The Use of Blindness in Oedipus Rex Authors often use blindness both metaphorically and literally to describe their characters. In Oedipus Rex‚ Sophocles begins the play with literally blind Thebans suffering from a plague that their metaphorically blind king has brought upon them. Oedipus‚ being the king‚ is trying to help his blind Thebans. In doing this‚ he blindly curses the murderer of the late King Laius for bringing this plague‚ not knowing that the murderer is himself. When
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Shakespearean terms‚ blind means a whole different thing. Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see‚ but according to Shakespeare‚ blindness is not a physical quality‚ but a mental flaw some people possess. One of Shakespeare’s most dominant Theme in his play King Lear is that of blindness. King Lear‚ Gloucester‚ and Albany are three prime examples Shakespeare incorporates this theme into. Each of these characters’s blindness was the primary cause of the bad decisions they made;
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Oedipus the king Oedipus The King By Sophocles‚ A murder mystery that targets the downfall of Oedipus as a result from his blindness to the truth. Even though many of the characters in this play are physically able to see‚ their fates are certain by their lack of physiological sight. The blind prophet Teiresias shows‚ one does not need vision to see the truth. The many examples of blindness that Sophocles gives his characters are some of the greatest aspects in determining the outcome of this play
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The Irony of Sight and Knowledge in Oedipus the King People equate ‘seeing’ to gaining knowledge. Expressions such as “I see” and “seeing truth” are used to express understanding of something‚ but is seeing really the same as knowing? In Oedipus the King‚ Oedipus’s inability to grasp the truth is despite the fact that he is physically able to see contrasts Teiresias’s knowledge of the truth even though he is blind. The irony of the blind man being knowledgeable‚ and the seer becoming
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In literature‚ blindness serves a general significant meaning of the absence of knowledge and insight. It serves this same purpose in Sophocles’ classic tragedy‚ Oedipus Rex. In this piece‚ blindness manifests itself in three ways: intellectual blindness‚ which is the refusal or inability to accept knowledge; physical blindness‚ which is being without the physical sense of sight; and metaphorical blindness‚ which is what blindness symbolizes or means for each character affected by it. In all aspects
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most apparent truths. Oedipus‚ the main character in Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex‚ could not see the truth‚ but the blind man‚ Teiresias‚ "saw" it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a motif in the play Oedipus Rex. Oedipus‚ known for his intelligence‚ is ignorant and therefore blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet‚ when Teiresias exposes the truth he is shunned. It is left to Oedipus to overcome his "blindness‚" realize the truth‚ and accept fate. Oedipus‚ "who bear the famous name
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In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles‚ the themes of sight and blindness are developed in a way to communicate to the reader that it is not eyesight itself‚ but insight that holds the key to truth and‚ without it‚ no amount of knowledge can help uncover that truth. Some may define insight as the ability to intuitively know what is going to happen‚ or simply as the capacity to understand the true nature of a situation. Both definitions hold a significant role in the play‚ not only for more obvious
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The themes of sight and blindness occur frequently throughout the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. These symbols serve to develop the unity of the play and reveal the traits of the characters. Oedipus‚ Tiresias‚ and Jocasta are very different in their perceptions of sight. Oedipus‚ the successful King of Thebes‚ is a man with the ability to see but is metaphorically blind--blind to the truth of his role in the murder of Laius. He sets out diligently to find the murderer of Laius‚ who is a plague
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Humanities 1 23 December 2016 Blindness is the Unknown In this play‚ sight and blindness are a motif because some people in the play are blind and a lot of people are able to see. Eyes are everywhere in this play. For example‚ Teiresias is blind but he can still see the clearest of everyone. Tiresias is also able to predict the future. Some of the things he predicted were that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. He also predicted that Oedipus would grow up and not die when
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Blindness was used both literally and figuratively in Oedipus the King to symbolize the lack of knowledge‚ perception and denial to Oedipus’s faults which connected to Oedipus’s guilt and shame Many‚ including Oedipus‚ had no knowledge‚ and were figuratively blind to Oedipus’s faults. Those around him were unaware to the crime of what Oedipus had done and that he was the one to have murdered Laius‚ the former king of Thebes. When Oedipus had a prophecy of killing his father and mating with his mother
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