Oedipus the King by Sophocles - Book Report/Review Example

Number Oedipus the King The play unfolds as a murder mystery mythical story of patricide and incest of a son marrying his own mother. It was prepared by Sophocles in an Athenian setting of a country called Thebes. At the beginning of the play, a group of residents come to the king to plead with him to lift the plague that has befallen the land. The king has sent Creon, his brother in law to the oracle to enquire what he should do. Upon his return from the oracle Creon informs that the oracle requires them to establish and truck down the killer of Laius who was king of Thebes before Oedipus and that the discovery and punishment of Laius murderer would end the plague.. It is dramatic irony that the residents are seeking the solution to the problem from the one person causing their suffering by killing his predecessor king Laius. Both the residents and king Oedipus are privy of this fact. Dramatic irony is an aspect of style used in literary analysis in which the words as well as the actions of the characters in a given work of literature portray a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters themselves. The situation arises when the reader seem to have a wider knowledge than the characters in the story. It can further be defined as a dramatic effect in which the audience is lead to develop an understanding of an incongruity that exist between a given situation and the accompanying speeches while the characters in the play are completely not aware of the incongruity. Dramatic irony comes when the old prophet, Tiresias is summoned by the king; Oedipus ridicules him because he is blind. The audience understands that Oedipus is blind to the truth. Tiresias in a fit of anger tells Oedipus that though he can see he is “blind” to the truth. When Oedipus becomes blind, he finally realizes the truth of what Tiresias had told him. The dramatic irony is that it is actually the blind man who sees in mocking Tiresias, Oedipus calls Tiresias “shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot. It is ironical when Oedipus calls the old man shameless when he is actually the one who is shameless for killing his father, inheriting his throne and marrying his own mother. When he vows not to stop until he finds and punishes Laius’ killer he says: “Now, since I am ruler and holds this kingdom that he held before- holding also the bed and wife we have both sown; and children of the same mother would have been born to us, had his line not been ill-fated-since chance (270) has driven me into that one’s powers, therefore I shall fight for him in this matter, as if for my own father, and I shall try everything, seeking to find the one who committed the murder for Labdacus’ son, (275) son of polydorus, and before him Cadmus and Agenor, kings of old”. These words are full of irony. There is tragic dramatic irony when Jocasta disapproves oracle. When the messenger arrives to inform Oedipus about the death of his ‘father’ king Polybus through natural death she gets overjoyed that the oracle has been proved wrong and even cries triumphantly. “Where are you new, divine prognostications? The man whom Oedipus has avoided all these years, Lest he should kill him dead! By a natural death. And by no act of his!” It shudders the audience as they realize the coming tragedy when Jocasta learns the bitter truth that the oracles are actually true. Dramatic irony is also found in Oedipus’ efforts to get the murderer of his predecessor king Laius so that he can lift the plague from his people when he is actually the murderer. Oedipus is cursing himself when he thinks he is cursing the murderer of Laius. Oedipus runs away from Corinth to avoid fulfilling the prophecy he had been told by some oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother. It is dramatically ironic that he runs away into a process of fulfilling the same prophesy he is running away from In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the main dramatic irony throughout the play is that the audience knows that Romeo and Juliet are doomed, while the characters do not. The audience also knows that Romeo and Juliet will fall in love and are in danger. When Juliet warns Romeo in Act II, scene 2, Romeo dismisses it saying: “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye (75)…Than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity.’ (Act II, Scene 2, p. 40) In act II, Scene 2, there is dramatic irony when Juliet addresses Romeo thinking he is not there while the audience knows he is there when she says “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? (35) Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. (p. 39)” In act 1 scene5 Romeo and Juliet dance together. They have no idea that their families are enemies yet the audience knows this. They come to learn about each other’s family when they have already fallen in love. There dancing without the knowledge of the enmity existing between their family creates the tragic dramatic tragedy of the effects of their falling in love when each of their families cannot stand their marriage. This can be linked to the story of Oedipus the King when the old soothsayer visits the King. Oedipus ridicules the man because hes blind, and Tiresias in a fit of anger tells the king that though he can see he is "blind" to the truth. In Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, Norrington thinks that Jack Sparrow is the worst pirate he has ever seen. Later, when Jack manages to steal Orrington’s fastest ship, his First Mate comments, ‘That’s got to be the best pirate ever seen.’ By this First Mate is complimenting Jack. He is also using a phrase that nearly mimics Norrington’s insult a fact the audience knows very well. This brings out dramatic irony that leaves the audience excited for so many reasons at the same time. This aspect can be compare to the case when Oedipus has been seeking to find out the murderer of the previous king in order to solve the plague, but in fact, he is the murderer just like Jack. The more efforts and endeavors he takes, the more ironic he seems to be. Work Cited Sophocles, E A, and Gilbert Murray. Oedipus the King [oedipus Rex]. Lexington, KY: ReadaClassic.com, 2011. Print. Read More