The drama, Oedipus the King, is an unambiguous instance of Hellenic calamity. A calamity ought to hold certain elements as instituted by Aristotle and they are ‘ secret plan, tragic hero, tragic flaw, anagnorisis, peripetia and katharsis.
Oedipus is the tragic hero in the drama due to the facts that he is born into aristocracy, he possesses gallantry ‘ ( he gets rid of the sphinx and liberates Thebes ) , he is accountable for his destiny and he is destined to perpetrate a grave mistake in opinion that will finally take to his ruin.
The secret plan ( muthos ) can be simple or complex, must be of fixed continuance, must follow a definite construction or format and must organize the psyche or kernel of the drama. A secret plan sans peripeteia and anagnorisis is a simple secret plan, whereas a secret plan with peripetia or anagnorisis or both is complex. The drama, Oedipus the King, is complex since it has both peripetia and anagnorisis. The secret plan of the drama is Oedipus ‘ desire to free Thebans from pestilence and his declaration and pursuit to unveil the truth, that is, to revenge the decease of their former male monarch Laius.
Hamartia is Greek for a ‘tragic defect ‘ . Hamartia brings about the ruin of the tragic hero, Oedipus in this instance. Oedipus, out of hubris ‘ pride and arrogance, inadvertently commits patricide.
The drama consists of Peripeteia – the complete reversal of secret plan or purpose. This happens when the courier from Corinth, in an attempt to soothe the King tells him that he is non Polybo ‘s boy. The courier gives this information with good purpose, but this leads to Oedipus cognizing the horrid truth of the Acts of the Apostless – slaying and incest he committed unwittingly.
In the chase of truth, Oedipus finally discovers that it was none other than he who had slain Laius, the ex-king and his biological male parent and had married his ain female parent. This is the Anagnorisis which means acknowledgment.
After recognizing the offenses he had committed, Oedipus gouges his eyes and his married woman Jacosta, who happens to be his biological female parent every bit good, bents herself. The ruin of the tragic hero owing to his Hamartia instills fright and commiseration in the audience, which is the Catharsis ( purging of emotional tensenesss ) . All these turn out decidedly that Oedipus the King is so a perfect illustration of calamity.
1. Exposition is the procedure of presenting the audience to the background of the secret plan and the struggle within the narrative. During expounding, the cardinal struggle is exposed and the cardinal characters are introduced. The initial scene for the drama, Oedipus the King – the Thebes castle is established. The Thebes metropolis is devastatingly attacked by pestilence and pyre. Creon, Oedipus ‘ brother-in-law brings the intelligence that he learns from Delphic Oracle that the slaying of the former male monarch, Laius, has non been avenged, and therefore the metropolis is besieged by the awful pestilence. Oedipus decides to seek the slayer and banish him in order to cleanse the metropolis and free it from the clasps of pestilence and pyre.
2. Oedipus, the tragic hero of the drama Oedipus the King, portrays assorted interesting features. When analysing his character, we can see that Oedipus reveals finding, choler, hubris ( pride, haughtiness ) and Hamartia ( tragic defect ) during different stages in the drama.
The sarcasm is that if Oedipus were non hell-bent on happening out the liquidator of the ex-king Laius, he would non hold discovered the horrid truth of his birth and life. Oedipus did possess a prized homo property which is finding. Besides his finding was directed towards a baronial cause ‘ to convey consolation to his people by acquiring rid of the pestilence that beset Thebes. Here Oedipus after cognizing that the liquidator of the ex-king Laius has to be banished does exactly what a good male monarch is supposed to make.
Oedipus ‘ choler or pique or fury was instrumental in his unintentional slaying act of his biological male parent, King Laius, at the hamlets. This unrestrained choler was chiefly instrumental in destroying Oedipus. His choler is besides noted when he yells at Creon and Tiresias for giving him the bad intelligence.
Hubris is pride and haughtiness. Oedipus is ill-famed for hubris and he has every ground to be like that excessively. He so liberated Thebes from the Sphinx. By salvaging Thebes from the Sphinx, Oedipus exhibited gallantry and this justifies the pride he had. In fact the worst thing what Oedipus did out of hubris was when he denied his destiny. The Oracle of Delphi did in fact tell him long earlier that he was fated to perpetrate patricide and incest. Oedipus tried to debar the results of destiny by running off from Corinth which on the contrary to what he wished led him to slay his biological male parent Laius and get married his female parent Jacosta. Oedipus ‘ tragic flaw ‘ tragic defect is therefore nil but his hubris or pique owing to which he kills his male parent Laius and all the travellers who accompanied him.
1. Example of boding in the drama, Oedipus the King ‘ Foreshadowing plays a important function in playwriting by mounting the tenseness by adding suspense component to the proceedings. Boding or boding provides intimation in progress. In dramas, boding greatly helps to make tenseness, to make atmosphere and to add unity and trustiness to a character. There are several cases of boding in the drama Oedipus, the King. Thebes is beleaguered with pestilence and when a deputation is sent to Apollo, Greek God of prognostication, poesy, music and healing, to happen the cause for the pestilence, they come to cognize that the liquidator of the ex-king of Thebes, Laius has to be found and punished. This prefiguration defines the initial scene for the drama and besides gives a impulse for the secret plan to come on. This type of prefiguration is of class an illustration of act of God. Another type of prefiguration is when the blind visionary Tiresias blames Oedipus to be the cause for the pestilence. This charge adds farther suspense to the drama and thereby saddle horses the tenseness every bit good. Yet another 1 is when Oedipus out of fury answers to Tiresias that he lost his power and is stone-blind so. But in the terminal, it is Oedipus who becomes precisely what he said to Tiersias. These are the several cases of boding in the drama, Oedipus the King.
2. Oedipus is non an guiltless victim and he so bears some duty in the result of his life. Oedipus ‘ unrestrained pique is one head ground that led to his murdering of his male parent Laius in a route fury incident. This pique is a authoritative illustration of Hamartia – the tragic defect that finally led to Oedipus ‘ ruin. He was so cognizant of the destiny that he is destined to slay his male parent and get married his female parent from the prophet. Despite this, he, out of sheer fury and in a vain effort to deny destiny, runs off from Corinth and later ends up killing his male parent unwittingly. If he had controlled his pique, he could hold averted slaying his male parent. If he had non run off from Corinth he would non hold encountered his male parent Laius on the manner, he would non hold liberated Thebes from Sphinx and thereby falsified both the prognostications ‘ killing his male parent and get marrieding his female parent.
3. Peripeteia, reversal of luck in the drama Oedipus the King is when the courier Corinth in order to assist Oedipus informs him that Polybus and Merope were non his biological parents. This information meant to soothe Oedipus instead merely produces the contrary consequence by offering the critical information that helps bring out the fact that Oedipus did in fact slaying his male parent and get married his female parent.
