Results of Selfish Behavior in Oedipus the King - Essay Example

OEDIPUS THE KING Oedipus the King is one of the greatest tragedies the world has ever produced. Composed by the distinguished philosopher and playwright of ancient Greece, Sophocles, the tragedy explores how destiny plays principal role in human life. Humans are unable to escape the misfortunes that had been predetermined by Nature for them. Consequently, all their efforts and struggles to avoid the most horrible and obnoxious incidents of life end in failure and turn out to be futile and ineffectual in the long run. Hence, the theme of the tragedy Oedipus the King is that humans are absolutely vulnerable in the hands of their fate, and cannot overcome it by devising strategies or playing tricks. It is particularly true while going through the susceptible doom of Queen Jocasta, the ill-fated wife and mother in the tragedy. As the chorus (lines 1204-1210) enquires the name of the most wretched mother, who has given birth to such an ill-fated child, which would be the murderer of his father and the spouse of his mother in his grown years. Though the entire family of the King including Laius himself, his wife Queen Jocasta and son King Oedipus are the equal share-holders in their tragedy, it is the queen who is the greatest sufferer from the beginning to the end. The Queen is as one of the most powerful characters of the play. Her character can be analysed from the birth of her first born. Though she belongs to the same culture and civilization overwhelming majority of which maintains unflinching faith in the prophecies, yet the Queen has least reverence for the soothsayers and their predictions since the birth of the child. Despite the very reality that she did not believe in soothsayer’s prophecy regarding her newly born child, she displayed unabated love for her husband, King Laius and advised him not to believe in such prophecies and forecasts regarding the fate of the child. Being a highly dedicated and sacrificing wife, she suggested her husband to kill the child to avoid any mishap in his future years to come. She quite unknowingly believes that the child was dead on the third day of his birth; for the former King Laius and Queen Jocasta abandoned themselves of their own son because they wanted to escape the danger about their fate as well as that of their son. In the play, Jocasta says “Listen to me and learn some peace of mind—no more murdered his father than Laius suffered” (line 780-795). The same plea she takes while advising the Oedipus that the soothsayer had warned them that their own child would murder the father and would marry the mother, but the child was killed when he was only three days old, as King Laius pierced and pinned his ankles together and gave it to be cast away by others on the trackless mountain side. Consequently, the prophecy turned out to be erroneous that the child could be his father's murderer. The tragedy also throws light on the nature of the Queen, according to which she is somewhat selfish sort of lady that does not let anyone obliterate and challenge her own comforts and peace. In the play, Jocasta prays “Lord of the realm, it occurred to me—Look at us, passengers in the grip of fear, watching the pilot of the vessel go to pieces” (line 998-1011). In such excruciating circumstances, when everyone prays for the restoration of collective peace, she prays only for Oedipus and seeks his relief only. She is the direct victim of the murder of King Laius and the sovereign figure of the wretched city, but besides all such atrocious environment, she condemns and censures Creon and other countrymen for making unnecessary noise outside the palace by declaring it a private quarrel. Jocasta says “Have you no sense?—Why make such a furor over nothing?” (Line 709-714). Being the devoted wife of her second husband too, she seeks Oedipus’s peace of mind rather getting worried or paying due heed to the calamity under which the entire city has been undergoing. Similarly, description of her child’s death out of her own decree at the hands of her servant also affirms her self-centredness and geocentricism. She did not even bother to get acquaintance with the whereabouts of her first born, for which she and her husband had issued decree of killing on his third day in the world. It is therefore on Oedipus’s request, Queen Jocasta calls for the same servant appointed for killing the child for enquiry. Oedipus says “I began to see a herald—he brings down his prod, two prongs straight at my head!” (line 885-892). Queen Jocasta is so ignorant and naive that she is unable to examine the irony of destiny that has challenged the very peace of her mind and has destroyed the very foundations of her life altogether. When Oedipus talks to Queen Jocasta, “Jocasta, you remember the man we just sent for?—Courage! Even if my mother turns out to be a slave” (line 1155-1165). Instead of looking into the grave matter seriously and critically, Queen Jocasta consoles King Oedipus and rebukes the prophecies claiming Oedipus as the cause of catastrophe in the city. Furthermore, her sticking to one and the same thing, the death of her first born in his early infancy, made her an obstinate and shallow character of the tragedy. When Jocasta says “Impossible. Trust me—From this day on, I wouldn’t look right or left,” (line 937-948) she is well aware of the fact that neither she nor her deceased husband ever tried to confirm the death of their son,; even then she is resolute and assures Oedipus that her son is dead and since that old prophecy turned out incorrect, the same would be the fate of the allegations and predictions against Oedipus. The tragedy shows that even everyone in the city looks terrified and frightened as a result of the calamity, but Queen Jocasta pretends to be apathetic, indifferent and unsympathetic towards the agonies of the people. Her selfishness leads to her misfortune and ultimate ruin, for she commits suicide on realizing that Oedipus as her real son and husband, and the murderer of her first consort and his real father. (Line 1362-1367) The chorus also mourns over the Queen’s misfortune (line 1195-1201), and the Apollo would announce the fate of both the King and the Queen on the next day. The tragedy although portrays the selfish behaviour of the Queen, but we cannot deny her intellect, wisdom and courage she rendered for the peaceful life of her consort. He unwavering dedication to her consort and sacrifices she made by killing her newly born child make her as the most sublime character of the tragedy. Read More