Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay

In the play composed by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are a few cases of incongruity. Sensational incongruity, or deplorable incongruity as certain pundits would want to call it, typically implies a circumstance where the character of the play has restricted information and says or accomplishes something in which they have no clue about the criticalness. The crowd, be that as it may, as of now has the information on what will happen or what the outcomes of the characters activities will be. The level of incongruity and the impact it has relies on the readers’ handle and acknowledgment of some inconsistency between two things.Our first taste of sensational incongruity comes ahead of schedule into the play when Oedipus pledges to bring to equity the enemy of Laius, which is in actuality himself. At the point when he discovers that the bringing of equity of Laius’ executioner will free the city of a horrendous plague, he goes ahead with an arrangement to find the executioner. Oedipus starts to revile the executioner and pledges:Oedipus: As for the lawbreaker, I appeal to God â€Regardless of whether it be a prowling cheat, or one of a number â€I implore that that man’s life be expended in malevolence and wretchedness.What's more, with respect to me, this revile applies no less (968)This is extremely unexpected, as Oedipus is in fact, without information on reality, discussing himself.Another case of emotional incongruity is the intensity of destiny and Oedipus’ feebleness against it. All through the play we know about Oedipus’ destiny and we understand there is nothing that he can do to transform it. At the point when Oedipus advises his city in the wake of tuning in to their supplication for help against the awful infection and plague that has assumed control over the city:Oedipus: I realize that you are spooky wiped out; but then,Debilitated as you seem to be, not one is as wiped out as I. (963)The crowd comprehends reality and the incongruity in that announcement. Oedipus ought not stress over himself turning out to be ‘sick’ for he is as of now invaded with the infection.A third case of the incongruity of Oedipus is the way that Oedipus appeared to be visually impaired and hard of hearing to reality. He gives off an impression of being on a valiant quest for reality and equity of the enemy of Laius, yet will not hear reality when it is addressed him. So as to hear reality Oedipus should have been ready to hear and decipher it, yet he just heard what he needed to hear. Accordingly rendering him incapable to comprehend the secret of who he genuinely was.In this play there is by all accounts a consistent series of incongruities all through. Oedipus is willfully ignorant of reality. In his emotional talks he confounds the data that he has been given by Teiresias, just as Creon and Iocaste. The stunning acknowledgment that the prescience of the Sphinx is in actuality reality, makes Oedipus dazzle himself. The crowd thusly feels sorry for him, which is an aftereffect of the utilization of sensational incongruity. The utilization of incongruity in a play permits the author to make their crowd need to perceive how the occasions which are happening, intellectually influence the principle character, regardless of whether they definitely know how the story will end, as in Oedipus the King.Kennedy, X.J., and Gioia Dana. “Oedipus the King” Literature: An Introduction toFiction, Poetry, and Drama. second release. New York: Addison Wesley Longman,2000. 960-1005.