Unraveling the Oedipus Complex: Insights and Origins

The term “Oedipus complex” (or, less commonly, Oedipal complex), explains the strong emotions and ideas that the mind keeps deep within the unconscious of where a child, most notably male, is attracted to his own mother in a sexual nature. In society, incest is looked down upon because it crosses the forbidden zone, the desire for sexual relations, which deviates from the traditional parent-to-child relationship. This term was coined after the ancient Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King. The original script was first written around 429 B.C, by Sophocles. He was most famously known to be one of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived to this day. Knowing that he is a playwright who specializes in writing about the human condition

I came across this play several times from my freshman and senior year of high school and now my second year of college. I enjoyed the fact that Oedipus represents the average man, one who is trying to change his own fate; but the part I enjoyed the most from reading this piece from every session was the slow and gradual build-up to the truth, and the steady downfall of Oedipus 's psychological state to the point where he wants punishment for the atrocious actions he had committed. For example, I found myself cringing, but at the same time, amazed, when visually imagining the scene where he gouges his eyes out. Even though most people would show a bit of empathy for Oedipus, I felt no remorse for him. In my opinion, he deserved whatever punishment that was dealt to him since he committed two of the greatest taboos: murder and incest. One thing that I did not enjoyed about this piece is the style of classic English it was translated with because of the hassle of keeping track of what is going on in a specific scene. If there is a version with modern English, I think I would have enjoyed and understood the little details even more. Again, the important message of inescapable fate: the truth will always find a way to the surface no matter how hard you try to hide or deny it; the longer you run away from the truth, the more dire the consequence will be.

First off, I would have every character dress in casual streetwear. The sole reason behind this is because I want to make this play take place in the modern day society we live in today. Secondly, I would have my unique production of Oedipus the King take place in an urban environment in the year 2010. The reason I choose this setting and period of time is because I felt that year was when the everyone commonality of owning a smartphone began in that year. I want to incorporate the cultural context of the dependence of smartphones because we as a society are addicted to technology to the point where we can not live without it. With that in mind, I want to show a scene where Oedipus gets a unknown phone call that he was the one who had committed the heinous act of killing his own father and marrying his own mother. In great disbelief, he starts texting multiple individuals in order to gain information whether or not the contents from the phone call were true. When he finally realizes that everything said in the phone call was true, instead of gouging his eyes out as punishment for his own actions in the original script, I will have Oedipus sew them shut with a needle and thread. The reason for this divergence from the original scene is to symbolically