What Is Dramatic Irony In Oedipus The King

The author of Oedipus, Sophocles, introduces a worthy rival to the main character Oedipus.Tiresias, who considers himself to be an equal to the Great King. Tiresias admits, “You are a king. But where the argument’s concerned // I am your man, as much as a king as you.// I am not your servant, but Apollo’s.”(Sophocles) While simultaneously trying to defend his honour and bring justice to Thebes, Oedipus argues about the integrity of Creon’s source. Tiresias retorts Oedipus’ impulsive accusations, in a studious, and King like manner.Tiresias’ diligent retaliation is dramatically significant because it develops Oedipus’ character; Oedipus is humanized and revered less as a God because of his flaws. The power dynamic shift causes the audience to become more judgemental of Oedipus since someone is holding him accountable for his behaviour. Additionally, the passage adds to the mystery of the plot and creates suspense, through Sophocles’ use of paradox, and imagery which cause the mood to change and creates a compelling story. Both of these elements cause the audience to pay attention to the drastic changes in character, and mood, to highlight the major theme of pride, power, and fate. Ultimately, the passage is intended to show the ignorance of Oedipus, and the awareness of Tiresias, who are symbols for the pervasiveness of fate.

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

Oedipus is a very ignorant character. The play reveals that he killed his father and slept with his mother. To make matters worse, he has no idea that he has done either of these things. As the play progresses, hints of Oedipus’s wrongdoings pop up sporadically, yet he does not catch on until the end. Other characters realize what is going on before Oedipus does. It is Oedipus’s ignorance that prolongs his search for King Laius’s killer and his realization of his

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.

Oedipus intelligence could not see the truth, but the blind man, Teiresias, saw it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a theme in the play. Oedipus was uninformed and as a result blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet, when Teiresias exposes the truth he is in denial. It is left to Oedipus to conquer his blindness, accept the truth, and realize fate. But instead Oedipus ridicules Terirsias blindness and accuses him of being on the side of Kreon and helping him become King. He accuses Teiresias for being paid to tell a fraudulent prophecy to him. Quickly Teiresias answers him back and tells him he is BLIND, and tells him about his past of who his actual mother and father was.

With his great knowledge and accomplishment establishing him as a man of insight and honor he is crowned King of Thebes. Oedipus, unwilling to hear or see truth, smites a blind man in the midst of his own ignorance and denial to reality. Teiresias, a blind prophet, is stood before Oedipus to reveal his visions about the identity of the murderer. “PAGE 11/40 TEIRESIAS thou hast not spared To twit me with my blindness--thou hast eyes, Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen, Nor where thou dwellest nor with whom for mate. Dost know thy lineage? Nay, thou know'st it not, And all unwitting art a double foe...” Teiresias reveals Oedipus' fate to him. He reveals that Oedipus doesn't know who his true parents are, and is living a doubly bad fate. Oedipus becomes engaged and accusatory of Teiresias at the thought of someone threatening his preconceived reality. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS There is strength where there is truth, but not in you Oedipus. You don't possess this quality, for you are blind in your ears, mind, and eyes.” Oedipus even goes as far as to suggest that Teiresias murdered King Laius. “PAGE 10/40 OEDIPUS Thou methinks thou art he, I think that you are he who planned this crime, and he who even committed it too..” Oedipus, self righteous and pompous, believes that he can do no wrong. His ego is so big that he tears down and slanders

Irony is defined as “a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character:”(“Irony” Entry 3. Oxford Dictionary. November 5th, 2015, Web.) In literature, irony can be used to foreshadow situations about to occur. Irony is a literary technique that can be expressed in 3 different ways. There is Dramatic irony, Situational Irony, and Verbal Irony. Situational irony is defined as, “irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.” ("situational-irony."(Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 05 Nov.

Sophocles uses foreshadowing to offer hints about Oedipus’s destiny in the play that allow audience to make reasonable predictions about what would eventually happen in the story. When Oedipus insults Tiresias because he hears that he is the curse and problem in Thebes, and he refuses to the prophecy and gets angry at the prophet, calling him a liar. However, Oedipus never realizes that Tiresias is the very one who foreshadows Oedipus’ tragic fate when he says “in thine eyes now light, but then Darkness” (line 417). The quote foreshadows that Oedipus will end up being blind although his eyes are full of light now, he will lose the light in the end. Tiresias’ words are eventually proved to be true when in the end Oedipus stabs out his eyes, being aware of his identity and his tragic destiny. It is very ironic that Tiresias, who tells the truth, is a blind man. Sophocles also uses words from Jocasta, Oedipus’ mother and wife, to foreshadow Oedipus’ upcoming tragedy. She says “and casts him to die. Through both his feet a blade of iron they drove” (Lines 720-21). The idea in this quote is that Jocasta is providing hints to the audience that Oedipus has hit part of the prophecy because he still hobbles and cannot walk like a healthy man due to his injury. Oedipus should have notice the similarities between his feet and the prophet, or maybe his hubris blinds him from seeing the truth. Throughout the play, Sophocles foreshadows in many events and gives the audience hints about

At the beginning, Oedipus is ignorant and is constantly avoids and ignores the truth in order to protect his reputation. Oedipus’ unwillingness to open his ears to the truth develops when Tiresias reveals that he killed Laius and one of his responses is, “Your words are nothing-- / futile” (416-417). Although Oedipus begged to hear Tiresias’ words, he was not willing to pay attention or open his eyes to the unfortunate idea. Oedipus pushes aside the words Tiresias says, refusing to believe that he could be the one who killed Laius, the one who must be cursed. Later, Tiresias brings up Oedipus’ ignorance saying “you’re blind to the corruption of your life” (471), and telling him a few lines later that “No man will ever / be rooted from the earth as brutally as you” (488-489). Oedipus was put in his place and blatantly told that he is ignorant but his rise to knowledge will also bring his demise. Sophocles foreshadowed using Tiresias in that way, but Oedipus was so into avoiding any confrontation with the truth at the beginning that he would respond calling Tiresias’ visions “absurdities” (494). Therefore, even though the truth has been revealed to him, Oedipus still chooses to remain blind to the truth in order to remain good in the eyes of his people.

Initially, Oedipus remains in a state of ignorance throughout the establishment of the tragedy by virtue of his strong characteristics that include pride, ego, and obliviousness. In the drama, Oedipus speaks about what would happen if the killer was a royal member of Thebes. The play reads, “If by any chance / he proves to be an inmate of our house, / here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, / may the curse i just called down strike me” (284-287). Oedipus placed a cure throughout the distinguished city of Thebes in hopes to lead it back to its once former glory. This shows his ignorance in view of the fact that he is the one who killed the former King Laius, which means Oedipus cursed himself. His ego of trying to be the savior once again put Oedipus in a terrible position for the continuation of his life. Furthermore, Oedipus sent for a prophet to help discover who the mysterious

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

Throughout the play Oedipus is given clues to his past and the fate that is to come, the moment that he gouges his eyes out shows these clues that he has missed. Jocasta says wildly, “In the name of heaven, don’t proceed! For your own life’s sake, stop! And I’ve been tortured long enough.” (59) This shows a moment of caution for Oedipus to not continue to seek the truth. The dramatic irony of this situation illuminates the horrors that are to come because of fate as well as Oedipus’ free will. Oedipus: “Laius was killed—I thought I caught the words—where three highways meet?” Jocasta: “So they said. That is how the story goes.” (41) Oedipus is first hearing the true story of the late king’s murder and seems to be beginning to realize that it was he who did the killing. Even though this could be his illuminating moment, Oedipus is unwilling to accept this fact and must hear

Sophocles’s reliance on dramatic irony is apparent throughout the entire story. From the start of the play—where Oedipus searches for the murderer of the fallen king—the audience is already aware of Oedipus’s story. Ironically, readers grasp that Oedipus was the murderer of Laius and therefore the cause of the plague. Oedipus himself, however, lacks any knowledge of his participation in the event and believes that he has managed to avoid the prophecy’s fruition. As such, Sophocles’s use of the device affects the way the plot progresses. Mainly, the author bases the conflict on Oedipus’s “blindness”. It draws out the story until it reaches its climax. Throughout the play, Oedipus is in denial of his involvement in the death of Laius despite being told several times of his guilt. One such time occurred when Teiresias, an old blind prophet, reluctantly told Oedipus of his actions. As to be expected, Oedipus reject his words with scorn, threatening the old man. “Do you imagine you can always talk like this, and live to laugh at it hereafter?” (lines 425-426) Oedipus further insults Teiresias physical blindness, not realizing his own metaphorical blindness. As per dramatic irony, however, readers know the one who is truly blind was Oedipus. Teiresias further makes this apparent. “You have your eyes but see not where you are in sin, nor where you live, nor whom you live with. Do you know who your parents are?” (lines 482-484) Events such as these seem to be a recurring theme in the play. Oedipus is made aware of the truth by another character, and then he fervently accuses them. Because of this, the audience becomes familiar with the pattern. The dramatic

The entire process of Oedipus investigating is symbolic of one of the plays major messages: too much knowledge leads to suffering. One quote that supports this idea is one that was said by Oedipus regarding his fate, “To Delphi, and Apollo sent me back Baulked of the knowledge that I came to seek. But other grievous things he prophesied, Woes, lamentations, mourning, portents dire; To wit I should defile my mother's bed And raise up seed too loathsome to behold, And slay the father from whose loins I sprang” (Sophocles 791-797). This quote is an example of how the pursuit of knowledge can sometimes be stronger than fate itself. Another quote that supports this is, “Jocasta: Ah mayst thou ne'er discover who. thou art! Oedipus: Go, fetch me here the herd, and leave yon woman To glory in her pride of ancestry. Jocasta: O woe is thee, poor wretch! With that last word I leave thee, henceforth silent evermore” (Sophocles 1068-1073). Jocasta is warning Oedipus that the truth will only cause pain, so he should stop pursuing it. This unfortunately doesn’t effect Oedipus, and he discovers the truth. Sophocles use of irony and foreshadowing are prevalent in the play; it allows the reader to predict what is going to

In the play Oedipus The King written by Sophocles, it is the blind man who can see the truth of Oedipus and Jocasta’s relationship and it is those that see, Oedipus and Jocasta, who are blind to the truth. When Oedipus finally sees the truth of his actions, he blinds himself in horror. The irony here is that only the blind see things clearly, while the seeing blind themselves to the reality in front of them. While believing himself to be living in the light, Oedipus is actually living in darkness. The story of Oedipus begins as a murder mystery in a village that is suffering from a plague that is threatening to destroy the village. The author continues to use prophets and messengers as well as irony to follow the main character. Sophocles uses the motif of blindness and sight, the contrasting imagery of darkness and light, along with dramatic irony to bring a huge impact to the meaning of the story. A motif is a symbol which can take on a figurative meaning. In this case the author uses blindness and sight as the motif. Imagery is used as a descriptive language. In this story the author uses light and dark as imagery. Dramatic irony is an irony that happened when the meaning of a situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters. An example of dramatic irony is shown when the old soothsayer visits the King. Oedipus did not listen to the man because he's blind, and Teiresias is full of anger tells the Oedipus that though he might be able to see he is "blind" to the truth. When Oedipus finally becomes blind at the end of the play, Oedipus realizes the truth of the soothsayer’s words. Irony is also showing that the only person that can see the truth is the blind man.