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To what extent is oedipus the cause of his own tragedy
Comedy and tragedy comparison
To what extent is oedipus the cause of his own tragedy
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The Relation between Comedy and Tragedy
On the surface, comedy and tragedy seem to be complete polar opposites of each other. In terms of the actual narrative, examining the consequences of the character's actions reveals the biggest contrast. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus' 'sin' of not listening to the Gods and trying to avoid his fate assisted in his downfall. Not only does his internal blindness result in him marrying his mother; it also results in a "plague" across his land. In addition, the blindness towards his own fate causes Oedipus to display a decidedly unkingly side when he accuses Kreon of being the source of the woes of the state. The consequences of Oedipus' actions result in his exile from the state and an unhappy ending to the play. In contrast, a key facet to the comedy genre is a lack of consequences. Oberon, for example, never faces any type of punishment when he deceives Titania. In fact, he is rewarded with being back in Titania's good graces and the young boy!
The character development in comedy and tragedy is also very different...
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (2007), the Ector County Independent School District Board of Trustees authorized the teaching of the Bible course in public high schools, which promoted a particular religious viewpoint to public school students in a manner prohibited by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Ector County Independent School District adopted the Bible course with the primary purpose of generally advancing religion and interpreting the Bible within the public high schools (ACLU, 2007).
Education Week talks about the freedom and practice of religion stated in the United States Constitution and how the government has altered that in their article, “Religion in Schools”. They touch base on how “under God” was taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance and elaborate how students can participate in religious clubs outside of school because of the placement of the federal Equal Access Act of 1984.
Love can guide people to make crazy decisions, and therefore it can possibly lead to ones fate. Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare is a tragedy in which two lovers took their lives to settle an ancient feud. In contrast, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is where the protagonist is blind to the truth, and therefore gouged his eyes out to deal with his flaw. Although both tragedies are somewhat similar, the difference between them is much greater. Oedipus the King better fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy because it demonstrates that the protagonist: endured uncommon suffering, that the tragic hero recognized the consequences of their actions, and that the audience experienced catharsis from the play.
The ancient Greeks were famous for their tragedies. These dramas functioned to “ask questions about the nature of man, his position in the universe, and the powers that govern his life” (“Greek” 1). Brereton (1968) stated that tragedies typically “involved a final and impressive disaster due to an unforeseen or unrealized failure involving people who command respect and sympathy. It often entails an ironical change of fortune and usually conveys a strong impression of waste. It is always accompanied by misery and emotional distress” (20). The play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles definitely demonstrated the characteristics of an impressive disaster unforeseen by the protagonist that involved a character of respect, included irony, and was accompanied by misery and emotional distress.
There is a great deal of ongoing debate surrounding the issue of religion in public schools. When you consider the rights of all Americans under the Constitution’s First Amendment, it is outrageous for the United States of America to have “freedom of religion”, and then place excessive limitations on students and teachers in public schools. There are a growing number of people opposed to the idea of religion being in school for a variety of reasons, from which the Government’s solution was to impose restrictions on all religions and deny others their rights in the defense of protecting the rights of a few. Teachers and students of all faiths should be able to attend a public school and freely express their beliefs without these limitations being imposed.
Are you religious? Do you have children? What kind of environment would you like your child in while he/she is in school? A century ago, most of America’s public schools were religious schools. Over time the state has redesigned schools in order to make schools for all children and not alienate any students. The Supreme Court then accelerated the movement in 1962 when it declared that prayer in public schools was unconstitutional. Then one year later the court removed all bible reading from public school because it is a religious exercise(-------). There is no clear line between what instructors are aloud to teach in school and what they are not aloud to teach, so many laws have been written and changed. In 1995 35 agencies representing 10 religions and ethical systems wrote “Religion in Public Schools” which was a joint statement of current laws stating that religions aloud to be taught in public schools, but only if it is serving an educational purpose.(----- http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_bibl1.htm---------) Yet what about the Supreme Court ruled out all bible reading in school, but here it states that it is legal, what law are we the people supposed to follow?
Haynes, C. C. (2008). A Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER. Nashville, TN, United States. Retrive on January, 6th, 2014, from http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3964
In the play "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the author presents us with several instances of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. Dramatic irony plays an important part in "Oedipus the King", because it is used to describe Oedipus' character as arrogant and blind toward the truth. The audience is expected to understand Oedipus' history well before he does. In the first three episodes, Oedipus uses a lot of dramatic irony in his speeches.
Arthur Miller alters Aristotle 's definition of the tragic hero and tragedy; Miller suggests that the common man is capable of experiencing the tragedy of a king because they experience "similar emotional situations"(148). Miller points out that the tragic feeling is induced when the character gives up everything to try to guard his personal dignity. The character is flawed but not too faulty in order to be relatable to the common man. However, the character flaw that causes his downfall isn 't a weakness. After his downfall, the common man learns a lesson Although Miller redefines the tragic character, Oedipus is still a suitable example. I completely agree with Arthur Miller’s points about the nature of tragedy and the tragic hero in the context of Oedipus and Oedipus Rex.
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 their attempt is futile, creating irony. When Jocasta and Oedipus mock the oracles, they continue to suspect that they were right. Oedipus discounts the oracles' power, but believes in his ability to uncover the truth, yet they lead to the same outcome. His intelligence is what makes him great, but it is also what causes the tragedy. When he ridded Thebes of the Sphinx, Oedipus is the city's saviour, but by killing Laius and marrying Jocasta, he is its affliction, causing the blight that strikes the city during the opening. Meanwhile, the characters, especially Teiresias, mention sight, light, darkness, &c as metaphors, while referring to `seeing the truth'. However, while Teiresias knows the truth and is blind, Oedipus can see all but the truth. When he discovers the truth, he becomes blind. Also, he does not just solve the Sphinx's riddle - he is its answer. His birth is mentioned throughout the play (crawling on `4 legs'), and he never relies on anybody but himself (`standing on his own `2 legs'),...
As a tragedy Oedipus the King spends the majority of the play discovering who he is, without knowing exactly what is occurring. The tragedy was that he suffered the improbabilities of murdering his father and then marrying his mother, it is a tail of his revelations about his past, and the events that led him to his ultimate fall. In this play, Sophocles illustrated a world of human frailty, pride, and punishment, which helped to propel, with dreadful inevitability, a protagonist moving toward catastrophe. Oedipus is the direct cause of his own undoing, however it is not because he is evil, proud, or weak, but simply because he does not know his true past or who he is. The facts that he believes to be true are unraveled, thus revealing his fate. Oedipus meets the first criterion of a Greek tragedy, which is that the protagonist is a good person. Oedipus has both a good he...
Case Facts: NYC public school teachers were not supposed to spend the extra time they had with disadvantaged children at religious schools. Religious schools have no government funding, and the Establishment Clause was working against them.
Aristotle, in his work The Poetics, tries to delineate the idea of a tragedy. Throughout his work Aristotle says that the hero, or at least the protagonist in a tragedy must be substantially good, almost godlike. This hero must bring upon themselves their downfall, due to their fatal flaw. If the hero is not at a high point, an audience will not care about them, and won’t notice their fall. One must fall a long way in social class in order for it to be noticed by the outside man. Oedipus perfectly exemplifies a tragedy, in relation to modern society, effectively showing how too much pride can often lead to downfall or doom.
According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in itself among many other things. Oedipus is often portrayed as the perfect example of what a tragedy should be in terms of Aristotle’s Poetics. Reason being that Oedipus seems to include correctly all of the concepts that Aristotle describes as inherent to dramatic tragedy. These elements include: the importance of plot, reversal and recognition, unity of time, the cathartic purging and evocation of pity and fear, the presence of a fatal flaw in the “hero”, and the use of law of probability.
In ancient Greece citizens hoped to go unnoticed by the Gods. The Gods played a huge role on what occurred in a citizen’s life. If a prophecy was decided by a God, then there was no altering it. Aristotle believes that this is what makes up a true tragedy. He suggests that tragedy is plot driven, and if the plot is set then there is no way around it. In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is paying for the sins of his father King Laios. Laios was given horrible future by the Gods for angering them when he rapes another man. He was given a prediction that his son would murder him, and would marry his mother, Queen Jocaste. To prevent the prediction from happening Laios sent his shepherd to kill Oedipus, but gave him to a messenger from a different kingdom for another royal family to call their own. After many years the prophecy came true with Oedipus killing Laios and marrying Jocaste, without anyone knowing who Oedipus really was. Aristotle states, “Thus the structure of events, the plot, is the goal of tragedy, and the goal is the greatest thing of all” (2196). He puts tragedy into two categories: simple and complex.