Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Essays

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Essays Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Paper Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Paper In the drama written by Sophocles. Oedipus the King. there are several cases of sarcasm. Dramatic sarcasm. or tragic sarcasm as some critics would prefer to name it. normally means a state of affairs in which the character of the drama has limited cognition and says or does something in which they have no thought of the significance. The audience. nevertheless. already has the cognition of what is traveling to happen or what the effects of the characters actions will be. The grade of sarcasm and the consequence it has depends upon the readers’ appreciation and acknowledgment of some disagreement between two things. Our first gustatory sensation of dramatic sarcasm comes really early into the drama when Oedipus vows to convey to justice the slayer of Laius. which is in world himself. When he learns that the delivery of justness of Laius’ killer will free the metropolis of a awful pestilence. he sets forth with a program to track down the slayer. Oedipus begins to cuss the slayer and vows: Oedipus: As for the condemnable. I pray to God – Whether it be a lurking stealer. or one of a figure – I pray that that man’s life be consumed in immorality and misery. And as for me. this expletive applies no lupus erythematosus ( 968 ) This is really dry. as Oedipus is so. without cognition of the truth. speaking about himself. Another illustration of dramatic sarcasm is the power of destiny and Oedipus’ impotence against it. Throughout the drama we are cognizant of Oedipus’ destiny and we realize there is nil that he can make to alter it. When Oedipus tells his metropolis after listening to their supplication for aid against the awful illness and pestilence that has taken over the metropolis: Oedipus: I know that you are deathlike ill ; and yet. Sick as you are. non one is every bit ill as I. ( 963 ) The audience understands the truth and the sarcasm in that statement. Oedipus should non worry about himself going ‘sick’ for he is already infested with the illness. A 3rd illustration of the sarcasm of Oedipus is the fact that Oedipus seemed to be unsighted and deaf to the truth. He appears to be on a valorous hunt for the truth and justness of the slayer of Laius. yet refuses to hear the truth when it is spoken to him. In order to hear the truth Oedipus needed to be able to hear and construe it. yet he merely heard what he wanted to hear. Therefore rendering him unable to understand the enigma of who he genuinely was. In this drama at that place seems to be a changeless twine of sarcasms throughout. Oedipus is in denial of the truth. In his dramatic addresss he misconstrues the information that he has been given by Teiresias. every bit good as Creon and Iocaste. The dismaying realisation that the prognostication of the Sphinx is in fact the truth. causes Oedipus to blind himself. The audience therefore pities him. which is a consequence of the usage of dramatic sarcasm. The usage of sarcasm in a drama allows the author to do their audience want to see how the events which are happening. mentally affect the chief character. even if they already know how the narrative will stop. as in Oedipus the King. Kennedy. X. J. . and Gioia Dana. â€Å"Oedipus the King† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction. Poetry. and Drama. 2nd edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman. 2000. 960-1005.