Dramatic Irony In Oedipus The King

To the reader, it is revealed that what you physically se, may not be what you may see mentally. Irony is also shown in Oedipus Rex in relation to blindness. Teiresias’ is also the character who depicts irony throughout

The entire play comes to a tragic end. And with dramatic irony is clearly seen in the entire play. Oedipus killed his father and murdered his mother, but Oedipus and Jocasta did not find out until the end, Tieresias ' warnings and prophecy clearly portray the use of irony. Rhetorical questions are seen questioning himself or fate. What, born as mine were born?”

From the very beginning, what makes Oedipus ' actions in his quarrel with Teiresias and also throughout the play so dramatically compelling, is the fact that the audience knows the outcome of the story. We know Oedipus ' fate even before he does, and there is no suspense about the outcome itself, instead, the audience anxiously awaits Oedipus to reveal his fate unto himself in his desperate quest to rid his city of the terrible plague, or maybe even more so, to simply discover his own unfortunate tale. Oedipus is relentless in his pursuit of the truth, and his determination is commendable. There is nothing that compels him to act in this way, instead he freely chooses, with much zeal, to initiate the chain of events that will ultimately lead to his downfall. It is this interplay between Oedipus’ own free will and his fated eventuality that is the crux of the play, and constitutes the main dramatic power.

Earlier in the book, Oedipus was eager to pursue the criminal who murdered the former king, Laius, by doing so saving the city and himself. He says, “Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too / with the same violent hand / by avenging Laius, I defend myself” (Sophocles 154-56). The author uses dramatic irony to show how, without knowing, Oedipus is looking for himself, for only the audience knows that he was the one who committed the crime. His blindness to the truth, even though it led to his destruction, helped him find out about his past and more about himself that he never knew before, thus allowing him to see the light. Later on, Oedipus seeks Tiresias, a blind prophet, in the hope of uncovering the truth about who killed Laius. When Tiresias tries to explain it was him, Oedipus’s pride gets the best of him. Lost in the night is like being left hopeless, for all there is, is darkness. Darkness can be associated with sadness and evil. Tiresias was nursed by the night, for he was born blind, and only saw darkness (Sophocles 425-26). But even with all this, Tiresias understands more than Oedipus ever will, and the author uses dramatic irony to show this. This was Oedipus showing his ignorance of the truth, and not wanting to believe Tiresias, by insulting his sight and saying that he actually can’t see the future. Tiresias,

Dramatic irony in Oedipus the King is evident throughout, which is similar to the latter play, but in a different form. In here, the irony is evident. Oedipus the King revolves around characters' attempts to change their destiny (which fails) - Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus and Oedipus's flight from Corinth. Each time somebody tries to avert the future, the audience knows

The irony in Oedipus the King highlights certain weaknesses in Oedipus, such as his hubris and stubbornness, and foreshadow Oedipus's realization of his tragic fate.

Tragedy, in English, is a word used to indicate other words such as misfortune, calamity, disaster and many more such words. However, this word has another dramatic meaning, not far from its original meaning in English. In Western theatre it is a genre that presents a heroic or moral struggle of an individual that leads to his or her ultimate defeat or misfortune. When the audience and reader share the playwright's particular social perception and social values they easily empathize and relate with the fall of the protagonist (main character) from a prominent and high position into a state of misery or total destruction. On the other hand, Aristotle defined the term ‘tragedy' as "a man not preeminently virtuous and

In Aristotle The Poetics, Aristotle determines that in order for a play to be a tragedy the main character must experience a change of fortune, and provide katharsis for the audience. Throughout Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ hubris “arouses pity and fear” from the audience and draws emphasis to his fall from grace (Aristotle The Poetics). Although the outcome of Oedipus Rex would remain the same, Oedipus’ hubris prompts the audience to reflect on their own life and emphasizes his fall from king to beggar to allow katharsis. It is known to the audience that Oedipus was adopted by Polybus, king of Corinth. Oedipus hears about Polybus’ death and triumphs in escaping his fate, proclaiming, “those prophetic oracles, they’re worthless” (Episode III.971-972).

Irony An honored king falls to a dejected beggar. The life of Oedipus emanated success, power, and contentment. In the play, Oedipus Rex the playwright Sophocles adopts the use of irony in many of the main point of the play. This irony often ends in a tragic circumstance for the beloved king Oedipus. The man cursed to kill his father and lay with his mother runs away from the curse as quickly as he can.

Sophocles uses irony in the play Oedipus the King to teach a lesson and to emphasize the truth. Irony is used throughout the story to show who Oedipus is versus who he thinks he is with double meaningful lines that give key information as to what will happen next to him. Sophocles demonstrates all three forms of irony in the play with Oedipus’ past, Oedipus’ future and the character Tiresias. The use of verbal, dramatic and situational irony contributes to the theme of truth versus falsehood because of what the audience knows compared to what the characters believes the truth is.

Tragedy as an element of the human experience has been the subject of many of the great works of literature written in the Western tradition. For some, tragedy embodies the highest form of humanity. It is through suffering that we are able to reveal ourselves most completely. Others see tragedy as an element of morality where we are to learn well the lessons of those who tempt the gods. The Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, outlined a theory of tragedy as archetypal drama in his classic work, the Poetics. He uses the play by Sophocles, Oedipus the King (hereafter "Oedipus"), as the standard model by which all other tragedies are measured. In Aristotle's view, a perfect

Like with all tragic dramas, the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, used dramatic irony in order to convey his tragic flaw of pride and arrogance. This tragic flaw is also key in highlighting Oedipus’ lack of identity as well as showing the role that fate had to play in tragic life. Through his ironic actions, the readers are subjected to dramatic irony in which Oedipus does not know what he is saying, but the reader knowing the plot of the play, allows them to see the irony in their words. As the play progresses, these instances of dramatic irony are key in showing his tragic flaw of pride. From claiming that Tiresias was a fool and a fraud, to accusing Creon and Tiresias for plotting to usurp his throne, or claiming that he was the giver of good luck just when he was on the cusp of finding out the terrible things he had done; these instances of dramatic irony are key in pointing out Oedipus’ tragic flaw of pride.

The scene in which Oedipus curses the unknown murderer who, according to Creon who heard from Apollo, causes the plague to occur in the kingdom is a good example of dramatic irony. He says as part of his curse not to let the murderer “join in sacrifice, lustration, or in prayer” (225-226). Then he says, “I pray that that man’s life be consumed in evil / and wretchedness. / And as for me, this curse applies no less” (233-235). The dramatic irony is that the audience knows that the murderer he is cursing is Oedipus himself. The significance this dramatic irony in this scene has to the rest of the play is that it makes the audience start to engage in the play. This scene makes the reader wonder how events in the play will turn out because of Oedipus being blind to his own life. It introduces Oedipus as the character he is known as and this scene is one of the first moments of dramatic irony in the play.

The play exemplifies various instances of situational irony which are a large component to the theme. Situational irony is when the result of something is different from what the reader expects. For instance, Oedipus flees from Corinth after he is informed of his fate of killing his father and marrying his mother. In the act of fleeing from his fate, he is united with it since he kills his father on the journey and marries his mother after fleeing from Corinth and saving Thebes from the Sphinx. A similar instance of situational irony is how his parents tried to avoid his fate; however, in doing so, they caused it to happen. If they didn’t order the servant to kill Oedipus, then the fortune wouldn’t have been fulfilled. These two instances relate to the theme of truth versus falsehood as Oedipus and his parents are desperately trying to make the fortunes false; in their attempt, they fulfill the fortunes and make them true. Oedipus is never the hereditary ruler of Thebes due to the fact that he is given the rulership of Thebes

Irony in the play, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, is used to create meaning, add suspense, and heighten drama. Ever since King Laios was murdered there has been a plague in Thebes. With dramatic irony we know that Oedipus has murdered his father, King Laios, and marries his mother, Iocaste. Oedipus sets out in search of King Laios’ murderer and finds out more than intended which ultimately destroys all the good in his life.