I really liked this play. It had a good story and even though we already knew what would happen before hand, the use of irony in the story really helped to make it really great. The way the irony enhanced the story was through giving the reader (or viewer) a sort of reward for noticing it. It's kind of how advertisements use allusions to help sell whatever it is their advertising. When a person sees the advertisement and goes 'Ha, I get it. That's clever.' it makes them happy that they understood it so they enjoy the advertisement and it sticks in their mind better.
Another way in which this technique is employed is through popular sayings. For example, if I said "I feel that the dificulty of the Short Story Unit exam was over 9000" those of you who keep up with memes are probably having that 'Ha' moment, while the rest of you are thinking "Wemna?" So going back to Oedipus Rex, Sophocles does an incredible job of employing this technique, which is why over 2000 years after it was first written and performed, Oedipus Rex continues to entertain people everywhere.
Huh. That's a really good point! I didn't realize how many things we see every day depend on us having some popular knowledge, even though it seems obvious now.
ReplyDeleteI've tried explaining memes to my parents, but I don't know if they'll ever get them, just because they aren't exposed to them as often as high school students are. That makes me wonder how much of Oedipus Rex we can understand, if we don't have that ancient Greek background knowledge.
(The picture of Smeagol and his precious is awesome.)