Sophocles, writing King Oedipus faced an unusual problem. He needed to find ways to engage an audience that has pre-knowledge of the plot and characters. He successfully does this to a high degree by using several techniques such as, irony, climax and anti-climaxes, plot and character twists, lack of resolution and foreshadowing.
The most effective feature utilized by Sophocles is irony because it builds tension, keeps the audience alert and has the effect of black comedy. The most common kind of irony is spoken irony which occurs in most dialogues. Oedipus bans himself in the beginning ?His fate will be nothing worse Than banishment? (Sophocles 31) which is ironic. This example has both a tension building effect and an amusing effect on the audience, which further engages them. When Oedipus is talking to his real mother, Jocasta he says ?still to fear?my mother?? (Sophocles 52) it has an amusing effect on the audience. The overuse of irony is very effective because Sophocles is constantly recycling it, which gives a more humorous and irritating aspect to the play.
Dramatic irony is used commonly throughout the play: sometimes obviously, sometimes it is more subtle. By using it so often it makes the audience think about the subtleties moments and how they could be ironic, which is a very clever way to keep their attention. When Jocasta figures out that she is in fact Oedipus?s mother, she tries to stop him from finding out, and ironically, Oedipus gets offended and more motivated to figure out the truth, as he believes that she thinks he is the offspring of slaves. This example builds tension because it gives a guarantee that he won?t give up until he figures out the truth. ?Oedipus whose name is afar? says this in the beginnin...
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...the interesting part is ?your death?, suggests that he will actually die but he himself already made it impossible for anyone to kill him legally. This could foreshadow a relatively close death soon after the play ends. The foreshadowing also has the affect of making the audience to think and make them more alert.
By using all these techniques together Sophocles successfully engages the audience throughout the play. The features attracts the modern audience by black comedy, making them use their imagination, relate to the characters by irritating them, the play keeps the audience alert to notice techniques, and makes them tense and relax over and over again. The fact that most important events occur off-stage forces them to imagine which gives a greater impression then of the actors trying to act it. It also gives a more individual interpretation of the play.
In the play Othello, Shakespeare uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the story. One of those many literary devices used in the play, is the wide range of irony. Throughout the pages of the book the reader will see the use of dramatic, situational, and verbal irony. Shakespeare does not use irony in an understated way, it is very direct, and can be found on almost every page of the book. The use of irony creates suspense, and adds interest as to what will happen.
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Sophocles’s Antigone uses irony in it to show the quality of characters like Creon and Antigone. Irony was used to bring out the true character in each person in his plays. Sophocles uses irony many times with Creon and Antigone to show who they really were. Sophocles purpose with portraying irony in his writing was to show Antigone as rude and blunt, and to show Creon as prideful and sexist.
While reading the play Oedipus the King, my response to the work became more and more clear as the play continued. When I finished the play, my reaction to the work and to two particular characters was startling and very different from my response while I was still reading. My initial response was to the text, and it was mostly an intellectual one. I felt cheated by the play because the challenge of solving the mystery of the plot was spoiled for me by the obvious clues laid out in the work. My second response was not as intellectual; instead, it came more from a feeling that the play evoked in me. I felt a strong disappointment in the drastic actions that Oedipus and Jocasta took at the end of the play. My two different responses to Oedipus the King, one intellectual and one not, now seem to feed off and to amplify each other as if they were one collective response.
Insuring the portrayal of his theme, Sophocles targets the tension of his tragic play, Oedipus Rex, through the growth of the main character, Oedipus, rather than the mystery. Utilizing literary devices such as dramatic irony, soliloquies, and foreshadowing, Sophocles reveals to the audience the conclusion to the mystery of Oedipus before the hero has solved it himself; forcing the audience’s attention towards character growth of the hero, over the actual development of the mystery.
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.
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'),...
Sophocles’ use of symbolism and irony is shown in Oedipus Tyrannus through his use of the notion of seeing and blindness. This common motif is extended throughout the play and takes on a great significance in the development of the plot. In an effort to escape his god given prophecy, Oedipus tragically falls into the depths of unthinkable crimes as a result of the mental blindness of his character; thus never escaping his lot.
This essay will illustrate the types of characters depicted in Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, whether static or dynamic, flat or round, and whether protrayed through the showing or telling technique.
Sophocles uses a form of irony in his play to show fate. According to Maureen Howard, "Dramatic
When Oedipus inquires “who is this man whose fate the god pronounces?” (1740) after this inquiry almost every statement made by Oedipus becomes ironic because he is referring to himself though he is yet to find out. The audience is aware that the more he looks into the murder of the former king Laius the worse it is going to be for him. Sophocles’ use of dramatic irony keeps the audience one step ahead of the protagonist so they are able to see the errors made by Oedipus. Because the audience has had time to figure what the mistakes are, they are more emotionally invested in how Oedipus will react when he finally understands all the mistakes he has made through the play. As the play progresses the audiences attitude about Oedipus starts to slowly shift; the emotions start to become deeper and we start to see that though he is guilty of murder empathize with
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the minor character of Tiresias is responsible for foreshadowing Oedipus’ fate, developing the theme of blindness, and also illustrating dramatic irony. Tiresias is responsible for further developing the theme of blindness, by using his own physical blindness to reveal to Oedipus his mental blindness. Lastly, Tiresias is ultimately responsible for imposing dramatic irony because of his great knowledge of the truth of Oedipus. As a fortune teller, Tiresias is able to see the fate and destruction of Oedipus’ life. Tiresias uses his great ability to reveal to the reader the downfalls in Oedipus’ life that will soon occur because of his quest to know his fate. The character of Tiresias demonstrates the use of foreshadowing in order for the reader to be aware of Oedipus’ fate.
Sophocles makes use of many situations involving dramatic irony. In fact, the entire play could be said to be an example of dramatic irony. The audience becomes aware of Oedipus’ prophecy from the very beginning of the play. The reading from the Oracle stated that Oedipus was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Although Oedipus is unaware of his fate, the reader knows the tragic future of the character. This use of dramatic irony allows the story to avoid the typical Greek tragedy structure and keep the reader intrigued as the events unfold.
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.
...s you wonder if Jocasta and Oedipus had not run from their fate, what other way Sophocles would have made it happen. Also, just when the characters think they have nothing to worry about, just when they think they avoided their fate, it comes back to bite them. Sophocles makes it interesting in this way. This approach definitely keeps the reader interested because we wonder what other way he will use this writing technique in his play.