The dramatic irony lies in the fact that the killer is searching for nobody but himself unknowingly. This is the announcement that elevated the tragic effect of the discovery, which comes towards the end of the play. Oedipus says to the herdsman “may I look my last upon you, shown monstrous in my birth, in marriage monstrous, a murderer monstrous in those I killed” (715.1185-89). As the play nears the end Oedipus realizes that he the one who killed the king and that the prophecy had been fulfilled because the people who thought were his real parents were his adopted parents. Oedipus comes and tells the city that in fact he is the one who killed the king and was sleeping with his mother and will except the capital punishment. What an ending to a life that is full of confusion and dramatic
The dramatic irony lies in the fact that the killer is searching for nobody but himself unknowingly. This is the announcement that elevated the tragic effect of the discovery, which comes towards the end of the play. Oedipus says to the herdsman “may I look my last upon you, shown monstrous in my birth, in marriage monstrous, a murderer monstrous in those I killed” (715.1185-89). As the play nears the end Oedipus realizes that he the one who killed the king and that the prophecy had been fulfilled because the people who thought were his real parents were his adopted parents. Oedipus comes and tells the city that in fact he is the one who killed the king and was sleeping with his mother and will except the capital punishment. What an ending to a life that is full of confusion and dramatic