Notes...

Analysis of Oedipus Rex

IMAGERY AND FORESHADOWING
Recurring images of darkness and light are associated with knowledge and ignorance…these images work as examples of a kind of foreshadowing.

THEMES/MOTIFS
1) Knowledge and ignorance
2) Choices and Consequences
3) Public versus Private Life
4) The quest for identity
5) The nature of innocence and guilt
6) The nature of moral responsibility
7) Human will versus fate
8) The abuse of power

CHARACTERS
1. Jocasta—she alternately condemns and upholds the authority of the oracles as best suits the direction of the argument at the moment. Finally, she gives up the struggle and hangs herself.
2. Creon—states that he does not wish for the throne; when he does become king, he acts with compassion towards Oedipus, leading him into the palace and then, as Oedipus requests, into exile.
3. Teiresias—he represents Apollo
4. Oedipus—prideful, stubborn, “blind” to the truth, suspicious of Creon’s motives.

STYLE
The protagonist inspires in his audience both emotions of pity and fear/horror; there is an opportunity for catharsis. Also, Sophocles builds suspense by doling out information bit by bit and postponing the crises.

STRUCTURE
The Prologue introduces the play; the parodos brings in the Chorus; there are four scenes presented with odes separating each scene; lastly, there is the Exodos (final act/scene). The fate of Oedipus is revealed herein.

STAGING
The Chorus performed on a raised stage—there were no female actors; plays were performed in amphitheatres; actors wore large masks and costumes—sometimes they wore elevated shoes.

CHORUS
Choral ode has a 3-part structure: a) strophe, b) antistrophe, c) epode (song and dance pattern). Choral odes bring an additional viewpoint to the play and often this perspective is broader and more socio-religious than those offered by individual characters; it is also conservative and traditional at times, in an effort to reflect the views of its society rather than the protagonist.

SETTING
Action occurs outside Oedipus’s palaces in Thebes.