out for him. In Hamlet, on the other hand, the enemy is tangible and human in the form of Continue Reading...
OEDIPUS VS. OTHELLO Oedipus and Othello Oedipus and Othello are both productions where the namesake of the story or play experiences a downfall before the end of the play. Oedipus and Othello each experience a downfall Oedipus was a victim of the Continue Reading...
Laius is responsible for his condition and there is no way for him to escape his fate, even with the fact that he does everything in his power with the purpose of fighting divinity's will. It is difficult and almost impossible to determine whether Continue Reading...
Antigone: A clash of state and personal values Sophocles' drama Antigone unfolds the tale of the tragic daughter of Oedipus Rex. At the beginning of the play Antigone is the bereft sister of two dead brothers who died fighting in the Theban civil wa Continue Reading...
Iago notices this flaw at once and plots to exploit it almost immediately. This is evident when he tells Roderigo: The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th' nose As a Continue Reading...
He is hurting from being blame for this crime, however in Antigone, he falsely accuses people. He becomes heartless between both stories due to the personal experience he went through, which made him a different character in each one. King Creon de Continue Reading...
Death in Everyman The concept of death is a very complicated and often morose subject when it is covered and analyzed through the interpretations and scenarios depicted in a play, let alone a play as prominent and chilling as Everyman. However, ther Continue Reading...
" King Claudius says this about the title character of "Hamlet." He says this to Laertes, to explain why he has not physically punished Hamlet yet, for the killing of Laertes' father Polonius. Thus, the two must conspire to punish Hamlet via a duel Continue Reading...
This is a major departure from the Creon seen in Oedipus Rex and reflects his changed role. In addition, he sees changing one's mind as a weakness, "womanish," an undesireable trait in a king. Once he's made a decision he feels he must stick by it e Continue Reading...
Their prophecies completely shape the life of Oedipus. It was the oracle who informed Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother. This prophecy led him to abandon Corinth for fear of killing his father and marrying his mother. When he Continue Reading...
Fighting Against Destiny Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy in which Oedipus and Thebes are punished for the sins committed by Oedipus' father, Laius. Written by Sophocles and first performed in 429 BCE, it is the second play produced in Sophocles' Theb Continue Reading...
Thryth is however easily rehabilitated by marriage, as she is to some degree functional within her society. Grendel's mother is not, and the only remedy for her type of complete evil is death. As her son, she is an outcast, and deserving of a death Continue Reading...
irony in Oedipus Rex is that you cannot escape destiny and that the attempt to do so will lead you to take part in it. Destiny cannot be escaped nor can it be changed. The second form prevalent in the play is in foreshadowing through symbolic langua Continue Reading...
Oedipal Hamlet Of all the great works of William Shakespeare, arguably his masterpiece is Hamlet. It is also perhaps his most famous work. People who have never seen a production or read it still have a vague understanding about the play's basic pl Continue Reading...
role of women in Oedipus the King with the role of women in any other ancient Greek writings we have read this term. Be sure to do more than just observe the differences or similarities. I want to see a point argued here. The role of women in "Oedi Continue Reading...
Cleopatra's death tragic or triumphant? Explain in reference to text Is Cleopatra's death tragic or triumphant? As a character, Shakespeare's Cleopatra is both sublimely sensual and sublimely ridiculous. She is described early on as beautiful and Continue Reading...
