Oedipus agrees to see the blind prophet,
Tiresias, to ask him about the identity of King Laius’ murderer. While speaking
with the prophet, Oedipus denies his identity as the murderer, calling Tiresias
“blind in his craft” (442). The chorus chimes in shortly after with a promise
from the people of Thebes that they would never convict Oedipus of murder.
A similar and connected instance of denial
can be seen later in the play when Jocasta reveals an encounter her late
husband, King Laius, had with an oracle. When the oracle said that Laius would
perish at the hands of his son, he abandoned him. Laius and Jocasta threw away their
son in order to escape the fate that became a reality in the end. Jocasta denies that Oedipus could be her abandoned son or her husband’s murderer and
questions the ability of the oracle to foresee the future, saying “nothing
human can penetrate the future” (782).
Oedipus questions Jocasta for detail
about the murder of Laius and there is a turning point in his mind when he realizes
there is a possibility he was the one who killed Laius where Oedipus says, “I
have a terrible fear the blind seer can
see” (823). After, Oedipus recounts an instance where he encountered a warning
from Apollo that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and he ran away
from it.
Denial and efforts from neither Oedipus
nor Jocasta can fully ignore or defy fate’s influence. Each time a person
attempts to outrun and deny fate’s influence, the very act of running is what
brings him to fulfill it. The efforts of Laius and Jocasta to elude fate come full
circle with Oedipus’ denial of the validity of his own fate and the unknowing
fulfillment of it.
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| Just as the characters in Oedipus attempt to deny the truth about the future, the man in the cartoon is blinded by his own denial of a current issue--climate change. |
The willingness to ignore the truth is a common theme in the play. Jocasta and Oedipus each recall their version of the recent events that have unfolded and the prophecies that each has received. While the two accounts seem to clearly line up, neither seems compelled to remark on the coincidence. This obvious tragic irony emphasizes how desperately neither one wants to speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. I never specifically noted denial as a response to the prophecy. Fear and shock, I recognized, but not denial. The blatant ignorance of the truth lends suspense and drama to the play as the reader ponders when the protagonists will accept the inevitable truth.
ReplyDeleteI agree from the start when Oedipus first heard about the accusations made against him about him killing Laius. He was in denial because he had so much pride in himself, he never would never for a second think that he was the one who actually killed Laius. Oedipus continues down the road of denial until he eventually discovers he truly is the killer.
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