Love's Destruction: Oedipus the King

1143 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Examine the role of jealousy love and betrayal in othello

Love’s Destruction
Jocasta and Emilia, important minor characters in their plays, both showcase the power of love as well as how destructive it can be. Emilia and Jocasta both unknowingly end their own lives, as well as others, and spread tragedy throughout the towns in which they lived. It is believed that in 425 B.C., Sophocles first produced Oedipus the King (Theater of Sophocles). In the play, Oedipus the King, Jocasta is the main character, Oedipus’, mother and wife. Jocasta’s love for Oedipus ultimately destroys him and results in her death. Sophocles helped shape the heroic ideal that is later embodied in medieval romance, which Shakespeare traditionally uses in Othello (Zerba). William Shakespeare wrote Othello in about 1604 (The Theater of Shakespeare). In the play, Othello, Emilia is a companion to the main character, Othello’s wife Desdemona. Emilia’s love for her husband, Iago, ultimately destroys Othello and results in her own death.
Othello is a dramatic play in which ends in ironic tragedy. In the play, Iago is a jealous man who wants revenge on Othello for giving Cassio the position of lieutenant, when Iago wanted the position for himself. In the play there is a handkerchief that is a symbol of Othello’s love for his wife, Desdemona. Iago has a plan to steal the handkerchief and place it with Cassio, then spread a rumor that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago uses Emilia and Desdemona’s close relationship as leverage in order to gain the handkerchief. Emilia takes the handkerchief without Desdemona knowing. Once the handkerchief is placed with Cassio, Othello believes that his wife is cheating on him. Othello then decides to kill his wife Desdemona. When Emilia realizes what she has done, she tells O...

... middle of paper ...

...Cited
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "Chapter 25/ The Theater of Sophocles." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Fourth ed. N.p.: U of South California, n.d. 704-55. Print.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "Chapter 26/ The Theater of Shakespeare." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Fourth ed. N.p.: U of South California, n.d. 756-878. Print.
KEKES, John. "Moral Depth." Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy (1990): 439-53. ProQuest. 21 Apr. 2014 .
Tiles, J. E. "Logic and Rhetoric: An Introduction to Seductive Argument." Philosophy and Rhetoric 28.4 (1995): 300-15. ProQuest. 21 Apr. 2014 .
Zerba, Michelle L. "Modalities of Tragic Doubt in Homer's Iliad, Sophocles' Philoctetes, and Shakespeare's Othello." Comparative Literature 61.1 (2009): 1-25. ProQuest. 21 Apr. 2014 .

Show More
Related

  • Oedipus the King: Reason and Passion

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus the King:  Reason and Passion In the play, Oedipus the King, there are dual parts of reason and passion.   Oedipus primarily acts with both reason and passion at different stages in the play. There are several points in the play where Oedipus acts with reason. The first such point occurs when he is asked by his followers to help save Thebes. He acts with reason when he immediately decides to heed to their demands and find help for them.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: The Tragic Flaws Of Oedipus

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ancient Greeks were fond believers of Fate. Fate, defined according to Webster’s, is “the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as the do.” The Greeks take on Fate was slightly modified. They believed that the gods determined Fate: “…fate, to which in a mysterious way the gods themselves were subject, was an impersonal force decreeing ultimate things only, and unconcerned with day by day affairs.” It was thought that these gods worked in subtle ways; this accounts for character flaws (called harmatia in Greek). Ancient Greeks thought the gods would alter a person’s character, in order for that person to suffer (or gain from) the appropriate outcome. Such was the case in Oedipus’s story.

    Read More

  • Feminist Role In Othello

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emilia, one of only three female characters in Shakespeare’s Othello, plays a vital role both thematically and in the advancement of the play’s plot. Although her blind loyalty to her husband turns the wheels of this tragedy, it is not a static quality throughout it. When examining the gender roles in the world of this play, the change in Emilia’s allegiances, which determine her actions, reveals the divergence between duty and integrity for women. Throughout most of the play, Emilia is loyal to a fault. She remains subservient to Iago until her duty to him causes her to betray the one she has to her friend and mistress, Desdemona. After becoming cognizant of her involvement in Iago’s villainy, Emilia abandons all loyalty she previously held to patriarchal forces and is motivated exclusively by morality and dedication to Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Othello's Honor

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal. He makes Othello believe that his new wife, the innocent Desdemona, is committing adultery with his newly promoted officer Michael Cassio. After this seed of jealousy has been planted, Othello’s mind takes its course in determining the true outcome, with a little more nudging from Iago. The course of action he proceeds to follow is one that not only ends his own life, but also the life of his wife and others. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Othello is a man who is still truly honorable, despite the course of action he takes to resolve his perceived problem.

    Read More

  • Free Oedipus the King Essays: The Downfall of Oedipus Rex

    427 Words  | 1 Pages

    The greek playwright, Sophocles, was born around 496 B.C., and died in 406 B.C.  During his life, he wrote many plays, one of which was Oedipus Rex.  Sophocles was the first dramatist to add the third actor to the play.  Actors were able to perfrom many different parts, but the play was limited to only three actors and the chorus.  (Literature, page 1065)

    Read More

  • Fate or Free Will in Othello by William Shakespeare

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    The beginning of the play starts when Iago and Roderigo were discussing about their plan of Iago wants to be second-in-command and Roderigo wants to make love with Desdemona. Next, they went into a dispute with Desdemona’s father about Othello marrying Desdemona. When, Othello marry Desdemona, Iago first plan was to get Cassio lose his job by getting drunk and into a fight. Afterwards, Desdemona tries to convince to Othello about giving Cassio’s job back. Then, Iago gets Desdemona, Othello, Cassio, and Bianca stuck in a situation about who are cheating on what, the handkerchief and Cassio’s job. Later on, Iago got in trouble of the evidence that reveal everything that actually happen in the play. Lastly, Othello killed himself, Iago receives imprisonment with torture, Emilia dies later and Cassio became the governor of Cyprus.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Othello

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Continuing Act three, Scene three, Othello feels the beginning of a headache. Desdemona offers Othello a handkerchief to ease the pain upon Othello’s forehead. The handkerchief is a gift from Othello to Desdemona as a symbol of the love shared by Othello and Desdemona. In Othello’s pain the handkerchief falls from Othello’s hand and Emilia steals the handkerchief. Iago uses the characters of the play as pawns, including wife Emilia. Jealousy is the fuel and the handkerchief is the spark. With the handkerchief in Iago’s possession, Iago can continue to spin the web of lies and deceit. Iago plans to leave the handkerchief in Cassio’s lodgings to further support the suspicion of Desdemona’s infidelity.

    Read More

  • Iago's Manipulation

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Iago intends to orchestrate the demise of Cassio and Othello. On the surface, winning a promotion was the catalyst for Iago’s rage but bringing down only Cassio does not satisfy his bloodthirsty rage. Although Iago is cunning and ruthless in his pursuit to ruin Othello, the plot spins out of his control and only gains traction when his wife, Emilia unknowingly helps him. At this point Iago is poised to fail but the possession of Desdemona’s handkerchief provides a key piece of “ocular proof (Shakespeare)” that Othello requires to be convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity. Iago loses control of the situation. His stated purpose is to suppl...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Symbols In Othello

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the devices that often a Shakespearean play uses is a love token to emphasize confinement in a relationship and the possession of one individual by another. Likewise, in Othello, the handkerchief presented to Desdemona symbolically represents the marriage bond itself. Throughout Othello, the handkerchief is “handled” by almost every character, which reflects a significant problem existing within the marriage. A number of characters are involved in the couple’s relationship, thereby interrupting effective communication between the couple to a fatal extent. The handkerchief may appear to be an insignificant object, but throughout the play the way its symbolic importance is revealed, shows that it is really very significant. The handkerchief initially is a gift given to Desdemona by Othello as a love token. It is symbolically transformed into Desdemona’s bedsheets, which she uses to reveal her true innocence and fidelity to Othello; and finally, Desdemona requests that the bedsheets be used to cover her as a death shroud.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: A Painful Path to Truth

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Oedipus And The Gods

    2182 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Ancient Greece the existence of gods and fate prevailed. In the Greek tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles these topics are heavily involved. We receive a clear insight into their roles in the play such as they both control man's actions and that challenging their authority leads to a fall.

    Read More

  • Othello The Moore Of Venice Essay

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon proof that Cassio has the handkerchief, Iago gets Othello to effectively divorce Desdemona and align himself with Iago. His plan to kill her is not only persuasive but very clever: he knows that Othello will be put to death for the crime. Othello says,

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Oedipus the King

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.

    Read More

  • Oedipus: A Victim of Fate

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.

    Read More

  • The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Oedipus the King

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus the King by Sophocles has the ingredients necessary for a good Aristotelian tragedy. The play has the essential parts that form the plot, consisting of the peripeteia, anagnorisis and a catastrophe; which are all necessary for a good tragedy according to the Aristotelian notion. Oedipus is the perfect tragic protagonist, for his happiness changes to misery due to hamartia (an error). Oedipus also evokes both pity and fear in its audience, causing the audience to experience catharsis or a purging of emotion, which is the true test for any tragedy according to Aristotle.

    Read More

More about Love's Destruction: Oedipus the King

Open Document