The Blind Nature of Oedipus
One of the main themes in Oedipus the King is blindness. Not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. This issue is an effective contrasting method for Oedipus at different points in the play. By saying "blindness", however, is a little misleading. It can be broken down into two sections: Oedipus's ability to "see", and his willingness to "see". The word "see" can be used in both contexts. Throughout the play, these two details are always at the center of the play. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect sight or vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past, which relates to the idea of "truth v.s. appearance". He desperately wants to know, and to understand, but he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be to overcome the blindness. Ironically, into the play is introduced a prophet, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who has great mental power. This justifies Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot.
Oedipus the King is a true tragedy in the sense that fate and Oedipus' own tragic flaw combined through the play to bring about his downfall. A Translation of Oedipus the King N. After realizing his flaw of fleeing his fate and actually killing his father, he was desperate to find the truth. This writer thinks it was an act of cowardice because he didn't want to accept the situation the way he "saw" it, and decided instead not to see it at all. Jocasta, his mother/wife, was in this way, a victim. Oedipus had changed dramatically throughout the end of the play. What makes it much more tragic though is that the events were, for the most part, out of Oedipus' control. Even though she brought it upon herself, by not telling Oedipus that she knew of his fate, it was at this moment when she became aware of her punishment. In desperation at this point, she kills herself. This just shows how much pain his fate is bringing to everyone. In his case though, he wanted to see the truth and he finally got that chance. Unfortunately, this does not help his problem. Now Oedipus has gone through it all.
Common topics in this essay:
Oedipus King,
Oedipus Oedipus,
Unfortunately Oedipus,
Greek God's,
Saunders Blind,
Brocco English,
beginning play,
oedipus king,
Publishers Inc,
King Sophocles',
tragic flaw,
oedipus oedipus,
physical blindness,
throughout play,
kill father,
oedipus fate,
accept fate,
didn't truth,
|
Acceptance Essays
