Oedipus The King Research Paper

A chorus is a common element to Greek tragedy’s and in ancient theatre consisted of a group of people who provide a number of different contributions to a play, providing a historical perspective, acting as counsellors and advisors to the plays characters and at times representing various groups such as villagers or a jury. Within this essay, I will consider the main contributions of the chorus within “The Burial at Thebes”

           Oedipus is a man of constant action. When the priests come to ask for his help, he has already dispatched Creon to the oracle to find out what the gods suggest. When the chorus suggests that

One of the most important characters in Sophocles’ Antigone is actually a group of individuals. The chorus consists of a group of Theban elders, and they serve as the voice of the people. These men are considered the wisest in all of Thebes. “Their attitude to what is going on is always shaped by their responsibilities and special interest of their position” (Kirkwood 3). The chorus is not attached to any one character specifically; it reacts to its own thoughts and emotions (3). The chorus is often used to create breaks in the scenes of plays, but in Antigone, the chorus serves a greater purpose then that of a segue. It is seamlessly integrated into the play, which allows the chorus to become highly personal and

Oedipus the King is a tragedy revolving around a murder, the murder of the previous king Laius. The chorus in the play represents the voice of the society, the elders of the Thebes men. They help provide a broader understanding of the play as it unfolds, by evaluating the characters and the themes as well as the sequences of the tragedy. As part of the play they also portray their religious knowledge as they call upon the Gods and Goddesses for guidance. The commentary by the chorus helps the audience follow the development of the play. At the beginning the chorus supports the ideas of Oedipus and comments on his greatness “It was said he was killed by certain wayfarers” Oedipus the King (294-95) the chorus in this scene supports Oedipus’s thoughts of the murderer. As well as supporting Oedipus they begin to give him different ideas on discovering the murderer, “I know that what

Throughout the play the use of dramatic irony is used to a wide extent, adding to this is the use of realism, focusing on the words. We are introduced the chorus in the first Parodos, they all look fairly identical dressed in black and white symbolising knowledge and wisdom. Don Taylor has used the chorus very well in this version of Oedipus; they always seemed to be making distinctive sharp shapes and movements in order. The chorus are directly speaking to the Gods, visually portraying this by focusing on the heavens above when they spoke. Don Taylor modernises them to seem like jury, at the end of each episode reflecting upon the events happening. Their language and the way they are presented are fast pasted and have a very flowing rhythm.

The fifth major point in a tragedy is melody. Melody involves the chorus of the drama. Aristotle contends that the chorus should not be just be an intermission but should add to the plot and character of the tragedy (Aristotle). This is exemplified in “Oedipus Rex” in lines INSERT BOOK QUOTE.

The development of theatre in Europe before it gets its start in America can be traced back to ancient greek tragedies and the use of chorus through to the opera and operetta. The history of theatre in Europe developed the ideas of storytelling through theatre, the use of comedy/song/dance and the spectacle of theatre. The function of the chorus was to comment and describe the main action of the tragedy through song, dance, and speech. The ides of a chorus is present in the American Musical as the group is used to explain a central theme of sing about the central plot in some way. They are the audiences way into the narrative of the piece.

By the beginning of the tragedy, the audience is already aware of the famine, the prophecy fulfilled by Oedipus, and the tragic outcome of the whole ordeal; in order to ensure an emotional experience, the Chorus goes into great detail about the suffering the citizens of Thebes face. For instance, in the first Choral Ode, one Chorus member goes into dark detail about the overarching death due to the famine and plague in Thebes:

The role of the Chorus in the Shakespeare's play, Henry V, is significant. Due to the subject matter that the play deals with, it is hard to present in the way that it deserves. The Chorus helps the audience follow the play by helping them to picture things as they were through the use of imagery. It uses descriptive language in describing events that take place in the play. The Chorus also helps in making the plot of the play flow together better by filling the time lapses that occur between acts due to the fact that the event being depicted in only a few hours actually occurred over several years, leaving some gaps between events. It also explains what happens in an act

THE ROLE OF THE CHORUS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE IN OEDIPUS THE KING

trying to imply through his work. Sophocles and other dramatists use "the chorus" as a notable element to portray an

A final cultural difference is the importance of the chorus and its use in the plays Agamemnon, Oedipus, and Medea. The chorus was not highly involved in the action of the plays. In general, the chorus’ main functions were to create a psychological and emotional background to the action through its odes. It introduces and questions new characters, as well as point out the importance of events as they occurred, to establish facts and avow the outlook of society. Finally, the chorus covers the passage of time, between events, and separates episodes (Calder 21). Within the play Agamemnon, by Aeschylus, the chorus represents the voice of wisdom of the city as well as its limitations (Novelguide). The chorus’ limitations are clear when they fail to

The first of the important minor characters we meet is the Chorus, who appear early in the play. Out of the three characters focused on in this essay, the Chorus is of the least importance to the story due to the fact that the Chorus mainly exists as a moral compass and source of information for the audience of the play. Regardless of their main purpose, the Chorus does advise Oedipus multiple times in the play, warning him of dangers to come. When confronting Creon, Oedipus accuses Creon of betraying him with no basis for accusations. In response, the leader of the Chorus says “Those who jump to conclusions may go wrong” (692). The Chorus has a clear understanding of the situation and works as a mediator that combats Oedipus’ arrogance. The mild role of importance the Chorus serves

        I think that in the play Oedipus, Sophocles intended the Chorus to be a constant significant part of the play, observing and reacting to situations, whilst never being the centre of attention during the main story, and only coming to the fore during the narrative passages of the play.

Drama is not just consisting by the actors ' dialogue and movements; there is also a very special consist part is chorus. Chorus usually plays a pretty important role in drama, and it also has different functions in different storyline, and promotes the process of the story. Its location is irreplaceable. This paper will take the scripts, which are Lysistrata (Aritophanes) and Despatch (Angie Farrow, 2015) as the example, comparative analysis the role of the chorus in this two scripts. It will discuss the narrative device of the ‘chorus’ functions. The way to help the story of the play telling by chorus and allow the narrative to unfold will be discussed in this paper, too.