Oedipus The King: Dramatic Foreshadowing
`You are the curse, the corruption of the land!'. With these words,
Tiresias, a blind prophet in `Oedipus The King' set the actions in play
that would turn king to beggar within the day. Prophecy and foreshadowing
is an important part of playwriting, and adds an element of suspense that
is not possible any other way. Whether it be the witches of MacBeth, the
ramblings of Tiresias in Oedipus: The King, and Antigone, or whether it is
the unrealized foreshadowing by Figaro in `The Marriage of Figaro',
foreshadowing gives the reader or the audience something to puzzle
themselves over, until the play or novel is actually over. It would not be
a stretch of the imagination to say that some ...
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of a plot, namely exposition,
discovery, point of attack, complication and crisis all be caused by an act
of foreshadowing or prophecy. Indeed, �Oedipus the King�, which was
considered the greatest play in history by Aristotle, was one such play.
"Oedipus the King" was the story of the King of Thebes, Oedipus,
and his dark past history which no one, including himself to a point, was
aware of, one that involved abandonment, patricide and incest. Thebes was
beset by a plague, and a delegation was sent to Apollo, the Greek God of
healing, where they received instructions to find the murderer of the
previous king of Thebes, King Laius. This form of foreshadowing was
necessary for the storyline to have a starting place, and acts not only as
foreshadowing, but also as discovery, because it gave new information that
moved the plot forwards. A problem with this is the fact that it requires
an act of God, something that Aristotle frowned upon in his definitive text
`Poetics'. ...
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was almost exactly that. By day's end, Oedipus no longer
possessed the sense of sight, and had lost his kingdom to his brother-in-
law. A complete reversal of circumstances, which saw him, in the play
`Oedipus at Colonus', enter the city the same way that Tiresias entered
Oedipus' court on that day, blind as a bat, with a helper without whom he
would be useless.
`The Marriage of Figaro' has one obvious prophetic scene, where
Figaro says �Look to the day's work, Master Figaro! First bring forward
the hour of your wedding to make sure of the ceremony taking place, head
off Marceline who's so deucedly fond of you, pocket the money and the
presents, thwart His Lordship's little game, ...
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"Oedipus The King: Dramatic Foreshadowing." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 18 Sep. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oedipus-The-King-Dramatic-Foreshadowing/52575>
"Oedipus The King: Dramatic Foreshadowing." Essayworld.com. September 18, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oedipus-The-King-Dramatic-Foreshadowing/52575.
"Oedipus The King: Dramatic Foreshadowing." Essayworld.com. September 18, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oedipus-The-King-Dramatic-Foreshadowing/52575.
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