Examples Of Situational Irony In Oedipus The King

situational irony refers to circumstances in which characters find themselves which suggest a specific outcome but

The tragic play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, demonstrated the portrayal of irony through characters’ lacking knowledge. Oedipus solves a riddle forma sphinx; leading to the throne of Thebes, and a plague following it. Oedipus later finds out that his life is a world with misleading stories, misery, and a life of despair. Sophocles uses irony effectively, but especially when Jocasta tries to comfort Oedipus. She tries to convince Oedipus that the oracles and prophets are not always right.

A well-written tragedy is filled with irony. Oedipus The King is a great representation of a dramatic irony play. When reading the play the audience is very much aware of the outcome of the hero’s action far before the hero

One example is when Bottom’s head gets turned into a donkey (Shakespeare 1.2.21). This is an example of Dramatic irony because we know why his friends are running away from him because his head is a donkey but he does not know that or that his head is a donkey. Another example of verbal irony is when Helena does not know why Lysander is in love with her (3.2.13-18). This is also dramatic irony because we know why Lysander is in love with her because Puck put the flower juice on Lysander’s eyes to make him fall in love with her however Helena still does not know why Lysander is in love with her. These are some ways that shakespeare uses dramatic irony in A Midsummer Night’s

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

Throughout the tragedy by Sophocles, the king Oedipus relies on his personal glory to attain long lasting fame and balks when confronted with anything that might shatter this perception that he is the best. While both characters have done marvelous deeds in the past, their inherent arrogance, which is part of the tragic flaw of each of the characters,

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?”

The story of Oedipus is full of irony such as verbal, tragic, and situational irony. For example, verbal irony appears in Oedipus’ speeches. When Oedipus orders for the man who killed Laius to be punished, he is unaware that he is in fact the murder. Verbal irony appears again when Oedipus ridicules Teiresias for his blindness when Oedipus is also blind, witless and senseless to his own actions. An example of situational irony is: Oedipus is an adopted son; he hears the prophecy; he escapes the city to avoid fulfilling the prophecy only to escape to his real parents.

Dramatic irony depends on the audience’s knowing something that the character does not, and in this play the audience knows Oedipus faith before he knows it himself. In this play there are several parts where Sophocles conveys his plot through dramatic irony. Dramatic irony underlines how partial human perceptive can be even when it is most reasonable and how agonizing it can be to be the costs of the misinterpretation, in some sense foreseeable. Dramatic irony is also use by Sophocles to make the audience feel their taken part of the play knowing the fate of the main character, making the audience wait in suspense wanting to know how Oedipus would react to his fate. The other use of the dramatic irony was to foreshadow which is a key

“... Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Have you ever heard a quote like this? Have you ever thought of what it meant? Well “...

Random House, Inc. 05 Nov. 2015. ). Situational irony is seen several times throughout the play, Oedipus the King. An example of situational irony in the play, Oedipus the King, is when Oedipus runs away from his parents in Corinth to escape his destiny of marrying his mother and killing his father, but in reality Oedipus actually ran towards his real parents, and ended up doing just that. This is an example of situational irony because Oedipus wanted to run away from his parents to get away from them so that he wouldn’t end up killing his father and marrying his mother, but his actions have the opposite effect of what is intended. This adds drama and suspense and helps moves the play forward, and adds a comedic effect due to the readers know what is occurring but not the character

     In Oedipus The King, dramatic irony is used in order to create suspense among the audience. Oedipus’s attitude toward the solution to the plague, allows for such uses of dramatic irony that bring the reader more in tune with the action on stage. Oedipus strongly forbids the people of his country “to receive that man (King Laius killer) or speak to him, no matter who he is.” (Scene I 20-22) The dramatic irony, in the Exodos, is that Oedipus discovers that he is the killer of his father, King Laius and pleads to be driven “out of this country as quickly may be, to a place where no human voice can ever greet [him].” (Exodos 207-208) According to Literature, the Exodos is the final scene of the play, also containing in this case, the resolution. As said by Aristotle the tragic fall should arouse solemn emotions such as pity and fear, but if performed well does not leave the audience in a state of depression. Sophocles demonstrates this during the rising action when Oedipus has a hateful agitated perception of the perpetrator, while the audience feels

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

In the dramatic play, Oedipus the King, we as readers notice that Aristotle has implanted several instances of dramatic irony throughout the play. Dramatic irony occurs when the readers or audience recognize more as to what is going to transpire within the play than the protagonist realizes. In Oedipus the King there is notice of three different types of dramatic irony: verbal, situational, and tragic (dramatic). The copiousness use of these three different types of irony’s highlights Oedipus’ tragic flaw, and that is his over-confidence within his self.

Sophocles was born a hundred years before Aristotle and perhaps was not aware that he wrote a near-perfect representation of the tragic form. Almost certainly, however, he was conscious of the dramatic irony he carefully intertwined throughout the plot. Dramatic irony was a tool for Sophocles to advance the notion of the tragic one step beyond the simple fate of the main character. Dramatic irony is a literary technique allowing the audience to know of the character's fate well before such fate occurs. The difference between the audience's knowledge of the tragic circumstances and that of the ignorant characters heightens the depth of the tragedy. The more significant the ultimate sacrifice which the innocent hero makes, the more powerful the message sent to those in