Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother unawares, discovers this horrible truth when he becomes King of Thebes, and then gouges his own eyes as punishment. Written by Sophocles, the play Oedipus Rex is considered by many as the perfect tragedy and its protagonist, Oedipus, the perfect tragic hero. This paper will break down the dramatic structure of the play into four major parts: exposition, rising action, climax and denouement, and will discuss how the limitation of time is used to raise tension in the play.
Exposition in Oedipus Rex sets up the world of the play. A plague has befallen the city of Thebes and its citizens have come to their loved and respected King Oedipus’ palace to beg for a solution, for action. Aware of the …show more content…
Tiresias cryptically tells Oedipus that the truth will only bring him pain, but Oedipus curses and accuses the old man of being the murderer. Tiresias then reveals that it was Oedipus himself who killed Laius. To which Oedipus replies by accusing him and Creon of conspiring against him, and dismisses Tiresias as insane. To prove his seer powers, Tiresias speaks about Oedipus’ parents. Oedipus asks Tiresias how and what he knows about his parents, but the old man only tells him that Laius’ killer will turn out to be both the son of his own wife and father and brother to his own children. More rising action elements include Oedipus threatening Creon with exile or death and Oedipus’ wife, Jocasta, telling Oedipus that Laius was killed by thieves just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus then tells Jocasta that his own parents didn’t raise him and that when he went to the oracle to ask about his true parentage, the oracle only told him that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, Oedipus left home, a never to return. On the road, on his way to Thebes, he admits to having killed in self-defense a group of men who confronted him. He begins to believe that he is the murderer, but Jocasta convinces him otherwise, especially after hearing form a messenger that Oedipus’ father has …show more content…
First, the events of the play take place during real time and during the course of a few hours, giving the audience the impression that they are following the action as it unfolds. The need to find the murderer in order to end the plague is another example of how the limitation of time is used to increase the tension and raise the stakes.
One of the reasons why Oedipus Rex is considered a masterpiece of classic drama has to do with its perfect tragedy structure. It is a moving, visceral experience to read this play, partly because it unfolds tautly, each event leading to the next, and creating tension, leading to a tragic resolution. In conclusion, this paper has illustrated the breakdown of the dramatic structure of the play into four major parts: exposition, rising action, climax and denouement, and discussed how the limitation of time is used to raise tension in the
Exposition in Oedipus Rex sets up the world of the play. A plague has befallen the city of Thebes and its citizens have come to their loved and respected King Oedipus’ palace to beg for a solution, for action. Aware of the …show more content…
Tiresias cryptically tells Oedipus that the truth will only bring him pain, but Oedipus curses and accuses the old man of being the murderer. Tiresias then reveals that it was Oedipus himself who killed Laius. To which Oedipus replies by accusing him and Creon of conspiring against him, and dismisses Tiresias as insane. To prove his seer powers, Tiresias speaks about Oedipus’ parents. Oedipus asks Tiresias how and what he knows about his parents, but the old man only tells him that Laius’ killer will turn out to be both the son of his own wife and father and brother to his own children. More rising action elements include Oedipus threatening Creon with exile or death and Oedipus’ wife, Jocasta, telling Oedipus that Laius was killed by thieves just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus then tells Jocasta that his own parents didn’t raise him and that when he went to the oracle to ask about his true parentage, the oracle only told him that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, Oedipus left home, a never to return. On the road, on his way to Thebes, he admits to having killed in self-defense a group of men who confronted him. He begins to believe that he is the murderer, but Jocasta convinces him otherwise, especially after hearing form a messenger that Oedipus’ father has …show more content…
First, the events of the play take place during real time and during the course of a few hours, giving the audience the impression that they are following the action as it unfolds. The need to find the murderer in order to end the plague is another example of how the limitation of time is used to increase the tension and raise the stakes.
One of the reasons why Oedipus Rex is considered a masterpiece of classic drama has to do with its perfect tragedy structure. It is a moving, visceral experience to read this play, partly because it unfolds tautly, each event leading to the next, and creating tension, leading to a tragic resolution. In conclusion, this paper has illustrated the breakdown of the dramatic structure of the play into four major parts: exposition, rising action, climax and denouement, and discussed how the limitation of time is used to raise tension in the