Rhetorical Analysis Of Oedipus Rex

After realizing that he has fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother, King Oedipus has stabbed his own eyes out. The people of Thebes have now seen his horrid appearance and Oedipus uses this speech as a way to justify his self-torture and try to get help from the people of Thebes. Throughout his pleas, the ashamed Oedipus takes on a solemn tone as he tries to appeal to the Thebans’ sense of sympathy, but falls short of convincing them to help. In trying to appeal to the chorus, Oedipus manages to instead invoke fear in his audience with his disturbing appearance and loses their support. He begins his speech with a depressing tone as he works to invoke pity in his audience. In using this solemn tone throughout the

As Oedipus allows for his emotions to overtake him, his tone becomes even more angry and accusatory. He begins the second half of his speech by yelling: “Cithaeron! Foster-Mother!” (64). This shouting has already shown that Oedipus is not taking his own blame, and it only gets worse as he continues with: “Could you not let me die that instant, / Instead of saving me to tell the world / How I was got?” (64). Rather than calmly talking to his audience and owning up to what he’s done, he begins to yell and blame others for his problems. It is somewhat understandable for him to react like this based on the situation he is in. However, this comes off as an immature thing to do, and he threatens his own credibility. He maintains this incredibly emotional approach throughout the rest of his speech. He tells the chorus “Hide me at once, for God’s love, hide me away, / Away! Kill me!” (64). Not only is this an extreme request for him to make, but it also goes against the preface of his speech, as his original intention was to show that death would not be a harsh enough punishment. He even begins to cause fear in the audience as he begs them “For pity, touch me, and take me away!” (64). His appearance and attitude manage to cause a much different reaction than he intended. The closing of this speech is where Oedipus really loses the support of his audience.