Oedipus

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Term Paper Title	Oedipus
# of Words	813
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.25

Oedipus

     Dramatic Irony is one of the major themes in the tragedy "Oedipus".  Thomas Sanders claims that "Dramatic irony occurs when a situation is just the opposite of what the character perceives"(33).  In "Oedipus" the dramatic irony is based on a destiny presented by the Gods in which he cannot escape.  Oedipus, a well respected person soon becomes a man guilty of murder and incest.  His intentions were good, however the results were tragic.
     Dramatic Irony has many purposes in a play, in many cases it serves as just a literary term but it helps keep the readers interested as well.  Sanders states that, "Irony is meaningful only when the viewer (or reader) recognizes it and knows the significance of when if it employed is the play "(97).  In other words if Dramatic irony were to be well used in a story the readers would be more interested in that story because it will have an exciting and unexpected outcome.  For example in "Oedipus" we already know Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother but we anxiously await the tragic ending, this is one example of how dramatic irony has made the play more interesting for it's readers.
In "Oedipus" the dramatic irony was that Oedipus tried to escape the oracle presented to him by the Gods and as a result ran straight into it.  This is another interesting part in the play because it shows that Oedipus pride would be the downfall of him.  As the story begins in Medias Res ("in the middle of things") it is already known that Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother.  "Oedipus is a man ruined by forces he can not be expected to have understood " (Bloom 36).  However his pride as the king of Thebes leads  him try and find the killer of the former king.  He tells the people of  Thebes that he will do everything in his power to find the killer, he says, " I'll start again,  I'll bring it all to life myself!  Apollo is right, and so are you Creon to turn our attention back to the murdered man.  Now you have me to fight for you, you'll see... " (547).  The Dramatic irony here is that without even knowing it Oedipus was convicting himself.
The dramatic irony in Oedipus not only effected Oedipus but it affected the people around him.  People ...

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