Oedipus The King Jocasta Essay

Within ‘Oedipus The King’, written by Sophocles, Jocasta, the wife and mother of Oedipus, is used to great effect in order to explore intricate themes, progress the plot and reveal the inner workings of the characters around her. In many instances, the playwright uses Jocasta to reveal not only her own character but also the hamartia of Oedipus. Moreover, she has a pronounced influence on understanding the nature of religion and the gods within the play, along with themes such as free will.

IDENTIFYING OWN CHARACTER TRAITS

The playwright utilises Jocasta to present the path that Oedipus could have chosen when confronted with the truth about his past. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, Jocasta commits suicide. Contrastingly, Oedipus chooses to punish himself by stabbing his eyes with Jocasta’s brooch and tries to redeem himself through his later actions, evident when he attempts to ‘show all of Thebes the father’s murderer.’ This would effectively allow his kingdom to learn the truth at the price of his own pride. Though both suffer, Jocasta’s decision demonstrates Oedipus’s strength of character, as he does not leave his children and actions unaccounted for.

Even though Thebes is suffering, Jocasta is willing to ignore this so

Both mother and son display hubris and for both, it is their downfall. Jocasta demonstrates this when dealing with the gods, first trying to outwit them by exposing her son and later bragging about how the oracles were false. Comparably, Oedipus shows his hubris when he attempts to change his destiny and challenges the gods by doing so. This occurs when he learns of the prophecy and leaves Corinth to try and escape his fate, which is a direct act against the gods. Not only does Sophocles show their parallel character traits but also exhibits dramatic irony, that both mother and son presented similar excessive pride that caused their own