Choose six very powerful lines from the play, one for each category: plot, character, thought, diction, melody. Note where they appear in the play, so that you can refer to them later: lines that foreshadow later events, lines that reveal a conflict, lines that reveal a character’s personality, lines that explain why a character behaves that way, lives that refer to past events, lines that seem like sage advice. Prepare a brief explication of each of the lines chosen, relating them to the category, to the specific scene in which they appear, and to the work at large. You cannot have the same quotes.
Quote 3
ReplyDeleteThe plot of "Oedipus the King" is the most important element of the story. The plot focuses on cause and effect. After Oedipus discovers the truth about himself he yells,
"Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,
Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand(Scene IV line 73-74)!"
His cry summarizes the entire plot of the tragedy. Oedipus was "damned in his birth," because he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. His marriage was "damned," because he married his mother. He was "damned" because he killed his own father. The tragedy of the plot draws the audience into the story. The audience feels pity for the Oedipus. He did not know that he was killing his father and marrying his mother. He even thought he was escaping his fate when he left his adoptive parents in Corinth. Oedipus is cursed, and it does not seem fair. Oedipus thinks that he is to blame, because he curses himself. However, the audience may not blame him.
“All understood too late” (Fourth chorus)
ReplyDeleteMelody: The chorus’ function in Oedipus is to summarize each section respectively in the play, and to also explain the Thebans opinions of everything that has happened. At the end of the act where Oedipus figures out the Delphi's prophecy has came true, the chorus noted that it was “All understood too late.” Though Oedipus committed many crimes, including the murder of the previous king, his father, the Thebans still pity him because he was unaware of what he was really doing. Oedipus spent most of his time trying to find the man who killed the king, and also to avoid the fate that the Delphi predicted, even though he was the murder and the prophecy had already came true. Including the chorus in the play emphasizes the tragedy that had really taken place, and helps create sympathy for Oedipus.
Melody Lines 1-4 pg. 1176
ReplyDelete"The Delphic stone of prophecies remembers ancient regicide and a still bloody hand."
The chorus summarize each scene of the play in the ode. They do not explicitly state what has happened in each scene, but kind of describes it in a vague way. I think that in these lines the chorus knows what Oedipus did. The "stone" knows that Oedipus killed his father, the King. Teiresias may have told to chorus what has happened and who killed the King, but Oedipus at this point does not know that he was the one who killed the King. The chorus seems to summarize in this stanza at first and then sympathize for Oedipus. Oedipus has the "bloody hand" since he killed his father. It seems that the chorus describes it in a way that everybody knows he did it except Oedipus. He is blind to what he did.
Spectacle “When she came raging into the house she went straight / to her marriage bed, tearing her hair / with both her hands, and crying upon Laios / long dead” This scene is a spectacle because it enhances the idea of the play being a complete tragedy. While Oedipus seems to be the main character who tragedy is bestowed on, Iocaste too suffers the wrath of Oedipus’ prophecy. Iocaste is included in the play in order to emphasize the reach of the tragedy and how it goes beyond just Oedipus. This scene in particular shows the extent of which Iocaste is devastated by the tragedy. So if the audience/reader does not emphasize with Oedipus, they might at least with Iocaste which reinforces the idea of the play being a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSpectacle Exodos lines 43-45
ReplyDelete"For the King ripped from her gown the golden brooches/That were her ornament, and raised them, and plunged them down/Straight into his own eyeballs"
This spectacle on stage would very much have added to the scene as a whole. The audience would see a man snap before their eyes. His whole world has been so corrupted that he would prefer that he could not see it at all. So he stabs his eyes until there is nothing but darkness to him. Seeing this spectacle performed would make this a true performance beyond just something being read or recited to the audience.
Thought:
ReplyDelete"Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds,
To learn my lineage, be it ne'er so low.
It may be she with all a woman's pride
Thinks scorn of my base parentage. But I
Who rank myself as Fortune's favorite child,
The giver of good gifts, shall not be shamed.
She is my mother and the changing moons
My brethren, and with them I wax and wane.
Thus sprung why should I fear to trace my birth?
Nothing can make me other than I am. (1077-1086)"
This passage highlights the inner turmoil Oedipus is facing: if he ignores the prophecy he is doomed, but if he relies on the past too heavily he faces a similar fate. This is part of the reason he did not listen to Teiresias at first, because he was too confused to fully comprehend the advice he was given. The way he saw it, he was going to be stuck no matter which way he tried.
I was to slay my father. And he dies,
ReplyDeleteAnd the grave hides him; and I find myself
Handling no sword; unless for love of me
He pined away, and so I caused his death.
Plot:
Oedipus realizing it was really his fate all along to kill his father and sleep with his mother is a climax of the plot in Oedipus Rex. He blinds himself because of this and his wife Jocasta hangs herself because of the thought of being with her son. This is a very important plot element because this is when Oedipus realizes who he is and everything he has done. His tragic flaw of pride is overcome with the idea that he was with his mother and killed his father. One cannot help but to feel bad for Oedipus as everything that has gone wrong in his life is his own fault. The fate that the prophet had forseen for him was true.