Consider the Role of Minor Characters in the Play
“CONSIDER THE ROLE OF MINOR CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY. WHAT DO THEY DO TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DRAMA?” The drama ‘Oedipus the King’ is a classical tragedy by Sophocles set in the ancient city of Thebes. The characters learn that the city is corrupted by a deadly plague, leading them to remove the same. The play is very ironic as curses called upon the deadly plague falls upon the one who had called them out – King Oedipus. In my view, the major characters are king Oedipus, Jocasta, Creon and Tiresisas. The minor characters are the chorus, the Corinthian shepherd, the messenger from inside the palace, the two daughters of Oedipus, priest and attendants. In this essay, I will be discussing the role of these minor characters in the play and what they do to contribute to the drama. In the drama, the knowledge that some characters posses is very crucial in developing the plot. This is contained by the minor characters. The knowledge is the basic foundation of Oedipus’ future, either to remain king of Thebes or to be sentenced to death or exile forever. The main theme is that every man is born with a pre-destined future. Now matter how hard you try to change it, the truth (the knowledge)will always come back. . . .
Later as we will see, a messenger from inside the palace is also brought into the picture, so that the ideas are confirmed by one more witness. The truth of Oedipus’ birth and Lauis’ murder is backed up in the play from Tiresias, to the messenger and finally to the shepherd. He is also the man who had presented the infant Oedipus to Polybus after he had been abandoned by the Theban shepherd. 16 onwards, we can see that the dialogue between both these characters are one line each. He was the first one to bring in to light the primary truth, that Polybus was not actually Oedipus’ biological father – (Messenger): “Polybus was nothing to you, that’s why, not in blood. The priest, a very respected character, is used to give an accurate situation of the situation of the city of Thebes. The dialogue between King Oedipus and the messenger is very dramatic. Oedipus finally realises himself that everyone else was right and then only regrets for it. We have also seen examples of dialogues between Oedipus and these people once the truth was spoken. There are also sub-effects following the unravelling of truth in the play. He states this very subtly, “The queen is dead”. The messenger from the palace conveys to the reader that the queen is dead. Moreover, the minor characters play a big role in piecing the play together.
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