While reading both
King Lear
and
Oedipus Rex, it is easy to feel sympathy for both main characters. Because
both plays are tragedies, obviously neither character will overcome their
hardships.
King Lear loses his kingdom,
his daughters, and ultimately his own life. Oedipus discovers the truth of his
lineage, is named murderer and pollutant of Thebes, and, eventually, loses his
family and eyeballs. Although both endings are tragic, when compared it becomes
clear that Oedipus is a more lamentable story. Although both endure the death
of loved ones and the loss of their kingdoms, Oedipus suffers much more than
Lear. Oedipus discovers the horrific truth about his mother/wife. Out of a
mixture of disgust and shame, he gauges out his own eyeballs. While both men
are suffering the consequences of past mistakes, Oedipus is more tragic because
he is suffering for other’s mistakes, while Lear suffers from his own blunder
It is difficult to feel as bad for Lear as it
is for Oedipus, because Lear caused his own problems by prematurely dividing
his kingdom. He rewarded the lies of his greedy daughters and admonished the
honesty of his altruistic youngest. One easily agrees with the Fool, who claims
Lear has made a grave error when he, “mad’st thy daughters thy mothers.” The
Fool warns Lear from the start that his mistake has lost him all his power.
Lear refuses to see his mistake until it is too late. His tragic flaw is his
own ego. He was so flattered by the charming words of his deceitful daughters.
In Contrast, Oedipus is innocent of
any wrongdoing, and is instead punished for his parent’s actions. Because his
parents attempted to kill him, Oedipus never knew their true identity, allowing
for the horrible prediction to come true. The murder of his father cannot be
considered criminal, because it was in self-defense. Oedipus only traveled to
Thebes in order to escape the prophecy that he would murder his parents, whom
he believed to be his adoptive parents. He left his life in Corinth in an
attempt to save the people he believed were his parents. His act of
selflessness is ultimately what leads him to his tragic end.
Oedipus lost everything simply by
trying to be a good person. He is genuinely concerned for his citizens and is a
devoted father to his children, whom he said to have “not so much as eaten a
meal apart from me.” Even after all of the emotional trauma he suffers through,
his only concern is still for his children. He does not worry for his own fate,
but instead weeps for the futures of his now ‘tainted’ children. The story of
Oedipus Rex is tragic because Oedipus and his children suffer for the rest of
their lives, even though they have done nothing bad to deserve such punishment.
It is easy to feel sympathy and compassion for Oedipus because he was a truly innocent
victim to the horrors of his own fate.
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