Oedipus Rex and MacBeth
Tragedy […] is an imitation of an action that is serious […] with incidents arousing pity and fear. (Aristotles, Poetics IV, 1449a 10-15) Tragedy follows the rise and the fall of its protagonist who is overcome by the antagonist. Aristotle’s Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare’s Macbeth capture the timeless nature of human experience; they display powerful central characters whose course of action demonstrates the different attributes and sides of human nature. Through the vicissitudes of protagonists’ fates, the audience explores that anyone has the ability to perpetrate good and evil and the extent of such deeds. The best and the worst of humanity from virtue, nobleness and altruism to ambition, hubris and subjugation of one’s self and morals for power are examined in those two plays.
The protagonists of Oedipus Rex and Macbeth are both the epitome of a virtuous hero when the plays open. Oedipus, a powerful ruler is loved and praised by all citizens of Thebes. He has saved the city from Sphinx with his wisdom, and people ‘judge that [he] more than any man can guide [them] in life’s troubles (L33-34). He is the bastion of his people and is bereaved by the deaths caused by a plague that has polluted the city as if the people were his own children. At times of tragedies and hardships, he proclaims judgement and justice displaying strong leadership: when he hears the prophecy from Apollo’s oracle that murderer of the former king is causing the plague, he commands the murderer to be exiled from his land when he is found. He swears to ‘fight for him as if for [his] own father’ (L254). This dramatic irony later emphasizes the tragedy of his fate and it is the cause of this irony that accents the hamartia of his nature, hubris. Like Oedipus, Macbeth is an archetypical war hero whom the king trusts and the people regard with respect. He is noble, courageous and loyal. He is aptly rewarded for his feats and is successful. Yet it is staggering to see how quick the
The protagonists of Oedipus Rex and Macbeth are both the epitome of a virtuous hero when the plays open. Oedipus, a powerful ruler is loved and praised by all citizens of Thebes. He has saved the city from Sphinx with his wisdom, and people ‘judge that [he] more than any man can guide [them] in life’s troubles (L33-34). He is the bastion of his people and is bereaved by the deaths caused by a plague that has polluted the city as if the people were his own children. At times of tragedies and hardships, he proclaims judgement and justice displaying strong leadership: when he hears the prophecy from Apollo’s oracle that murderer of the former king is causing the plague, he commands the murderer to be exiled from his land when he is found. He swears to ‘fight for him as if for [his] own father’ (L254). This dramatic irony later emphasizes the tragedy of his fate and it is the cause of this irony that accents the hamartia of his nature, hubris. Like Oedipus, Macbeth is an archetypical war hero whom the king trusts and the people regard with respect. He is noble, courageous and loyal. He is aptly rewarded for his feats and is successful. Yet it is staggering to see how quick the