Oedipus Tragic Flaw Essay, Research Paper
Tragic defect is a characteristic that is said to non merely take to the hero & # 8217 ; s death but may besides enable the reader to sympathise with the character. So it follows that in Oedipus the King, a Grecian calamity, the tragic hero Oedipus should hold some kind of defect. However, after close scrutiny of the text, no distinguishable & # 8220 ; defect & # 8221 ; is revealed. Although Oedipus appears to hold many & # 8220 ; flaws & # 8221 ; on the surface, viz. his hapless disposition, sloppiness, wonder and pride, close scrutiny of the text reveals that he has many apparently flawed features that are non merely justifiable but in some instances to be expected.
One might anticipate that a quick and even homicidal pique would be considered a serious hindrance to Oedipus. However, he is rather justified in his fury against Creon and Tiresias, and he has good grounds to surmise them of plotting against him. From the position point of Oedipus, he has merely discovered that the ancestor king Laius was viciously murdered along with the members of his cortege. Furthermore the slaying has yet to be solved many old ages subsequently, and the Gods have placed a pestilence on his metropolis until the liquidator ( s ) is apprehended and punished. After larning of the decease of Laius, Oedipus concludes that the liquidator is & # 8220 ; a stealer, so audacious, so wild, he & # 8217 ; vitamin D kill a male monarch? [ It ‘s ] impossible, unless plotters paid him off in Thebes & # 8221 ; ( 140-142 ) . Creon concurs that this idea had besides crossed his head. So with this grounds, it is easy to see why Oedipus is distrustful of his ain equals.
Possibly the existent violent death of Laius and his four retainers is an utmost show of Oedipus & # 8217 ; homicidal disposition. While it may look a spot utmost in hindsight, at the clip of the incident his actions are wholly justifiable. Oedipus describes the incident as therefore: as he was
& # 8220 ; doing [ his ] manner toward this ternary intersection [ he ] began to see a trumpeter, so a brace of colts pulling a waggon, and mounted on the bench. . . a adult male, merely as [ Jocasta ] described [ Laius ] , coming face-to-face, and the 1 in the lead and the old adult male himself [ was ] about to thrust [ him ] off the road-brute force & # 8211 ; and the one shouldering [ him ] aside, the driver, [ he ] smitten [ him ] in choler & # 8211 ; and the old adult male, watching [ Oedipus ] coming up along his wheels & # 8211 ; he brings down his goad, two prongs straight at [ his ] caput & # 8221 ; ( 884-893 ) .
Oedipus, although life in ego imposed expatriate, still considers himself to be of royal blood. Therefore any discourtesy, particularly by some old adult male and his retainers, is cause for a serious rebuke. In the instance of Oedipus, this means slaying. Although one could reason that Laius & # 8217 ; actions are justified because he is a male monarch, hence superior, there is no grounds in the text to propose that
either adult male knows the position of the other. The full episode is a truly ghastly incident of route fury.
Even if his fury is justified, what about his sloppiness? Surely after detecting that he is destined to kill his male parent and slumber with his female parent, one would anticipate Oedipus to go celibate and nonviolent. From the position of the audience, this is the most logical class of action. However, from Oedipus & # 8217 ; point of view, he knows who his parents are. He is the boy of Polybus and Merope, prince of Cornith. By go forthing Cornith, Oedipus takes all the sensible safeguards he can to forestall the prophet & # 8217 ; s prophecy from coming true. Some may reason that the rummy call of one of the work forces at the feast, suggesting that Oedipus was non his & # 8220 ; father & # 8217 ; s boy, & # 8221 ; should hold given him ground to doubt his line of descent. However, his parents deny the rummy & # 8217 ; s accusals, and Oedipus rapidly dismisses his initial scruples as & # 8220 ; barely worth the anxiousness [ he ] gave [ them ] & # 8220 ; ( line 857 ) .
Oedipus could be described as excessively funny. The stating & # 8220 ; wonder killed the cat & # 8221 ; decidedly holds true here. However, as a detrimental defect, wonder does non keep. Oedipus & # 8217 ; quest to happen Liaus & # 8217 ; liquidator is really apprehensible. The slayer is perchance a menace to his ain leading, and his ain life. He rightly includes himself in the enquiry, and his pursuit for the truth is one of human nature. As Mulder and Scully would state, & # 8220 ; the truth is out there. & # 8221 ; He is destined to happen out finally ( perchance when the courier arrives from Cornith ) that Laius is his male parent. Therefore, fate is cardinal to the secret plan development.
Oedipus & # 8217 ; name means & # 8220 ; swollen foot. & # 8221 ; Could it be that Oedipus has a swollen caput? Is his pride the cursing characteristic? The fatal defect? There is no grounds in the text to back up this position. It besides does non do sense that this would be a defect. The Greeks did non see pride as a negative property. There is grounds of this in other Greeks works where full wars were fought to protect the pride of one adult male over the loss of a adult female ( Helen ) . Although today & # 8217 ; s readers may see pride as a hapless feature to hold, the audience the drama was ab initio designed for would non hold seen it that manner, and Aristotle himself about decidedly would non hold considered pride to be a tragic defect.
Oedipus & # 8217 ; s defect is one of a physical nature, and non one of character. Laius went to an Oracle, received intelligence he did non like and attempted to alter his fate. Oedipus went to an Oracle, and he excessively tried to fly his fate. By running from his destiny, Oedipus ends up sealing both his and his parent & # 8217 ; s fate. The primary moral that the reader should come away with is to allow nature take its class. The odds are, as Oedipus and Laius find out the difficult manner, destiny will predominate anyhow.
