Tragedy in Oedipus the King and Dolls House Essay example

Only Peace in Death Tragedy has been apart of human history since the dawning of civilization. Man has been plunged into terrible tragedies for ages. But not until the Greeks and prominent playwrights such as Sophocles did tragedy take on into its own on the stage. Out of this rebirth of tragedy came what has been considered, even by Aristotle himself, the greatest tragedy ever written, Oedipus the King. He delves into the human psyche: bringing forth the notion of predestination, a supposition desperately believed in by humans, betraying the fatal flaws of his hero and manifesting the suffering brought upon the hero by his tragic downfall. Though it was written more than a millennium ago, its basis and structure for tragedy has†¦show more content†¦But it is not his ignorance alone that fuels the fire, his pride brings him great strides towards his demise. He willingly dispatches the Sphinx, having been over confident in his abilities and ascends to the throne, rulin g as if he was born to do so. But this is the tragedy of Oedipus the King. Having been thought dead, it was not suspected that Oedipus was the child of the prophecy. It was not until Oedipus blindly began his search for the former kings killer to proudly rid the city of Thebes from its plague, that he began to realize the implications of his actions. â€Å"I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime. If I’d been present then, there would be no mystery, no long hunt without clue in hand† (Oedipus 921). The words before his downfall, before the truth that was to be had, his ignorance at its greatest, and he is correct, if he knew from the beginning, there would be no mystery, there would be no tragedy. Nora becomes as equally blinded in A Doll’s House. â€Å"To be able to be free from care, quite free from care, to be able to play and romp with the children, to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as T orvald likes it!† (Act One). Although in the beginning she believes this to be freedom, it is in fact her constraints, a hindrance upon herself. After trying to be with Torvald, she eventually realizes that she has been conditioned into a patriarchal society becauseShow MoreRelated Tragedy in Oedipus the King and Dolls House Essay660 Words   |  3 Pagesthe Ancient Grecian time periods, tragedy meant death because one defied against an outer prophecy. Modern day tragedy was simply realism, the unspoken way of life. In Sophocles Oedipus the King and Ibsens A Dolls House, the main characters - Nora and Oedipus, are both constructed to illustrate flaws in society and how naive people are. Ibsen and Sophocles both developed tragedy into a central idea that all people surreptitiously understand. Nora and Oedipus make incompetent decisions that assistRead More Comparing A Dolls House and Oedipus Rex Essay1672 Words   |  7 PagesComparing A Dolls House and Oedipus Rex Ibsens drama A Dolls House, serves as an example of the kind of issue-based drama that distinguishes Ibsen from many of his contemporaries. The plays dialogue is not poetic, but very naturalistic, and the characters are recognizable people. Given the sense of modernity which the play possesses it seems unusual to compare it to a Greek tragedy produced more than two-thousand years previously. On closer examination however, thereRead MoreComparing The Tragedy Of Sophocles And Henrik Ibsen1147 Words   |  5 Pagesare also tragedies. They gain this perspective by focusing on human struggles. Playwrights use this to show that despite the societies and the different time in history humanity refuses to evolve. Two well known playwrights who have managed to evoke the same message were Sophocles and Henrik Ibsen. Sophocles was a playwright from the 400 BC’s and Ibsen was a playwright from the early 1900’s. In their works they developed characters who were chained to what society told them to do. Oedipus Rex wasRead MoreA Dolls House As A Tragic Hero Analysis967 Words   |  4 Pageshas achieved, or who has the ability to achieve greatness but who through a weakness, or tragic flaw in his character, falls into the depths of misery and often to his death† (Ingham 1). Within Oedipus Rex, Sophocles laid the foundation for what is now considered the ideal tragic hero. Within A Doll’s House, Ibsen creates a modern hero in Nora Helmer; a woman who was oppressed for going against social rules for saving her husband. Nora follows the Aristotelian journey of a tragic hero, from hamartiaRead MoreAnalysis Of Henrik Ibsen s A Doll s House 1325 Words   |  6 PagesDoll s House† (March 20, 1828 - May 23, 1906) and â€Å"Oedipus the King†, by Sophocles (which is an Athenian tragedy performed 495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) both have men who were destroyed by a secret which lead them to their horrible outcomes on life because of the conflicts in their relationships with their families although, both pieces of Literature were written many years apart from each other and in different areas of time. Two characters who share some of the same qualities are Oedipus from â€Å"Sophocles’†Read MoreComparing Creon And Nora From A Doll s House855 Words   |  4 Pageshusbands, so they would not lose their husband’s trust. The crisis that Jocasta from Oedipus the King, and Nora from A Doll’s House, are going through is similar, as both keep a secret from their husbands which has a huge impact in their entire families. They confuse their own feelings or values with reality and mistakes feelings for ideas which causes a tragedy in their families. In the story of Oedipus the king at the beginning Jocasta does not have any idea of what her husband it is to her. LaterRead MoreThe Role Of Women During The Play A Doll House 2110 Words   |  9 Pagesthis essay my aim is to describe the role of women and the attitude towards them in two plays, very different between them, that we have studied during the module. The first play where there is a main focus on women’s role is, undoubtedly, A Doll House, written in 1879 by the Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen. This play was at the centre of many critics and debates, it ends with the main character. Ibsen with this play express the concept that for the society of the time the role of women was to takeRead MoreEssay on The Definition of Dramaturgy2075 Words   |  9 Pagesrecognition and opening it up to scholarly discussion. Lessing wanted to use dramaturgy to reshape German theatre. For example, Lessing ‘concentrated on the establishment of a â€Å"Bà ¼rgerliches Theatre†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, which would introduce a brand new genre of bourgeois tragedy to German theatre (Barnett, 1987, p. 408). However, he also intended on using dramaturgy in order to re-educate German audiences into how they can successfully critique theatre. This not only again reveals dramaturgy’s close relationship to dramaticRead MoreHumanities Test4641 Words   |  19 Pagesphilosopher. True 3.   Aristotles famous analysis of tragedy is found in a work called: The Poetics 4.   Aristotles work on comedy is how long? 5 acts long 5. What did the Commedia dellearte specialize in? 6.   What is satire? a literary genre or form, although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts, or a literary technique that attacks foolishness by making fun of it. 7. ( T or F ) The prophecies in Oedipus Rex turn out to be wrong. True 8. One actor on stageRead MoreEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 Pageswork as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary. You may select a work from the list below or another novel or play of comparable literary merit. Alias Grace Middlemarch All the King’s Men Moby-Dick Candide Obasan Death of a Salesman Oedipus Rex Doctor Faustus Orlando Don Quixote A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A Gesture Life Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Ghosts The Scarlet Letter Great