How does Oedipus Rex Exhibits Weakness of Character - Essay Example

? How does Oedipus Rex Exhibit Weakness of Character? Oedipus Rex is one of the popular plays and has been studiedvarious times in literature classes and analyzed by professional critics. It has been a subject of attention because of its issues with regards to the personality and the challenges the protagonist faced all throughout the play. In addition, the play reflected the ancient culture of Greece as the Greeks were the ones who popularize the play as part of the knowledge development and their cultural heritage. The play opened with a plague in Thebes, the land of Oedipus. In response, he sent Creon, his brother-in-law to the oracle at the worshiping place for Apollo. Creon returned bearing the news that once the murderer of the former King Lauis had been banished, the plague will end (Sophocles 12). Then, the blind prophet named Teiresias was pursued by Oedipus for interrogation, but the prophet denied him of any answers. Oedipus threatened the blind prophet until he got the answer. Oedipus became furious when he was accused as the murderer of his father and marrying his mother that will lead to a blind life (Sophocles 26). When Oedipus went back to the palace, he saw Creon and charged him with treason (Sophocles 36). Luckily, Jocasta and the Chorus begged Oedipus for mercy. Creon was able to escape (Sophocles 41). Then, Jocasta comforted Oedipus as she guaranteed him that oracles do not work as she experienced the lies of the prophecy (Sophocles 46). According to her story, she and Laius gave their son to a shepherd to kill him using a pin and prevent the prophecy of having their son committing the murder over his father. What really happened was the murder happened where three roads meet and five robbers were responsible for the crime that killed Laius (Sophocles 45). The story matched the memory of Oedipus so he called for the witness. Jocasta was surprised as Oedipus shared his story when he learned that he was not the son of the father he knew and he had killed a man at the crossing of three roads due to insult from his victim (Sophocles 55). Afterwards, Polybus, the known father of Oedipus was reported to be dead. They rejoiced for a little bit as Jocasta had taken it as a proof to support her claims that oracles are worthless. The prophecy will not come true according to a messenger as Merope was not the real mother of Oedipus and he would not visit Corinth (Sophocles 95). The messenger started to reveal what he knew though the servant was the one who knew the whole truth regarding the baby who grew up to be Oedipus (Sophocles 99). With that, Jocasta came to understand the whole truth and tried to stop Oedipus from knowing it. He did not stop from knowing the truth and got the answers from the old shepherd. He went back to the palace and saw Jocasta in a chamber hanging (Sophocles 77). In response, he took her brooch and blinded himself and set for an eternal exile. Before leaving the city, he left his children under the care of Creon while the Chorus lamented for the tragic fate that came upon their King. Oedipus had shown his strength and highness as he had shown from the start of the play. He was able to save Thebes from the sphinx and its curse by solving the riddles. Oedipus was depicted as strong and intelligent that made him a king quickly. He was also known for being wise as he can make good decisions that earned the trust of the people of Thebes (Ramphos 5). Slowly, the image projected by Oedipus changed as his fate came to his senses. He did not expect that a tragedy would approach him as he was all high and mighty being the king of Thebes. He was viewed as a savior and a hero who happened to free the people from curse. His downturn as a character was shown with his hasty decisions and actions when he got the first answer regarding the solution to the plague. It showed his swiftness in action, but that time depicted his weakness as he accused Creon of paying the blind prophet Teiresias for condemning Oedipus as the source of the plague. It seemed that Oedipus could not believe the words that the blind seer uttered as the former viewed himself as a hero who saved many lives from a sphinx. His nobility and character was questioned when he could not accept the judgment or criticism from other people. He was blinded by his sudden surge of emotion that he applied on Creon and Teiresias (Mazor 68). The common depiction of his strength had turned into his weakness when he became closed-minded. He thought that the seer said something that was too bad to be true. In addition, his use of violence to threaten Teiresias caused a huge collapse in his integrity as a just ruler who should be treating his subjects fairly. He should have not lost his composure as a good leader must be objective instead of being emotional. He might have released his emotions but in other ways and not on the prophet and his brother-in-law. He had also implanted distrust over his brother-in-law despite of his supposed closeness with him as the brother of his wife. As a king, he also showed his weakness as his past self way before he became the leader of Thebes, he had shown his short temper as he was embarrassed by King Laius and his men according to his memory (Harvey et al. 47). Instead of making peace and finding a way out, he clashed with his real father without knowing it that ultimately led to the death of Laius. His truth-seeking also led him to his own downfall which may be shown as his good quality at first. Truth-seeking has been known as part of human existence as a motivation to explore and learn about the world around. In the case of Oedipus, it had shown as part of his superb intelligence which might have brought about a tragedy to him. In addition, he has the tendency to solve riddles just like when he saved Thebes from the Sphinx (Moddelmog 83). Maybe he had known a lot that showed how too much of anything may bring about negativities in life. His truth-seeking may have been spoiled by his ignorance of the truth. The case also applies to Jocasta as both of them have the memories of having the crossroads where King Lauis was killed. They had ignored the possibility that the prophecy might be true as they tried to look for ways to prove that Oedipus is innocent (Ramphos 110). Despite the sharing and matching of the details in their stories, they still continued with the truth-seeking process especially for Oedipus. Jocasta had tried to stop him when she was able to understand the whole scenario through the testimony of the servant who supposedly gave the baby Oedipus to a shepherd. That baby was supposedly dead as he was left alone on top of the mountain to prevent the prophecy from happening. As a husband, he might look at himself as a model before he knew the truth regarding the prophecy. During the ancient times until now, it has been a taboo to engage in incestuous relationships like having own mother as wife just like in the case of Oedipus (Pile 114). It might be out of his control, but it was considered to be a sin when one committed the act. He had taken his own mother to bed and even bore children which led to his own children to be his siblings too. Lastly, he became a pawn of his fate as he was not able to control the direction of his life despite of his efforts to avoid the prophecy revealed by the oracle of Apollo (Scodel 148). In fact, he was bound to his fate starting with his name as Oedipus which means swollen feet. He had swollen feet in childhood when he was tried to be killed by piercing a pin on his ankles. Truly, the life of Oedipus had been shown to contain ironies which showed how his heroic strengths have their failure counterparts that ultimately forced him to exile and a life with permanent darkness. He became the victim of his fate and of his own sanction for the killer. It may have shown that man is imperfect no matter how much he planned and despite of his exemplary capabilities. Work Cited Harvey, Max, Nigel Williams, and Marcus Harvey. A Student's Guide to AS Drama and Theatre Studies for the Edexcel Specification. London: Rhinegold Publishing, 2004. Print. Mazor, Yair. Somber Lust: The Art of Amos Oz. USA: State University of New York, 2002. Print. Moddelmog, Debra. Readers and Mythic Signs: The Oedipus Myth in Twentieth-Century Fiction. USA: Southern Illinois University, 1993. Print. Pile, Steve. The Body and the City: Psychoanalysis, Space and Subjectivity. USA: Routledge, 1996. Print. Ramphos, Stelios. Fate And Ambiguity in Oedipus the King. USA: Somerset Hall Press, 2006. Print. Scodel, Ruth. An Introduction to Greek Tragedy. USA: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Trans. David Mulroy. USA: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. Print. Read More