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Use of Disquietude and Pleasure in Oedipus the King
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At the very core of Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, lies emotional confusion. Sophocles purposely creates within his readers this sense of emotional confusion and self-awareness through his use of both disquietude and pleasure.
When he grows up, unknowing of his adoption, he discovers his doomed fate from an Oracle. Seeking to escape it, he flees from Colonus. Once upon the road, Oedipus discovers his path blocked by a man, whom he perceives to be a robber. He kills this man, who turns out to be his father, and unknowingly fulfills the first part of the prophecy. Soon, he comes to Thebes, which is being terrorized by a terrible monster, the Sphinx. The Sphinx wanders the streets surrounding the city, asking travelers an unanswered riddle. Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, and answers its riddle, causing the Sphinx to kill herself in disbelief. The citizens of Thebes, who have recently found themselves kingless, appoint Oedipus king and give him Queen Iocast? for his wife as a reward. The couple lives together happily and produces four children. Some years later, the city is beset by a terrible plague. It is prophesied that the only way to cure the city is to find the killer of the previous king, and bring him to justice. Oedipus, who wishes to solve the city’s peril, relentlessly seeks out the answer to the problem. He soon discovers the hideous truth; he has killed his father, married his mother, and fathered her children. He returns home to find that his wife/mother has committed suicide, and, unable to deal with the reality of this wretched reality, he takes the broaches from her gown and gouges his eyes out.
The gruesome details of this story make for several examples of disquietude. The most obvious example occurs when Oedipus gouges his eyes out with Iocaste’s broaches. This scene is vividly described by the Chorus of Theban Elders, “Deep, how deep you drew it then, hard archer, At a dim fearful range, and brought dear glory down” (name of author and page #). Not only is this scene physically disturbing, but it is emotionally disturbing due to the dramatic irony. Oedipus, before this, was blinded by his intellectual arrogance. Now, he has been humbled by fate and sees his mistakes, but is physically blind. Along with this example, there are two other examples of disturbing physical events.
