The Role of Oedipus - Essay Example

At the same time, the relation of each character with the society and their role as a social creature is equally important. This gives the scope to understand and study the play from a social perspective and allow reading the play as a social document.Amidst all these critical themes intertwined within the periphery of the play, appears many incongruencies with respect to character portrayal and plot development. A central inconsistency pervades the play which expresses restlessness concern and therefore raises much critical thinking.

The identity of Oedipus, more precisely various roles Oedipus played within the play forms an important document to understand the motif of the playwright in presenting Oedipus with so many faces and facets. Oedipus is shown from the context of every relation. Starting from the perspective of a King to a son, husband, brother, and father, Oedipus is seen playing different roles throughout the play. In every relation, Oedipus tries to fulfill his responsibilities with his utmost potentials but fails somewhere.

Oedipus is shown as a victim of a relentless attack of fate and often this particular area of the play is open to many dispositions that conform whether Oedipus is a victim of fate or his miseries are a consequence of his own action (Fagles, “The Three Theban Plays”).Fate inevitably plays an important role in the tragic fall of the great King Oedipus. Oedipus himself cannot be held responsible for his own tragic fall. Instigated by the prophecies made by the blind prophet Tiresias, he tries in every possible way to escape from the predictions.

But to his own ignorance, Oedipus kills his father and marries his own mother. Conflict is important rather than the dominant device in building the climax of any play. The denouement of the play ought to center around a conflict inevitably. This conflict in the drama “Oedipus Rex” constitutes of the conflict between various facets of Oedipus. There is a complete absence of any external conflict building the denouement of the play. The most important conflict at the denouement of the play, “Oedipus Rex” occurs at a place where the internal conflict of the great king Oedipus becomes evident (Fagles, “The Three Theban Plays”).