Oedipus the King

Topic

Oedipus the King

Instructions

These are essentially reviews, asking you to assess 1) the intention of the author, 2) the intention of the director, and 3) how you feel the production is or is not relevant to 2017.

For part 1, you will be expected to provide evidence for your arguments cited directly from the play texts, and from whatever scholarship you can find on other plays written by the author or written about the author. For Part 2, you will be expected to provide evidence directly from the films seen in class, citing specific images of acting style, costumes, set, etc.

Answer preview

The author’s intention in this play is to inform the reader the manner in which one mistake can have a huge effect on the whole society. For instance, the reason Thebes is suffering a plague in the fields, as well as leaves the women barren is due to a murder that happened in Thebes where King Lauis was killed by his own son. Additionally, there was an abomination that happened in Thebes as Oedipus married his own mother without knowing.    The author also wants to inform people that the mistakes can of parents can have a huge impact on their children. King Lauis, in order to get rid of the curse that was imposed on their family killed their son, as it had been prophesied that the son would kill the father and marry the mother.

Word count: 1356