A Comparison Between King Lear and Oedipus Essay

A calamity is non merely an imitation of life in general but an imitation of an action. as Aristotle defined his thoughts in the Poetics.

which presents Oedipus as an ultimate tragic hero. There is a obvious nexus between the two characters in that sightlessness – both actual and metaphorical – is a strong subject in the narratives.Issues of self-recognition and self-knowledge are important for Oedipus every bit good as King Lear. For Aristotle. Reversal. Recognition and Suffering are cardinal elements in a complex calamity.

The human inherent aptitude to seek cognition of and to cognize an individual’s character is indispensable to understand their actions ( Aristotle. 1-49 ) . King Lear and King Oedipus find that ego acknowledgment and self-knowledge are really of import keys to understand their behavior and as a effect their lives. They learn by painful agony that wealth and kingship means nil and that both are merely common work forces in the terminal. So all three cardinal footings of Aristotle’s complex calamity could be found in the dramas: reversal.

acknowledgment and agony.At the start of the drama. King Lear is defined by his kingship. wealth and power. but when he introduces the ‘love-contest’ over his heritage.

the losing and agony Begins. First and most evidently. he loses his wealth and power. Although the 100 knights and rubric he retains.

holding given away his royal power. give him an illusional security. without his power he is merely a hapless imitation of a male monarch. It is the Fool who demonstrates with his honest and badgering replies that Lear has lost his individuality.

non merely his belongings. He says “All thy other rubrics thou hast given off ; that 1000 wast born with” ( 1. 4. 142 ) and “now thou art an 0 without a figure ; I am better than thou art now.

I am a sap. thou art nothing” ( 1. 4. 184 ) .

The Fool every bit good as Kent besides tries to demo Lear that his determination is non merely about belongings and losing a large portion of his individuality.It is besides about losing his most valuable hoarded wealth – his lone true loving girl. The Fool and Kent support King Lear during the drama to happen his individuality. in contrast to Lear’s two senior girls. They show him his failing viciously when they do non let him to maintain his knights. This is the last grounds for Lear that his two senior girls have merely wanted his belongings and make non care approximately him as a male parent.

He still does non acknowledge that self-worth and self individuality has nil to make with demands. nil to make with wealth and power and that love has nil to make with measure but with quality. In his hurting. he flees the truth as a last solution.The storm scene shows Lear’s lunacy and his journey to self acknowledgment best. in which he must distressingly accept that he is no more than a common adult male.

powerless against the force of nature and the Gods.It is non merely Lear who has to happen himself in this drama. The bogus boy of the Earl of Gloucester. Edmund. believes himself to be a character without scruple. His lone ideas are selfish and he does non understand that his intrigues are finally self destructive and false.

He plots against his brother and his male parent to derive power. Not even when his male parent is blinded as a consequence of his denouncement does he demo any commiseration. Edmund thinks that he has a natural right to utilize everything to acquire what he wants. However. at the terminal.

he realizes his incorrect behavior when he declares. “I pant for life. Some good I mean to do” ( 5. 3. 241 ) . But it is excessively late – for Cordelia and for him.

At the terminal Lear knows that merely the love of his girl Cordelia is deserving populating for. Nonetheless Cordelia and Lear die – Lear. wiser than he of all time was and so a existent tragic hero and Cordelia – a sacrificial victim of this calamity. Lear eventually finds out that true love has nil to make with belongings but with cognizing oneself and acknowledging each other. True apprehension of love must intend true apprehension of oneself.King Oedipus’s character is similar to King Lear’s.

Oedipus is a adult male. who is to the full cognizant of his strength. intelligence and power. As the convergent thinker of the conundrum and the national leader of Thebes in a minute of crisis.

he is a baronial hero and a great famous person. Thebes high regard for Oedipus is shown through the Chorus until the acrimonious terminal of the drama. In the beginning of the drama King Oedipus is a individual of huge confidence. This character property is demonstrated in his willingness to take the full duty for covering with the crisis. the pestilence. King Oedipus feels certain that he will besides pull off this crisis as he has done before with the conundrum of the sphinx.

He feels so self-assure that he even thinks he is able to flim-flam the prophet and the Gods by merely flying Corinth. But this is a large misreckoning as the drama shows. The lineation in the narrative of Oedipus’s self find begins when he starts to work out the 2nd conundrum. the conundrum of Laius decease.During this work outing Oedipus’ character alterations from an honor adult male to a fearful.

condemned adult male by his tragic destiny in the terminal. The changing of the character is accompanied by the changing of the conundrum: the inquiry “Who is the liquidator of Laius? ” alterations to “Who am I? ” Aristotle in his Poetics discusses this reversal when he speaks of “a alteration of the action into the opposite” ( Aristotle. 18 ) . As the calamity moves on.

happening the truth for Oedipus becomes an compulsion. The difference between Teiresias and Oedipus demonstrates that Oedipus does non even take the possibility of engagement in something bad into consideration. Teiresias. after he has been provoked.

wants Oedipus to happen the truth. to admit himself. “I Tell you. you and your loved 1s live together in opprobrium. you can non see how far you’ve gone in guilt” ( 418 ) .

Although. Teiresias’s addresss are really clear Oedipus negates the truth before himself. The dry cyberspace of facts becomes clearer and clearer. After the entry of the courier and the shepherd. Jocasta all of a sudden recognises the truth.

She now knows what she is to Oedipus and what guilt lies upon her household. Nevertheless she tries to avoid the truth and attempts to salvage Oedipus when she begs him “Stop – in the name of God. if you love your ain life. name off this hunt! ” ( 1163 ) . But now.

Oedipus wants to cognize everything so she could merely shout. “You’re doomed – may you ne'er fathom who you are! ” ( 1173 ) . When in the undermentioned lines Oedipus claims that he is a boy of Chance he is merely merely come ining the circle of increasing cognition about himself. He shortly realizes that outer forces may hold impact on his life. but he still relies on his ain mastermind and infallibility.

As Oedipus discovers his ain individuality he has to larn about himself what it is to be a adult male. He learns that his behavior and his errors are partly responsible for this hideous truth. So he takes the full duty for his penalty. In blinding himself he does non decease physically but in a sense he is dead. Traveling out into the barrens there is nil to look frontward to demur decease.

The self-recognition of what he has done and accordingly what he is to his kids has destroyed him. The drama ends in a sense as it begins. with the illustriousness of a hero. But it is a different sort of illustriousness. Now it is based on self-recognition and self-knowledge alternatively of ignorance and pride.

Finally Oedipus has gained cognition of himself and his world and he realizes that higher forces. such as the Gods and fates have influence. Werner Jaeger declares in his Paideia: The Ideals of Grecian Culture “to know oneself for Sophocles is to cognize man’s powerlessness” ( Jaeger. 284 ) . And this is to be true for Oedipus every bit good as for King Lear. King Lear’s and King Oedipus’s consciousness of their strength and power is nil in the terminal.

At the start of the drama both male monarchs are olympian figures.However non merely their character defects of pride and the overdone sentiment of themselves lead to this ultimate ruin in the terminal. Oedipus and Lear cause their ain autumn partially because they do non cognize who they are. They foremost have to happen out.

through unbelievable agonies. that they are nil more but common work forces. Both characters symbolize the tragic hero in a perfect sense. The human agony in these dramas is so important that the reader can about experience it.

Though Oedipus’ destiny is determined. the reader still feels understanding for the tragic hero. believing that somehow he doesn’t merit what finally comes to him.The same applies for King Lear.

who gives everything off to his girls. who will merely bewray and victimize him. Although in both plays the subject of self-knowledge is really of import. it is merely one of many ways of entry to the texts.

The subject of Blindness. the impact of the Gods and Fate. are other interesting ways to look at the dramas. But we learn from the first position that self-recognition and larning about oneself has besides something positive. No affair how painful the realisation.

how destructive the result there are facets of growing and addition in it. An of import result of these dramas is that the lone individual who can state you who you truly are is you by yourself. And this cognition mitigates the agonies at least a small spot.