The plot of Oedipus the King depends heavily on dramatic irony fueled by two valiant attempts to change the course of fate. Jocasta is told that her husband would die at the hands of her son; in an attempt to prevent this from happening she abandons her child leaving his fate up to the gods. Oedipus is told that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. As to prevent this from happening, Oedipus takes matters into his own hands and flees Corinth. Instead of running from fate, he inadvertently runs towards it. He leaves Corinth only to find that in doing so he has found his real parents and carried out the oracle's words. Both Oedipus and Jocasta prematurely exult over the failure of oracles, only to find that the oracles were right after all. Each character’s attempt to escape fate creates dramatic irony because the audience knows that they are in no way escaping fate but rather expediting the process. Each time a character tries to avert the future predicted by the oracles, the audience knows their attempt is futile, creating the sense of irony that permeates the play. Both Oedipus and Jocasta think that taking action will keep fate from happening, but as they will soon learn fate is bound to happen.
Not only do Oedipus and Jocasta try to avoid the events that have been prophesied, they try to convince themselves and each other that prophecies are not true. Jocasta believes prophecies are false and convinces Oedipus the same, yet at the beginning of the very next scene we see her praying to the very same gods from which these prophecies originate. She "comes with prayers and offerings" giving the audience a sense that she may believe in prophecies after all (1008).
I like how you pointed out that the attempts of Jocasta and Oedipus to run from fate were examples of irony. Due to common trends in Greek drama, we can tell that the prophecy will prove to be true, but the characters do not yet know this. This irony contributes to the story significantly in that it adds to the lesson of avoiding hubris and shows that trying to run from fate will not prevent it from happening and that man is foolish to think so.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth noting how Oedipus and Jocasta tell themselves the prophecies are not true. Because they did this, it made the aftermath a lot worse. It brings up the question: if the two accepted their fate before it happened, would they react the same?
ReplyDeleteIt is also ironic how Oedipus asks Jocasta for advice as a son would ask a mother. Although he is not aware that she is her mother, he has an inclination to her. He oftentimes relies on her knowledge and wisdom to guide him through tough situations.
ReplyDelete