Ignorance In Sophocles Oedipus The King

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Oedipus Rex Redo They say ignorance is bliss. I personally do not believe this, how could not knowing something be alright with somebody? However everyone has had times where they refuse to believe what is right in front of them just because it would change things for them. Yet Oedipus and his “wife” Jocasta in Sophocles play create a new level of ignorance. In “Oedipus King of Thebes,” Sophocles use of complementing characters to demonstrate that desperately clinging to blissed ignorance rapidly leads to a downfall. Oedipus and Jocasta live a “blissfully” married life, though from the beginning it seems almost too good to be true. All the same Oedipus and Jocasta desperately cling to a lie unintentionally. The two have known about the “different”…show more content…
He also has a lot more happen to him than Jocasta does, as he had to learn he did fulfill the prophecy, and loses his wife all in the time span of minutes. When Oedipus sets out to find King Liaus’ murderer as “if falls onto [him] then” he is unaware that it is himself. Alas as time goes by and he pieces together the puzzle and discovers it is in fact himself, he is very quick to place the blame elsewhere. He is ready to punish Creon with “death…not banishment” in order to keep his high power. He starts to doubt his actions of running away really working as the possibility that the prophecy has in fact come true. Oedipus starts to question things and is not pleased that what he finds is not what he wanted. The closer he gets to the truth the more desperate he becomes and not matter how much Jocasta begs with him to stop he refuses, “Tis my own birth, How can I, when I hold such clues as these refrain from knowing all?” As Oedipus is becoming aware of the truth he slowly begins his downfall. He becomes desperate, and unreasonable with no regards to others. He even threatens death if one man doesn’t tell him the truth. Yet he still desperately wants to cling to the false bliss he has become accustomed to. Then it is all gone. Oedipus loses everything in a matter of minutes. He is confronted with the truth and this time he can no longer place the blame onto somebody else. Though Oedipus’ reaction differed from
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