Dramatic or tragic irony is a concept that originated in Greek tragedy. It is the idea that a character’s words when spoken against another are actually a reference to themselves (Dictionary.com) In dramatic irony the actions that are perpetrated by a character may be in opposition to what the audience knows is the truth (Dictionary. Com). This paper will look at dramatic irony in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King.
Dramatic irony occurs at the beginning of the play when it is revealed that Oedipus is seeking the murderer of Laius King of Thebes. Oedipus wants to find the killer of Laius in order to stop the plague that has been destroying the city of Thebes “I curse myself as wellif by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house” (Sophocles, 284-85). Oedipus however is ignorant to the truth behind the death of Laius and when he curses and sentences to banishment the man who murdered Thebes former king he does not realize that he actually curses himself and his family as he extends his curse to those that would shelter the person “Now my curse on the murderer. Whoever he is, /a lone man unknown in his crime or one among many, let that man drag out/ his life in agony, step by painful step” (Sophocles 280-283). It is in Oedipus’ lack of knowledge that the dramatic irony lies.
This is because the audience knows that Oedipus is the one who killed King Laius on the road, so we know that he is inadvertently sentencing himself and cursing his family. We also know that the events were put into motion years before Laius and Oedipus met in the street. King Laius believed his son to be dead because he had ordered him to be exposed shortly after his birth. He had done this because the Delphic Oracle had prophesized that that his son would kill him and marry his mother. Oedipus who was saved by the man tasked to expose him, grew up believing that he was the son of Polybus of Corinth “My sire was Polybus of Corinth, andMy mother Merope, a Dorian; /And I was held the foremost citizen” (Sophocles 775-777) One day Oedipus hears that he is destined to kill his father and thinking that Polybus is in danger from him, he leaves Corinth. The dramatic irony occurs when Oedipus kills his father Laius on the road, an action that they had both sought to avoid. “I count myself the son of Chance, the great goddess, giver of all good things—I'll never see myself disgraced” (Sophocles 1188-1190)
The dramatic irony then occurs when Oedipus becomes king and marries King Laius’ widow, who he does not know is his mother. When Thebes begins to suffer from a plague Oedipus promises to bring the king’s murderer to justice, not realizing that he is the murderer. As the audience is watching this occur they realize that is was the desire of Laius and Jocasta to avoid their foretold future that brought the future about. This is because the Oracle only tells what is doing to happen not how or why it will come about. It is this lack of information that caused Jocasta and Laius to react to the big picture of their son killing his father and marrying his mother, “an oracle came to Laius one fine day and it said that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son” (Sophocles, 784-786), rather than the reason behind their son doing such a thing. Of course, they had thought that the problem was handled when they ordered the child exposed “my son-he wasn’t three days old and the boy’s father/ fastened his ankles, had a henchman fling him away/ on a barren, trackless mountain” (Sophocles 790-793). However, it was their unwillingness to confirm/trust that their orders were carried out that led not only to their destruction but to that of their son and later to the Oedipus’ children. Despite this Oedipus has no power over the situation because he and his parents are only puppets in the play that the gods have designated them to. While they all act to escape the fate that has been set before them, it is their attempts to change things that put them in motion. This changes the entire structure of their family as Oedipus becomes son/ committer of patricide, husband/perpetrator of incest, and father/ brother to his children. In this one can see how the attempt to avoid one’s fate affects not only the immediate generation, but will continue to affect the lineage for generations to come.
The use of dramatic irony is this particular play does not seem to be too strong. This is because the audience is aware of what is going to occur, so it lessens the impact. The irony that is used in the play count affect the audience because they would know that it is foreshadowing and would be waiting for the reveal and the reactions of the characters. This would be satisfying in the eyes of the audience as they would have been watching Oedipus turn a blind eye to any evidence of the truth. This is an ironic situation that is further compounded when Tiresias, who is a blind seer tells Oedipus the truth after Oedipus becomes angry with him for not wanting to reveal the truth. It is in this scene that one can get a sense of Oedipus as a tyrant. Tiresias does not want to reveal the truth to him saying “Just send me home. You bear your burdens, /I'll bear mine. It's better that way, /please believe me” (Sophocles, 364-366), but instead of Oedipus leaving the situation alone and acknowledging that since Tiresias is an all-knowing seer. That perhaps there was a reason that he was not keen on telling Oedipus the identity of the murderer. Oedipus acts to goad him into telling what he knows. This of course angers Oedipus and he begins to berate Tiresias. Tiresias then reveals the truth telling him
So, you mock my blindness? You with your precious eyes, you're blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those you live with-who are your parents? All unknowing you are the scourge of your own flesh and blood, the dead below the earth and the living here above darkness shrouding your eyes that now can see the light! (Sophocles lines 469-75).
Another incidence of Oedipus behaving in a tyrannical manner is when Oedipus, who believes that Creon is the killer refuses to listen to him beg him not to put a sentence of death or banishment upon him saying “Creon, the soul of trust, my loyal friend from the start steals against me so hungry to overthrow me he sets this wizard on me, this scheming quack, this fortune-teller peddling lies, eyes peeled for his own profit--seer blind in his craft!” (Sophocles lines 437-42). This will come back too affect him later in the play when the truth is discovered and he is banished from Thebes after gouging his eyes out with his mother/ wife Jocasta’s broach and Creon is made king.
Works Cited
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1982. Print.
"The Definition of Dramatic Irony." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2016
