At the beginning of the play, Oedipus consults with oracles in his father’s kingdom of Corinth after he learns of his adoption when a drunken courtier gives away the truth. He searches for information about his parents and is told that he will marry his mother. He ignores these facts just as he ignores blind prophet, Teiresias, who appears later in the play. This oracle reluctantly tells him that Oedipus himself has murdered his father and Oedipus is once again incredulous. The blind oracle insists that he is prophetic and clairvoyant. He says, “If later you find error in what I have said,/You may say that I have no skill in prophecy.”
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(1.244-245) Teiresias also asks Oedipus, “Who are your mother and your father? Can you tell me?” (1.199) Teiresias knows of Oedipus’ birth but is unwilling to give away concrete information, which may give away the truth too soon before Oedipus is ready to deal with it. Instead he keeps his prophecies vague and speaks in riddles. Teiresias tells this riddle to Oedipus before leaving him:
To the children with whom he lives now he will be
Brother and father—the very same; to her
Who bore him; son and husband—the very same
Who came to his father’s bed, wet with his father’s blood. (exodus. 239-242)
Oedipus does not yet try to understand the blind prophet and he does not “think that over,” as he is advised by Teiresias, until much later.
Oedipus soon realizes that he may have murdered his father. His precipitant actions are once again demonstrated when he speaks of killing a band of travellers on a three-way crossroads in the past. The reader knows right away that one of the men killed was Oedipus’ father. He summons a shepherd who survived the attack at the crossroads and he must recount the ghastly tale to Oedipus and Iocastê. “His arrogance is constantly present during the investigation, which blinds him when he erroneously interprets the oracle of his origin, which leads him to the extreme action of killing the unknown traveler; his arrogance is his doom” (Malgliavecca). Oedipus does not believe he was present for the murder of his father so the shepherd is asked to describe the murderer as
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he remembers him. He makes a perfect physical description of Oedipus. Now Iocastê’s husband is sure of his crime, which causes him to question his upbringing.
At this point, Iocastê has put the facts together. She realizes that Oedipus is none other than the child she and her husband gave to the messenger to be left for dead in the forest. Oedipus slowly comes to the realization that he is his wife’s son. He is now certain that his “parents” (the King and Queen of Corinth) had adopted him. Iocastê reacts first to the disgusting truth and commits suicide by hanging.
When Oedipus discovers the repulsive and incestuous truth, he can longer bear himself. When he sees his wife’s body, he plucks the brooches from her clothes and uses them to gouge out his own eyes and he is blind forevermore. He has created his own chastisement. In the last scene Oedipus says:
I do not know how I could bear the sight
Of my father, when I came to the house of Death,
Or my mother: for I have sinned against them both
…
Or do you think my children,
Born as they were born, would be sweet to my eyes? (exodus. 144-149)
He does not commit suicide, however, because he believes that dying does not warrant enough suffering and would therefore be an injustice. The ultimate punishment is living with what he has done. He believes that the gods despise
H.MacPhee 5 him and they have thus caused him to destroy his eyes. “Lead the great wreck/And hell of Oedipus, whom the gods hate” (exodus.122-123).
In addition to having blinded himself, Oedipus wishes to be exiled from Thebes. He has nothing positive left in his life and must live with horrible memories of his blasphemous existence. He does not want to stay in Thebes because he has disgraced himself to the citizens. He begs to be lead to the gates of the city. “Ah, no, friends: lead me away./Lead me away from Thebes” (exodus. 120-121).
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“In the first place, Othello's mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant. He is quite free from introspection, and is not given to reflection.” (Bradley) Othello is lead to believe that his wife, Desdemona is being unfaithful with one of his acquaintances (Cassio). It is because of Othello’s simple, unreflective mind that he solely believes Iago who is bitter because Othello received the rank of army general. Iago was expecting to receive this title from the king. Iago’s bitterness overflows and he formulates a plan to manipulate Othello, which will eventually cause him numerous problems.
Othello is tragically naïve and is not aware that he is being manipulated to think that his wife is cheating on him. He does not believe Desdemona when she tells him that she has done nothing unfaithful during the course of their short
H. MacPhee 6 marriage. Othello’s one-track mind is unheeding of Desdemona’s protests. His mind having been poisoned by jealousy-motivated Iago, he does not listen to his love, but a man who has pretended to be Othello’s friend.
Othello also conspires with Iago to have Cassio killed. Rodrigo is a scapegoat for the job because he has feelings for Desdemona and he is also under the impression that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair (Rodrigo loses his nerve, however, and he ends up wounding Cassio in the leg). Othello, the passive, good-natured general has acted so hastily that he has conspired against a friend.
The same night that Rodrigo is supposed to kill Cassio, Othello enters Desdemona’s bedchamber when he is sure that her attendant, Emilia (Iago’s wife) will not be home. Desdemona pleads for her life: “Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight!” (V.II.84) but her cries are ignored. She promises Othello that she did not leave the scarf he gave her at Cassio’s residence (Emilia stole the scarf upon Iago’s request). Othello’s incredulity and naivety causes him to act rashly and he smothers Desdemona although he regrets his actions right away. Othello was so quick to believe whatever Iago told him that this aided in his downfall.
Othello’s epiphany is when Emilia explains that she has stolen the scarf for Iago and he planted it in Cassio’s room. Emilia claims that Desdemona has been angelic throughout her life and that her love for the Moor forbade her to be unfaithful. “Thou art rash as fire to say/That she was false. O she was heavenly
H. MacPhee 7 true!” (V.II.139-140). She calls Othello a “black devil” and contrasts her image by referring to Desdemona as an angel.
Othello is so stricken by what he has done that he commits suicide. He has murdered his wife when there was no reason for her to be murdered. He conspired against Cassio. He realizes that his impulsivity is to blame.
The repercussions and consequence of both Othello and Oedipus lead ultimately to death and destruction. Oedipus and Othello have difficulty distinguishing between what really is and what seems to be. Othello rashly kills his wife before he has all of the facts. He then commits suicide. Oedipus blinds himself when he realizes that he has killed his father and been a lover to his mother. He ends up punishing and harming only himself.