Comparing Macbeth And Oedipus Rex

In this story Oedipus figures out that he fulfilled his fate by killing his father, and marrying his own mother. Another sad experience shown is Oedipus couldn’t deal with what he had done, so he stabs his own eyes out. Lastly, another sad event told is that because of his fate, Oedipus’ children will have to suffer for his mistakes.

Macbeth is a tragic hero because he exhibits Aristotle’s elements of belief in his freedom to make his own choices and hubris, which then leads to hamartia, which are all required to be considered a true tragic hero. Macbeth expresses the traits of being a tragic hero through the belief that he has his own freedom to make his own choices. As seen in this quote from Macbeth, he shows the trait of making his own choices, “Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate

Macbeth is one of the many plays written by William Shakespear. It is considered as one of his greatest works for it's ever engaging story, Macbeth is also the most filmed/preformed of all of Shakespears' plays .‘Macbeth’ is set to be in Scotland; revolving around the main character, Macbeth. Macbeth's ambition leads him to commit murder after murder ; in order to be King.He first murders the former king, Duncan, his friend Banquo and later the family of the nobleman, Macduff.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is a tragic hero that fits the main character, Oedipus, into Campbell’s concept of the Heroic Journey. Oedipus is an intelligent, confident and brave Prince of Korinth. Overall, the story Oedipus the King is about how King Laius learned from a prophecy that his son Oedipus was going to kill him and marry his wife Queen Jocasta. King Polybos of Korinth and his wife adopted Oedipus; at the banquet, Oedipus heard the same prophecy and decided to search for the truth. During his journey to Thebe, Oedipus got into a confrontation and killed the man.

A dramatic conflict occurs when Oedipus gets into a fight with a group of men where three roads meet; one of those men is his father King Laius. He kills all the men except for one who flees from the scene and then notifies the Thebians of the tragic news. Oblivious to Oedipus, the first half of his fate (that he was trying so hard to avoid) is fulfilled. Usually crossroads signify a decision point. If Oedipus made the choice of being civil toward the strangers and not letting his temper get the best of him, he could have avoided his fate. Oedipus ends up in Thebes were he is granted the honor of being the King--he solves the Sphinx's riddle which results in the city being free from captivity. In addition, Oedipus marries his predecessor's wife, Queen Jocasta--the women who gave birth to him. Once again Oedipus has crossed paths with his fate and is still blind to it.

When we think of the tragedy, we think of something bad happening to someone. This cannot be a tragedy. To know what tragedy is we have to take a look at what Arthur Miller thinks of as tragic.

In his Poetics, which serves until today as a guide to evaluate drama, Aristotle argued that a dramatic piece of literature must appeal to ethos, logos and pathos. They should use the literary devices of emotion, logic and a sense of ethics/morality in their appeal to readers. Both Sophocles’ Oedipus The King and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, employ these literary strategies, as shall be explored below but, it is safe to say that comparisons end there. Both Macbeth and Oedipus have earned their reputations for bravery, both act rashly and commit the ultimate crime of regicide, which comes back to haunt them however, Oedipus’ course of action was fated by the gods whereas Macbeth acted freely and upon his own ambitions, which were awakened by Lady Macbeth.

In the plays Oedipus Rex and Macbeth there are many similarities, which categorize them as tragic heroes. A tragic hero is someone who changes through experience and suffering. A tragic hero learns from his own mistakes, and accepts the penalty of his wrongdoing. A tragic hero also displays catharsis to the audience or his. Both Oedipus and Macbeth have outside forces that push them to their downfall. These outside forces are supernatural and they come from something higher than themselves. For Oedipus it was the fate he was promised which drove him to run away and actually make his fate come true. For Macbeth it was the prophecy of the three witches that pushed his inner ambitions to get what he wants. Neither questions if what was bring said was in fact true, but they just interpreted in one way and kept it

Even though they are both heroes there are many differences between Homer’s Odysseus and Shakespeare's Macbeth. Theses differences come from the fact that Odysseus is an epic hero, while Macbeth is a tragic hero. Common traits of a tragic hero are the hero is of noble birth the hero possesses a tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall. The flaw offer has to do with excessive pride also known as hubris. On the other hand, epic heroes are larger than life and embody the values of particular society, an epic hero is superhuman. He is braver, stronger, smarter and cleverer than an ordinary man. Many times they are on a quest for something of great value to him or to his people. The tragic and the epic hero can both teach the reader

Early on in the story, Oedipus is the proud and confident king of Thebes; he is a man that is not to be underestimated or degraded. This once undisputed fact becomes more debatable the longer the play continues, however. The conflict begins with Oedipus attempting to lift a curse that has been unleashed on the kingdom of Thebes. This curse was caused by the murder of the previous king, Laius, and the only way for it to be lifted is for the murderer to be exiled from Thebes. Oedipus works fervently to unravel the mystery behind who Laius’ killer was. However, each new discovery ends up incriminating Oedipus as the killer instead. Along the way Oedipus discovers that his supposed parents, the king and queen of Corinth, are not his true parents. This revelation pushes him to begin a new search for his biological parents, a search that eventually leads him to one of Lainus’ shepherds. It is this shepherd that reveals to King Oedipus that his mother is Jocasta, his current wife. Consequently, Oedipus falls into a fit of despair in which he stabs his own eyes out and confronts the consequences of his shameful existence. By the end of the play, Oedipus has not only lost his status as the king of Thebes, but has also been exiled from the kingdom and has become an outcast for all of society to hate. The transition Oedipus undergoes

Villains are crafty and skillful while using their mastery of manipulation in an attempt to gain power. Shakespeare presents the tragedies, Macbeth and Othello as plays filled with plots driven by manipulation. Shakespeare uses the power of language in the characters Iago and Lady Macbeth by using influential rhetoric to sway those around them and also lead to the deadly downfall of Othello and Macbeth. In both of their cases, Shakespeare reveals the power of power because when things do not go according to plan, their own downfall is inevitable as well. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s actions show that women too can have the ambitions that men have and perhaps be just as devious and evil. It is this ambition and ease of cruelty that fuels her

According to Shakespeare “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”. This quote means it’s not up to fate to decide what happens to you but it’s the choices and decisions that you make regulates the events in your life. In this essay the Tragedy of Macbeth and Oedipus the king’s tragic downfalls will be compared. Macbeth is a selfish man who wants to be king because of the prophecy given to him by three mysterious witches. On the other hand Oedipus is a caring man who tries to save his people from the plague in order to stop it he had to fulfill his prophecy. The terrible tales of Macbeth and Oedipus the two noblemen explore their fate into a deceiving death in this comparison the side of Oedipus is more convincing and sympathetic unlike the story

Greek philosopher, Aristotle, produced a list of characteristics that defined a tragic hero. Aristotle said that every tragic hero starts off noble, but unfortunately tragic heroes have one fatal flaw - whether it is misjudgment, greed, or just a mistake. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the audience gets to know the thane of Glamis, better known as Macbeth. Macbeth, as every other human being, dreamt of becoming king, and much to his surprise, the weird sisters predict just what he dreams. During his encounter with the three sisters, they greet him as thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter. Macbeth became the thane of Cawdor, after the present thane committed treason, and Macbeth kills the king to make his not so unusual

E. W. Howe once stated, “A man will do more for his stubbornness than he will for his country or religion.” Oedipus is clearly the tragic hero in the play, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, because he has immense noble stature, he has a major flaw of stubbornness and then he finally comes to a downfall in his life by disciplining himself. Oedipus was a tragic hero because he had noble stature. A Priest declared to Oedipus, “Great Oedipus, O powerful king of Thebes!

Oedipus is a boy who was left on the mountains to die by his own parents, the King and Queen of Thebes, due to a tragic prophecy told by the Oracles of Delphi. The prophecy declares that the boy would be destined to murder his father, king Louis of Thebes and then incest with Louis’s wife, Jocasta, Oedipus mother. After being abandoned on the mountain by his wicked parents, a shepherd found this little child and takes him to the King and Queen. King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth decided that since they don't have a child of their own, it would