Sneak King

As Oscar Wilde once said “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” This quote correctly portrays the tragedy that is reveled in Oedipus the king, written Sophocles. Oedipus who is the protagonist in the play is characterized as a tragic hero. As he is a man of high estate and suffers from a tragic flaw, combined with his own fate he is a man who is destined for his downfall. Despite all this, prior to his death, Oedipus shows redeeming qualities and order is finally restored. Oedipus is…

Antigone: a tragic tale “There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; no wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, and proud men in old age learn to be wise.” This quote is one that is representative of many tragic tales, in which a great lesson is learned too late for it to be put into use. Tragedies are known to be found frequently in Greek plays. One of the most famous Greek playwrights, Sophocles, still has surviving texts that remain in print today. Sophocles…

A Dead Man’s Dream Hard work, dedication and initiative are the fundamental values of the great pursuit of success, known as the “American Dream”. Equal to all US citizens, it represents the individual and collective desire to push beyond the boundaries of society and to strive for a better future. For generations, it has been the motivational ground for the progressive development of american civilization. In his critically-acclaimed novel “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald…

name known. His wife took it out of the garbage and he then published it with the help of Doubleday in 1974. He received $2,500 for it. However money was still not easy until Doubleday sold the rights to Carrie to New American Library for $400,000. King received half. He rejoiced and bought his wife a hairdryer. This allowed Stephen to focus completely on writing and becoming an author, full time. His mother, Nellie, died shortly after learning of the sale of Carrie. Three years after it was…

Chivalry An Analysis of three main traits of Chivalry Knights have been around for hundreds of years, and many people recognize knights from medieval stories such as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Although many may view a knight as being someone who wears heavy metal armor, and fights in wars is mistaken. Sure, knights do wear heavy armor and fight in wars, but knights also follow a common code. This common code is chivalry. Chivalry is a code which knights are courteous,…

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, ruled from 534 to 509 BCE after his ascension to the throne by means of murdering his brother-in-law Servius. Tarquinius Superbus, Latin for Tarquinius the Proud, was the son of Rome 's fifth king, the foreigner Lucumo, later named Tarquinius Priscus, who himself was killed by the sons of the king preceding him. Tarquinius Superbus would end his reign in exile after his son Sextus 's transgression against Collantius 's wife Lucretia,…

While a powerful tragic piece departs its reader with a sense of relief, it first derails the reader 's emotions into a frenzy of fear, pity, and sorrow. In Sophocles’ tragic play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus must save Thebes from the dreadful fortune cursed upon them. What Oedipus fails to realize is that he caused the plague through his fulfilled prophecy: to exchange rings with his mother and to terminate his father’s life. Over the course of the play, Oedipus slowly unravels his origins. His…

Through his storytelling abilities and vivid imagination, as demonstrated in his novels, short stories, and films, Stephen King has done much to move the horror genre into one of the top choices of many reading fans in the literature world. He has modernized many gothic or horror themes and techniques throughout his career and that is why some call him one of the best authors to walk the earth to this day. Many of King’s peers say that he has a strong case of hypergraphia which is evident in his…

The wise fool described by Erasmus is someone who can see past the chaos of the material world and find greater truths in their madness. Characters within King Lear that exhibit the qualities of the wise fool: selflessness and loyalty, in their search for the truth and the treatment of others, find greater clarity in their decision-making, a factor crucial to their standing at the climax of the work. The characters may be classified into two categories, those who stay loyal to Lear through his…

The Tragic Destiny of Oedipus Oedipus the king by Sophocles is a distressing play filled with transgression, grief, and tragedies. The unfortunate incidents that the tragic hero, Oedipus, goes through invoke catharsis in the readers. He has been prophesied a dreadful fortune and feels as though “...no one suffers more than [him]” (Sophocles 27).Foretold destiny cannot be derailed as fate will always interfere and insure that the prophecy is fulfilled. Moreover, every tragic hero has a tragic…