The Dramatic Elements that make Sophocles' Oedipus the King a Tragedy
See attachment. Let me know which one you pick. I will upload "Oedipus the King," but you could do the "Glengarry glen Ross" one, whgich i dont have the text. Sorry. thank you.
ENGL 110 Essay 3 Instructor: Zollo
Choose one of the following prompts (or combine more than one) as a topic for your third essay on drama:
1. Write an analysis of how Oedipus the King conforms to the definition of tragedy. Use the definition from pages 623-627 (or consult Aristotle's Poetics), and explain where each element can be found in the play, and how it works to advance the action and theme of the play. Does the play produce the intended effects of tragedy for an audience? Why or why not? Support your assertions with evidence from the text.
2. Write an analysis of the function of dramatic or "tragic" irony in Oedipus the King. What effect does that irony have on the audience? On arousing the emotions of pity and fear? Of contributing to the sense of inevitability in the play? Support your assertions with evidence from the text.
3. Write an analysis of whether Glengarry Glen Ross can be considered a modern tragedy. What elements of the play conform to the definition of tragedy? How have they been updated to fit a contemporary setting? Is there more than one tragic figure in the play? Support your assertions with evidence from the text.
4. Write an analysis of Glengarry Glen Ross as an indictment of the American Dream, corporate business practices, and/or free market, deregulated capitalism. What is the play suggesting about the pitfalls of any of these concepts and aspirations? Separately, can the play be seen as prescient in predicting the events and practices leading up to the 2008 financial crisis? Support your assertions with evidence from the text.
For further advice, see Chapter 25 on Writing Arguments About Drama. Also review Chapters 2 & 7. As always, good essays begin with interesting introductions that capture the reader's attention, introduce the author and title of the work and its subject, and propose a thesis that your essay will argue. Good body paragraphs begin with a topic sentence that relates to some part of the thesis, then develop the topic in detail, using events and quotes from the work as evidence to support the writer's claims. They also include commentary, developing the implications of the events under discussion. Good body paragraphs close with summary sentences that wrap up your point and relate back to the topic sentence. Conclusions should reflect back on the thesis, theme, and subject of the work, and end with a "clincher": a final sentence or thought that the reader can take away from both the work and your discussion of it.
Instructor
Subject
Date
The Dramatic Elements that make Sophocles’ Oedipus the King a Tragedy
According to the Aristotelian thought, a tragedy is a dramatic composition in which the main hero suffers ruin and destruction as a result of a tragic flaw in their character. The conclusion of a tragedy usually involves the fall of the main character, commonly referred to as a tragic hero, falls from a position of favor, power and privilege, to where he is ridiculed and despised by society. The most visible element of tragic compositions is the flaw in character of the protagonist. Despite his strengths and abilities, he should have a certain weakness, a flaw in his character, which ultimately contributes to his downfall. The idea of the character flaw is to portray the fact that regardless his elevated stature, power and influence, the hero is still human and prone to making mistakes. This gives a sense of reality to the whole plot, which distinguishes a tragedy from thriller fiction plots (such as blockbuster films), where the hero is always good and all-conquering, and the story ends with his triumphant victory over his adversaries and lives happily ever after. With reference to the character of Oedipus, this essay discusses the ways in which the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles fulfils the definition of tragedy.
Sophocles’ Oedipus the King fulfills the definition of tragedy because the main character has a tragic flaw in character that leads to his downfall. Oedipus is stubborn and proud of himself and his position, which compels him to force the truth out of the prophetess Tiresias about the murder of King Laius. He is also arrogant, which makes him to ridicule the Tiresias advice and his mother Jocasta’s pleas not to investigate the murder, because he is the late king’s murderer. When word comes to him about the oracle’s warning of the curse awaiting Thebes if the murderer of King Laius is not found and banished, Oedipus takes it upon himself to avenge the late king’s death. However, the prophetess warns him that pursuing the investigation will lead to more trouble, and beseeches him to let the matter rest. Regardless, Oedipus is furious and forces the prophetess to speak up about the king’s killer. In a fit of rage, he says; “you, you scam of the earth…out with it, once and for all (380, 383). Beneath this outburst of anger lies Oedipus’s desire to prove the prophetess wrong. He defies the advice of the prophetess and stubbornly seeks to unravel the mystery of the murder. His arrogance is also portrayed when he calls Tiresias a liar. In ridiculing the prophetess, Oedipus shows disrespect to the gods. The oracle warns that:
If a man treads the ways of arrogance; does not fear justice, honor not the gods enshrined; evil take him! Ruin is the prize of his fatal pride (412-414).
Oedipus is also warned by the Chorus when it sings ominously that...