The Tragic Flaws of Oedipus Rex At one time in our lives there is a moment that we may think of ourselves as better than someone or something else. There may also be a point when making a decision leads to a great error in judgment. In the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, both of these characteristics can be seen in the main character. These characteristics are known as tragic flaws. These flaws are known as hubris meaning excess pride, leading to overconfidence, and hamartia meaning errors and weakness in judgment. Both of these characteristics are the main reason of destruction and downfall in mankind and the tragic hero in this play. The tragic hero is unable to escape his misfortune that is destined to happen. There are many more tragic flaws other than these two that also contribute to the falling of the hero. The destruction and downfall can be seen as fate. Even though the hero chooses his own actions, the resulting consequences that come about are ones that are unable to be changed. As seen, no one is able to outrun his or her own fate. Oedipu...
Stephen King says “We make up horrors to help us deal with the real ones” and Heidi Strengell wrote an essay called “The Monster Never Dies” were she discusses the gothic double. She says “the gothic double reveals our inability to evolve past our base instincts, to purge them form the human psyche.” A gothic double is something found in all sorts of literature. A gothic double would be opposites that are related, whether it be a person, a setting, a group, ect. For example good and evil, or right and wrong. They are connected because they have some form of conflict or tension with one another but also share a commonality. There are examples of gothic doubles everywhere. One example that first pops in my head that people should know is Dr Jekyll
saying "she has a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal to the very
The name “Oedipus” means “swollen feet” in Latinized Greek. His parents, Laius and Jocasta, gave him this name while piercing a metal rod through the ankles of his feet, in order to prevent the fulfilment of the oracle’s prophecy. Despite this heinous act, their efforts were in vain as Oedipus’ free will conquered the theme of fate. In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the tragic hero, Oedipus, demonstrates hamartia, a fatal error in judgement, which brings about his own downfall. It was Oedipus’ hubris that was responsible for the tragic ending of this play. Evidence of this statement occurs when Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecies. Additionally, Oedipus’ overweening pride and ego resulted in the murder of Laius, which was a major stepping-stone in the prophecy. He illustrates his error in judgment through his pride, blindness, and foolishness and therefore is at fault.
The idea of a detective catching an elusive convict or solving an improbable crime has been prevalent in all corners of the world, spread throughout many cultures and societies. The detective genre is held as the idea that an individual has to solve a crime. This detective usually has nothing to gain from solving the crime, but they see it more as an obstacle. The detective doesn’t always take every case, as human beings, we are too often curious of the impossible; our natural instinct is to question why and how things work in this world. People crave mystery, to taste a bit of improbable, to see what the detectives see, to see what is overlooked by many. The idea of an intelligent witty, sharp “sleuth” with an obedient sidekick has been prevalent
To begin, Oedipus had a fatal flaw that Sophocles made clear throughout the play. This flaw is hubris, which means excessive pride. His over inflated pride makes people less fond of him. People such as Tiresias tried to help him by telling him the truth, but he refused to listen. He turned a deaf ea...
The research paper is a presentation of facts which are based upon reading or consulting several different sources, presented according to a standard method of procedure, limited to a relatively narrow phase of a subject and original in selection, evaluation, expression, and conclusion.
“Maturity is when your world opens up and you realize that you are not the center of it.” –M.J. Croan. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the path to maturity through the character Scout who exhibits the journey it takes to accept one’s responsibility and limitations. Shaping the mockingbird as a representation of innocence, it is stated “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, symbolizing Scout as she gradually becomes more mature throughout the novel, consequently leaving behind her innocence while also reconstructing her empathy and tolerance for others. Similarly Scout and I were both naïve to the world around us, but because of witnessing first-hand the inhumanity around us blatantly displayed a lack of empathy people contain within them. This was a learning experience for myself because it brought home racial discrimination in an event that will
If you like the Gourmet Detective series, please watch tonight and let Hallmark know you want more of these. There is a danger that this will be our very last of this series of mystery films. I know there is much that competes for our attention, but if you could find it in your heart, it would be such a wonderful thing to watch, tweet, facebook, and anything else you can muster to bring attention to this series. Let's show Hallmark that we don't want this series to die.
Oedipus began Oedipus Rex as a king, only to end the tale as a blinded beggar. Oedipus' fall from his kingly status was not by accident or because of some other person. Oedipus is the only one that can be blamed for his misfortune. Oedipus' character traits are shown most clearly during his spiraling downfall, thinking he is "a simple man, who knows nothing", yet knowing more than he realizes by the end of the story.
During my ride on a crowded subway headed toward downtown, I met two deceitfully ordinary people named Nate and Claire. Claire, the first to spark conversation, introduced herself as a columnist for an impressive, well-known newspaper. With not a hair out of place or as much as a wrinkle on her blouse, she was nothing short of a perfectionist. She was young, almost too young to look so stressed. Nate, who appeared just as young, looked like he was fresh off of Wall Street. Everything about him exuberated wealth from the clothes he wore to the deepness of his voice. But it was easy to see he wasn’t happy with his life. Just one look into his sallow eyes, and you could see guilt the size of his fortune.
The tragic hero is defined by Aristotle as "a great man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (Aristotle n. pag.). There are a few principles that Aristotle believes to form a tragic hero: the protagonist should be a person of power and nobility, who makes a major error in judgment and eventually comes to realization of his or her actions (Aristotle n. pag.). In Arthur Millers’ play, Death of a Salesman, he has twisted Aristotle’s belief of a tragic hero, and has created his own. Although Miller has twisted Aristotle’s belief, Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic hero (Oedipus) that follows the flaws, dignity, and acknowledgment of the truth that Aristotle believes in to make a tragic hero. It is essential for them to recognize their position and role in the play. Due to the fact that Willy Loman and Oedipus experience tragic flaws throughout their respected plays, they both have nobility, and they both realize the fact (anagnorisis) that they made an error in their life (hamartia). Through their fatal mis-steps, their pride and ego, predominately affect their familial lives, which in turn causes them to realize the truth that they are tragic heroes.
Sophocles is perhaps one of the greatest tragedians ever. Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain. This pain stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. Oedipus freely chooses to pursue and accept his own life's destruction. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.
is 'he' knows all but judges nothing. On the first page it seems it is
“The Dying Detective” was dramatized by Michael and Mollie Hardwick. The short story became a theatre play and had an interesting take of Sherlock Holmes’s way to solve a mystery. One morning, Watson came to visit Sherlock since he worried for his dear friend after hearing he had fallen ill. He spoke of an illness from a type of plant- Watson had never been cognizant or aware of this illness. However, Sherlock had feigned his illness. He objected to any medical assistance from Watson. Instead, he demanded that he wanted Culverton Smith to treat him since he had experience in the study of plants. Sherlock did not wish for Smith to treat him. Instead it was a way to lure him and reveal his undoing. Smith was a man who caused another being’s death by the name of Victor Savage- his own cousin. Sherlock was determined to reveal his true colors with a very clever plan.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.