Common Book Themes

He knew of Oedipus’s wrong doing and his ultimate fate. Since he is knower of all he knew the ultimate effects of revealing the truth to Oedipus however, Oedipus kept pushing until he had no choice to come clean about Oedipus’s wrong doing. “Ah! What a burden knowledge is when knowledge can be of no avail” (58). While he knows that revealing the truth will accomplish nothing and only make matters worse he has no choice but to reveal it.

Themes of the evil and representations of the devil also feature in Dorian Gray. The devil is represented by Lord Henry Wotton – his worldview and words have a profound effect on the innocent minded Dorian, who takes Henry's philosophy into practice. Hence, symbolically Henry is the evil influence upon Dorian. Evil is also showcased through the deal with the devil that Dorian makes. In the beginning of the novel, Dorian desires to sell his soul in order to remain young and beautiful forever. His wish is granted and that sets in motion the path of infamy which Dorian will take. In Wilde's time, Morality, Hedonism and culture's obsession with beauty and youth were key issues in society. Wilde understood this and included such themes into Dorian Gray. Hence, making the text relatable and vital to the period in which Dorian Gray was penned. Wilde in Dorian Gray is making a wider statement about society – Victorian era Britain was supposed

When the priest says, “You came to Thebes, you freed us from the tax we paid with our lives to that rasping Singer...we need now the great power men everywhere know you possess. Find some way to protect us”(41-50), it exhibits how great of a leader and hero he was to the city. The deeper he searched for the man to end this plague, however, the more horrid it got. The more information he received, he began to connect the pieces from his past. Not only did he figure out the man he killed on the path was king Laios, but it was his biological father. His fear of the prophecy that the oracle told him was becoming true. play gets even more tragic as he realizes that the queen he had four children with was his mother, who kill herself before he finds the truth. Oedipus gauged his eyes outs after seeing her dead body. Oedipus was blinded from the truth his entire life. When he finally learned the truth about himself, it blinds him.

Although Oedipus says he wants to know who he really is, Oedipus is still being "blind" during the whole situation. Oedipus is now thinking of what he feels could be the worst of who he really is. Thinking he is from a lower family and that his wife may be ashamed, Oedipus still wants to hear the truth. If Oedipus could actually see clearly, he would know that the blind prophet and his wife were right about him and that he would harm everyone by revealing the truth. Oedipus is far from the truth.

The act of deliberately blinding himself allows him to transcend the worldliness of men and gain an internal sight that allows him to see more than he did with his own physical eyes. As a man of sight, Oedipus engages himself with worldly matters: his reputation and title. Oedipus is constantly attempting

Like most human beings, Oedipus is not perfect, but his intelligence is considered to bring him closer to the gods. However as wise he is said to be, his pride is an obstacle to understanding the truth of his life and how it effects those around him. Oedipus’s hubris (Pride that causes one to disregard the gods) (Sophocles 1213). has sent him towards this tragic ending.

By turning a blind eye and not allowing others to express their thoughts or what they know, Oedipus brings trouble and pain to himself and those around him. “O god – all come true, all burst to light! O light – now let me look my last on you! I stand revealed at last – cursed in my birth, cursed in my marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands” (lines 1305-1310). Oedipus was forced to listen to the events leading up to Laius’ death and to his prophecy.

Oedipus’ journey begins in the darkness that comes from lack of knowledge. A person may see the truth or be blind to it just as a person may have perfect vision or no vision

As the play unravels, Oedipus struggles to resist his impending fate. He does anything he can to find evidence proving that he is not who Tiresias says he is, but after questioning a messenger and a shepard, he finds his answer: Laius and Jocasta had Oedipus and gave him to a messenger who would soon kill him, but instead was adopted by a new family (Sophocles 55). Oedipus’ self-loathing for his new, inescapable reality inhibits the advancement of his previously untroubled life. His flaw of not being able to overcome outside criticism and the truth triggers him to “speak in blindness” (Sophocles 54). Oedipus’ words are empty and lack meaning because of his failed endeavors at proving that he is not who the people say he is. Because of his proven prophecy, the dreadful news causes the “sorrow-stricken woman’s [, Jocasta’s] end” (Sophocles 57). Additionally, Oedipus is prompted to gouge his own “blind and knowing naught” eyes out (Sophocles 63). Oedipus’ efforts to escape his own identity result in his, and many other characters’ ultimate

In this story the theme of Oedipus’s emotions is displayed thoroughly throughout the story, his feelings often getting to the better of him. He would often act up in a rage if he wasn’t given what he desired, or if someone talked out against him. He was ignorant, arrogant, closed minded and this was his flaw. His lesson was learned when he gouged his own eyes out

Oedipus is the one who demanded the truth from Tiresias, but now that he has it, he no longer believes Tiresias. Oedipus, in his desperate search for answers, refused to listen to those with more knowledge than him and revealed his own crimes in the process. His inability to listen to Tiresias, neither in his warnings nor his truth, show how excessively arrogant Oedipus was. To believe that he knew better than Tiresias illustrates Oedipus’ fatal flaw, in that he believed himself above the will of the

Have you ever wondered if your fate is predestined or do you believe you can change it? The Greek playwright Sophocles explores this question in his play Oedipus the King. Set in Thebes, the story revolves around Oedipus, the current king who must deal with his sealed fate. It is said that he will kill his father and marry his mother and unknowingly, he does. Though he tries everything in order to escape it, he cannot.

Not only is Faustus a greedy man, but also weak. He craves power and knowledge to cover up what he lacks. Before his interaction with the devil, Faustus dabbles with necromancy in an attempt to bring happiness to his life. He is clearly unable to make himself content and the promise of the devil to do so is enticing. Faustus was not hard to sway from God and devout Christian values. This is what makes it especially hard for Faustus to repent. He is unable to make up his mind when considering the benefits of each. His weakness lies in his search for power, so he chooses whatever seems to offer the knowledge he

Therefore, Oedipus’ strong desire to seek the truth is what leads him to his ironic downfall. Sir Tyrone Guthrie makes sure that everyone who has information belonging to the murder of King Laius or Oedipus true parents comes to Oedipus rather than him seeking the information. This shows how all the answers are being fed to Oedipus but he does not make any sense of it. Creon foreshadowed Oedipus downfall when he explained that “time alone shows a just man, though a day can show a name” which led to Oedipus gauging out his eyes for the wrong doing he did (Guthrie, Oedipus Rex, 33:13). Sigmund Freud would recall this from his patients having unresolved feelings for their parents that led them to get sick or self-inflict themselves, like Oedipus, as punishment. Though, Freud’s patients have also “…imagined themselves killing

E. R. Dodds sees Oedipus as one who "pursues the truth at whatever the personal cost and has the strenght