Use of Suspense and dramatic irony in Oedipus Rex.
Dramatic irony is a technique where the audiences
are sagacious about the fate of characters which is unconscious to them. It is
a wonderful method to intensify the tragic atmosphere where characters words
and actions are contradictory to actual situation. Sophocles uses this method
effectively in Oedipus Rex. This play
is filled with dramatic irony. Almost all the speeches of the characters except
Teiresias are ironical. Most of the
dramatic ironies can be found in the speeches of Oedipus. Whatever comes from
his tongue are filled with dramatic ironies except his last few words.
Dramatic irony is noticeable at the beginning of the
play. Sophocles chooses to open this play after Oedipus has been king of Thebes
for some time. In this situation,
Oedipus has already committed the most terrible deed for which he strives
throughout the play to circumvent. This terrible deed makes Oedipus both a
heroic and a condemned figure. In the first impression Sophocles makes him as a
great leader and perfect citizen. In the very early scene, he shows his
commitment to his people by suffering alongside of them and vowing to avenge
the death of Laius. But, he does not know that this commitment can bring his
destruction which is well-know to the audience.
“Then once more I must bring what is dark to light.
It is most fitting that Apollo shows, as you do, this compunction for the dead.
You shall see how I stand by you, as I should, to avenge the city and the
city’s god, And not as though it were for some distant friend, But for my own
sake, to be rid of evil.”
His words strike an emotional chord with the
audience. They are instantly aware that he is celebrated by his subjects for
his empathetic ear and keen sense of justice.
Dramatic irony works most effectively in this play
because the viewing audience is acquainted with the premise of the story, which
involves many of the commonly held religious beliefs and historical traditions.
The characters try to fight with their fate but they are defeated finally.
The quarrel between Oedipus and Teiresias is another
good example of dramatic irony. Teiresias, who is blind man knows the truth
about the killer of king Lauis. When he utters the name of Oedipus, he lost his
mind with extreme anger and call him-
“Shameless
and brainless, sightless, senseless sot.”
All the words are dramatic irony. In spite of being
a blind man Teiresias knows the truth. But, Oedipus who has eyes is ignorant
and sightless. But the most suspenseful
and tragic irony is noticeable when the messenger get into the character.
Oedipus addresses Jocasta as ‘O wife’ and this makes a sense of melancholic in
the reader’s mind. Because, he is calling her mother as his wife.
A good deal of dramatic irony can be found from the
speeches of Jocasta who is skeptic in oracle and trying to disapprove it. It is
Jocasta who overjoyed and satirizes
theory of oracle when the messenger come with message of death of
Polybus.
‘’Where
are you now, divine prognostications?
The
man who Oedipus has avoided all the years,
Lest
he should kill him dead! By a natural death
And
no act of his!”
The last ironic combination of prophecy and reality
occurs when Oedipus reaches Thebes. It is his challenge to solve the riddle of
the sphinx which has been plaguing Thebes for some time. Sophocles heightens
the stakes of this last challenge by drawing upon the powers of intellect and
courage to build up his hero even more. Sophocles illustrates Oedipus
intelligence by his ability to answer the great riddle. His courage is shown in
his ability to face the Sphinx knowing the fate of those who had failed the riddle
before him. Ironically, it is also his intelligence and courage that wins him
the right to marry the Queen of Thebes. It is his ignorance of not knowing that
she is his birth mother, not his lack of intelligence, which commits him to his
fate.
Sophocles leaves us with one more classic example of
irony. The third and final stage of the Sphinx’s riddle is realized only after
Oedipus discerns the horrible truth about his existence:
“Ah God! It was true! All the prophecies! –Now, O
Light, may I look on you for the last time! I, Oedipus, Oedipus, damned in his
birth, in his marriage damned, Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand!”
At the end of the play, until the conclusion of his
life, Oedipus is condemned to wander the earth as a blind old man who will
forever walk with the use of a cane. This is the third foot to which the Sphinx
referred. By answering the riddle correctly, Oedipus has become the riddle
himself. This situation is perhaps the greatest example of the power of
contrasting degrees of awareness. Oedipus is unaware of his fate in which he is
destined to marry his mother after defeating the Sphinx. The audience, however,
long familiar with the ancient myth is mindful that in solving the riddle
Oedipus further condemns himself.
At last, we can reach to a decision
that dramatic irony is very vital device in this play. It constitutes
suspension and leads the play to climax which is exposed to the readers.
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