Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Plot in Tragedy
According to Aristotle (and who wants to try and argue with him),Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as “the arrangement of the incidents”: i.e., not the story itself but the way the incidents are presented to the audience, the structure of the play. According to Aristotle, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions are superior to those that depend primarily on the character and personality of the protagonist. How do we currently see this concept of plot in Oedipus Rex? How is the play structured? Does it begin with cause or effect? Examine the chain of actions.
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Already, a chain of effects is occurring, starting way back when the protagonist is born. Oedipus is already being arrogant and cocky, having to much confidence in himself and believing that he is right, which has already resulted in the almost death of Creon, and the dismissal of a seer, who was telling the truth. The play is structured around the vision the first seer had long ago, and the events are just happening around it. It's like a chart, with the prophecy in the middle and the small reactions attached to it by threads, spreading out around it. It begins with cause, I would say, since Oedipus killed the king, and had to take the kingdom as his own. And the prophecy was a cause as well, and everything happening is like its effects.
ReplyDeleteIn Oedipus Rex, the play starts with an effect and the cause unfold throughout to rest of the play. The effect being the murder of the king and the plague, and the cause is the prophecy, which Oedipus finds out about later on in the play. In the beginning Oedipus sets out to avenge the death of Laios, and learns he may have killed the king, then about the prophecy, that there is proof he killed the king, and finally that he is married to his mother and the prophecy is true. All of the latter being the causes.
ReplyDeleteThe plot is very key in tragedies because of the importance of the way the events need to take place in order for the story to have the impact that it does to an audience. The sophisticated characters and interactions is what gives a tragedy its power, and ultimately what allows for a concluion in the end. The plot in Oedipus Rex plays a huge role in how the characters interact and how the stroy develops. It is all centered around a mystery and the findings throughout the story, that help to lead up to the final conclusion, and the prophecy is answered. The death of the king is what appears to be the initial tragedy, and the fatal plague, but it is more about the tragedy of Oedipus, and his predicament, than anything else.
ReplyDeleteWhen we begin the play, Oedipus is the mighty king of Thebes. He is an honorable man, with a family and a wife. But this is the effect, not the cause. We later find out the cause. We find out why Oedipus wound up in Thebes, how he the previous king of Thebes went missing, and how Oedipus became king. So this concept of cause and effect is sort of like the foundation of the plot. Except is would be more like the effect, and then the cause of the effect. The cause, as we learn, happened early on in Oedipus' childhood, and later in his adulthood (before he was king). So when the play begins, we see the effect of those earlier actions.
ReplyDeleteWhen we begin the play, Oedipus is the mighty king of Thebes. He is an honorable man, with a family and a wife. But this is the effect, not the cause. We later find out the cause. We find out why Oedipus wound up in Thebes, how he the previous king of Thebes went missing, and how Oedipus became king. So this concept of cause and effect is sort of like the foundation of the plot. Except is would be more like the effect, and then the cause of the effect. The cause, as we learn, happened early on in Oedipus' childhood, and later in his adulthood (before he was king). So when the play begins, we see the effect of those earlier actions.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of Oedipus Rex begins with a struggle and is only further complicated, instead of resolved as the story progresses. The order of events within the text begins with the curse on Thebes, a lack of communication about Laius's murder, and has built to Oedipus realizing that he killed his father and slept with his mother. This isn't the order in which events took place in a truly chronological manner. Also, the story begins with the effect and works backwards in an unconventional manner to develop the story and effectively represent the plot. Thus, Oedipus Rex is a perfect example of Aristotle's definition of plot, or the arrangement of incidents.
ReplyDeleteThe chain of cause and effect takes into affect at the beginning of the story; the play starts when the king is killed because of the plague. It is then sought out to avenge the king. The reader gains knowledge of the prophecy of Oedipus. His family tries to avoid this cause but mistakenly sets it into place, previously. Oedipus puts a curse on the murderer unknowingly. He then sends Creon to send for Theriesias accuses Oedipus of the murder. He then leaves after the confrontation and Oedipus and Creon quarrel over what was said, as Oedipus cannot stand being questioned and told he is the reason as to why Thebes has been plagued. He then faces his wife and she consoles him by telling that there is no way that their stories match, so the servant who was there the day Oedipus kills the five men is to be brought forth and questioned. This leads to the thought that if their stories are even slightly similar, wouldn't they begin to suspect something is amiss. The arrangement of the incidents clues the reader in to what will happen in the future, by giving subtle hints along the way (not to mention a prophecy). The effects of previous actions happen later in his life.
ReplyDeleteAn important feature in plot of tragedy stories is the downfall of a character, for this to be executed well a character must start from a place of a good. In this story Oedipus is originally displayed as someone who wants the best for the citizens of Thebes and is a selfless, kind man. As the plot thickens we learn more and more about how he came to be the evils he has (unknowingly?) done. We watch and begin to understand the downfall of Oedipus as we learn more and more of how things came to be. It isn't until the end of the story until we and the characters understand all points of the story.
ReplyDeleteWe currently see the concept of plot in Oedipus Rex when Oedipus has established himself as the ruler of Thebes he realizes he killed the previous king, which was just announced to the audience, without realizing it. When it was announced that he killed the king after he established his rule it gives the tragedy of the story which is that Oedipus killed the king, which the audience knows is his father, which makes it seem like he stole the throne. It begins with an effect because it starts with the plague of Thebes which was caused by the death of the previous king. Oedipus then said he would find out who the murder was and goes to a blind man who, reluctant at first, tells him that he killed the previous king.
ReplyDeleteThe play starts out with effect, Oedipus is addressing the city after the king was viciously murdered and states how because of that he won't stop till he finds the culprit that murdered the great King. You can really start to see the concept of the plot towards the middle of the play when Oedipus sent out Creon to get the oracle and the readers start to learn that Oedipus was the one who murdered the king who was his father and married his mother just like the prophecy says, the play is constructed so it starts at the end of the story but has flashbacks as you can put it throughout the story so it jumps from the end to the beginning. It starts off with a major plot event at the beginning which is the king is dead and Oedipus becomes the new king, then the next big event of the story is the unavailing of the prophecy and realizing that Oedipus has did exactly what the oracle said he would do.
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