Friday, March 18, 2016
Irony and Paradox
Iin the case of Oedipus, a sense of Irony befalls the entire tragedy. He, being the new ruler of the kingdom, declares he will find justice for whoever killed King Laius in order to save his people. However, we are taught that not only is this ironic, but it is a clear paradox. We learn of the prophecy of Oedipus and his wrong doings by ways of his wife Jocasta. She tells him that there was a prophecy stating her son would kill Laius and then sleep with his mother. Due to this prophecy, Jocasta and Laius had their son killed. However, Oedipus discovers more about himself, as he was an adopted baby. And just as Jocasta's son was prophecised, he was as well, being told that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Now you have to be pretty ignorant to not put two and two together. This entire circumstance is that of Irony, as a two people, once falling victim to a falsely ended prophecy, have now gotten together, only to then complete the prophecy. Both had hoped to take measures against this curse, and thus felt safe from it. But only when they felt the most secure did fate take it's course. Fate being another commonly used Greek play device, may play in the whole prophecy idea, but not as much as irony. Being the highlight of the plot, Oedipus' quest for revenge then is affected by this irony and thus finding revenge against himself thus creates the paradox.
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I agree with your observations. Specifically, the main type of irony in the play is dramatic irony. We, as readers, know what truly happened to Laius. Experiencing the protagonist's realization of his role in the prophecy provides a sort of suspense characteristic only to dramatic irony.
ReplyDeleteIrony is extremely prevalent throughout the entire play. The irony creates a sense of suspense because as Jenna said, we know what truly happened to Laius. The prophecy is also fueled by irony. The audience knows that Oedipus cannot escape his fate despite his efforts.
ReplyDeleteAs Jason said, irony is very apparent. Oedipus has no idea he married his wife or killed his father. He vowed to kill the former king's killer when the killer is really him.
ReplyDeleteI like how you noticed that the sense of irony in this play is what helped form the paradox we are seeing. Irony is definitely a major aspect of this play, and is a common theme is most Greek tragedies. I also found it difficult to believe Jocasta and Oedipus could marry without realizing they were completing the prophecy.
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