Tragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and the Book of Job Essay examples

The tragic fall of Oedipus in Sophocles play “Oedipus Rex” is both self-inflicted and result of events drawn from his own destiny. First off early on in Oedipus’ life his first deadly mistake towards succeeding his self-inflicted downfall was the murder of his father the former king. In a blind rage without any motive, he kills Liaus and his men at a rode crossing. Fate may have had led him to that point but it was his own rage that resulted in his biggest mistake. Further evidence of his self-inflicted downfall Oedipus’ was at the hands of his own ignorance. This ignorance combined with his stubborn, determined attitude does not allow him foresight. This foresight would have led

Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain, a pain that stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. He freely chooses to pursue and eventually accept his own life's destruction. Although fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his undying quest for the truth ruin him.

When Hamlet hears a noise behind a curtain, and stabs at it wildly, assuming it is the man who killed his father, he finds out it is his friend Polonius, the father of Ophelia. After Ophelia learns of her father’s death, she loses touch with reality, and drowns. Once Hamlet decided to take action, he had no control over the actions of his revenge, which consequently led to his girlfriend’s death. Also, Laertes, the son of Polonius, after learning of his father’s murder by Hamlet, concocts a plot of his murder. He poisons a rapier to kill Hamlet, but Hamlet unknowingly uses that same poison against him. Laertes´ desire for revenge against Hamlet led to his own death from his own actions. After being poisoned in his duel with Hamlet, he says “I am justly killed with mine own treachery” (5.2.338). The characters who pursued these acts of vengeance expected satisfaction, but the opposite occurred. Thus, Hamlet, undermines the belief that revenge gives satisfaction and relief to the pursuer, especially because of Shakespeare’s acknowledgement of the drastic consequences. Finally, the play offers the idea that for both parties, revenge can be forgiven, which is more satisfactory than any other

In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe and “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, both Okonkwo and Oedipus possess tragic flaws, which lead to their eventual downfalls, thus making both “Oedipus The King” and “Things Fall Apart” fall under the category of tragedy. This aside, these aspects of their personalities in these texts by Sophocles and Achebe are not helped by the negative twists of fate that seem to make the problems with their behavior more pronounced, thus more tragic in the end. Due—is the nature of fate as it functions in terms of tragedy and the tragic elements of both of these stories, both Oedipus and Okonkwo are partially to blame for their demise, but on the other hand, each of these characters possesses traits that seem to invite tragedy. The difference of both these stories is that Okonkwo bears more responsibility for his downfall than Oedipus, simply because he had more opportunities to change the course of his fate. Oedipus, on the other hand, despite his rash actions, is more a victim of fate than Okonkwo.

He knew that his Uncle Claudius was guilty to the murder of his brother. While trying to get revenge for his father, he killed Polonius by stabbing him through the curtain. He thought Polonius was Claudius behind the curtain. After killing Polonius, Hamlet doesn’t react in the way a normal person would. Hamlet hides Polonius under the stairs. This act of madness leads to the death of Ophelia. Ophelia drowns herself from being stressed out and overwhelmed by the death of her father. The killing of Polonius makes Laertes want revenge on Hamlet for his father. Hamlet’s act of madness contributes to a lot of deaths throughout the

In the play, “Oedipus Rex”, many ironies took place, as well as fate playing a huge part in the story. “Oedipus Rex” is a story about a man that tries to overcome adversity but cannot escape his prophecy. His parents took him to a hillside as an infant, sliced his Achilles tendons and left him there. A shepherd soon came to his rescue. “King and Queen of Thebes, gave their infant to a shepherd in with orders that he be left on the side of the mountainside to die” (Johnson 1205). As he grew older and much wiser, he went to see the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle informed him that his destiny was to kill his father and marry his mother. The main ironies in the play are the killing of Oedipus’s biological father, the odd relationship with his mother, and the inability of Oedipus to avoid his fate.

“Oedipus Rex” was a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles in the fifth century BC. It was the first of a trilogy of plays surrounding the life of Oedipus. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays approximately 100 years before Aristotle even defined a tragedy and the tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy is “… an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted not narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (Kennedy and Gioa 2010). According to Aristotle there were six elements to a tragedy: the plot, the character, the

A Greek tragedy usually consist of a tragic hero, the main character, or protagonist that is of high rank who accepts his or her downfall with dignity. A flaw in judgment or weakness in a character such as pride, which intern helps to bring the downfall of the hero. A catastrophe, a scene that usually involves a lot of deaths, and if the protagonist does not die, then he or she usually suffers in some way. Also, there is usually a chorus involved through the tragedy that observe and comment on the actions through song. And finally, a belief, A.K.A “Fate”. Greeks believed in the idea of fate/ destiny. No matter what action a person takes it always leads back to his or her destiny. Written around 430 BCE, "Oedipus the King" has long thrilled

Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King is Sophocles’s first play of “The Theban Cycle.” It tells the story of a king that tries to escape his fate, but by doing so he only brings about his downfall. Oedipus is a classic example of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a basically good and noble person who causes his own downfall due to a flaw in his character.

‘Othello’ was written between 1601 and 1603. It was first performed in the Elizabethan courts during the Christmas season. The idea of a ‘perfect’ tragedy is the idea that the tragedy is faultless; it does what is expected; so makes the audience feel empathy and sympathy for the characters who suffer. There are two different types of tragedy: classical tragedy and Shakespearean tragedy. The tragic hero in this play is the main character, Othello. Othello's misfortune comes about because of his jealousy, trust, and his pride. This essay aims to look at, and compare, how Shakespeare wrote his tragedy, and how other tragedies are written. I will mainly compare ‘Othello’, for Shakespearean tragedy, and ‘Oedipus Rex’, by Sophocles, for

In the play Oedipus Rex, the lead character Oedipus disagrees with his fate. His fate is made up by the Gods and sent through the prophets. His decisions that he made led up to negative consequences and tragedies. Oedipus fights his fate showing disrespect to the gods and finally becomes to see the truth. These actions led up to devastating events that all surround Oedipus’s life.

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.

The tragic flaw of a human being is usually checked with the method he or she reacts with to the circumstances that life throws upon him or her. Contemporary society appears to be fixated on giving gatherings of people cases of such individuals who, in spite of the affliction of their lives, that still transcend. In fact, maybe nobody is more fit for indicating triumph over struggles than Sophocles and William Shakespeare. In both Oedipus and Hamlet, for example, the primary characters struggle with many obstacles and consequences and find themselves with unimaginable problems furthermore and are compelling to choose what the correct decision will be. This develops to Oedipus and Hamlet becoming motivated, courageous people and also becoming dishonest to themselves throughout the two books. Shakespeare and Sophocles’ plays show that sometimes when dealing with consequences and the obstacles there are different ways to react instead of leading to a tragedy. Oedipus and Hamlet’s motivation in dealing with problems is evident when the two primary characters want to find out the murderers of their father’s. Their courageous actions develop them towards having one goal, which was to kill the former King, and show courageous traits towards other people. They become dishonest to their themselves and is showed throughout the two books, which then causes misfortune for both of them in the end. Despite the resemblances of the two, Hamlet is in control of his activities, and he very

The tragedies Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman have strikingly different plots and characters; however, each play shares common elements in its resolution. The events in the plays’ closings derive from a tragic flaw possessed by the protagonist in each play. The downfall of each protagonist is caused by his inability to effectively cope with his tragic flaw. The various similarities in the closing of each play include elements of the plot, the reflection of other characters on the misfortune of the tragic hero, and expression of important themes through the dialogue of the characters.

Hamlet is aware that Claudius murdered his father, and is planning to take Claudius’ life as revenge. Later in the play, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Laertes is led to believe that it was not an accident, and he plans revenge on Hamlet. The two characters trying for revenge ends up getting most of the people in the play killed. It is like the famous quote made by Mahatma Gandhi, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” Often, when people try for revenge, it ends up making the situation worse than it was to begin with. This is one of the major lessons taught in Hamlet. If Hamlet had tried to take a peaceful path instead of a violent revenge, the tragedies in the play might have been avoided