Oedipus the King- Journal #2

Comparison

Prompt: Personal convictions and shared beliefs, the private and the public life, somethings seem at odds in the modern world. How did you find your chosen works touched on this conflict, and with what effect?

In Oedipus, the general belief is in the gods, and their prophets/oracles. The prophets and oracles are accepted to portray the true word of the gods, and all people considered them to be accurate. This conflicts to the beliefs of Jocasta and Oedipus when discussing the words of the prophet Tiresias. Oedipus does not believe that they are accurate, and so he makes a judgement based on them. Jocasta does the same, and tells Oedipus to disregared what Tiresais said, because she believes it cannot be true. This leads to more problems, because Oedipus accuses Creon of creating rumors and they fight, destroying their relationship and making problems for Thebes' government. But more than that, it causes Oedipus to not accept what the prophet is saying has truth, when his words are shown to be truthful, it only causes Oedipus more pain and sorrow. If he had heeded the words of Tiresais when he had the chance, a lot of the personal trauma could have been avoided has well has public pride. This is similar to Meursault in The Stranger, because of the values Meursault has in contrast to the values of the society. In the society, it is important to pay respect to mothers, to value human life, and to be emotionaly attached to their lives. However, Meursault does things that show the opposite, when to Meursault, they are fine. In the end of the book, it causes Meursault to be convicted for murder, and for him to lose the respect of those around him. Both books show that when personal opinions go against the accepted beliefs of society, it causes internal has well has external conflitct.

Oedipus the King- Journal #1

Literary Topics:
Prompt: Setting: This includes cultural as well as geographical and historical setting. What effect does the setting have on story, character, theme?


In Oedipus the King, the reader is introduced to the city of Thebes. When Sophocles wrote this play, he was living in Athens. At that time period, Thebes and Athens were major rivals. This has a profound effect on the location for the play. This play is tragedy, and the events that occur ed before Oedipus' reign were gruesome indeed. The Thebans' king was killed, the city was overcome by an evil Sphinx, and currently, the city was subject to a deadly plague. The reason Sophocles chose to place so many evil, horrible things in the city of Thebes is because of the rivalry between his city, Athens, and the setting of the play, Thebes. It also makes the story bleaker, because if he was determined to put the play in Thebes before he had a plot, and if he had no animosity towards Thebes, than the play would most likely had a different tone and ending. Because of the tone and story line created, the theme created is much harsher, and more dismal. By choosing to place the events of Oedipus the King in Thebes, it created a much more tragic tale.

Poetry- XX Journal

"'I would do more than for my own. But to appear happy when I am so miserable--Oh! who can require it?"
Again they were both silent. Elinor was employed in walking thoughtfully from the fire to the window, from the window to the fire, without knowing that she received warmth from one, or discerning objects through the other; and Marianne, seated at the foot of the bed, with her
head leaning against one of its posts, again took up Willoughby's letter, and,
after shuddering over every sentence, exclaimed--
"It is too much! Oh, Willoughby, Willoughby, could this be yours! Cruel, cruel--nothing can acquit you. Elinor, nothing can. Whatever he might have heard against me-- ought he not
to have suspended his belief? ought he not to have told me of it, to have given
me the power of clearing myself? 'The lock of hair, (repeating it from the
letter,) which you so obligingly bestowed on me'--That is unpardonable.
Willoughby, where was your heart when you wrote those words? Oh, barbarously
insolent!--Elinor, can he be justified?'"
--Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

In both the passage above, and in the poem XX, the story portrayed is one of the end of a romance. In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne is deeply in love with Willoughby but then is heartbroken when he chooses Ms. Gray over her. In XX, the speaker is lamenting over his lost love, and trying to overcome his despair. Austen uses Marianne's conversations with Elinor, and her exaggerated emotions to show the unhappiness. Marianne is completley confused, she has to ask Elinor if there is any way that Willoughby is correct, similar to how the speaker of XX is confused about his love. He says, "I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.", this shows that the speaker is confused and muddled about what he is feeling, and what is correct. In XX, the heartbreak and repair is shown through the references to nature and the repetition of the words heart, and love. In both pieces of literature, the misfortune is shown through the imagery created. The imagery in Austen's piece creates juxtaposition between Marianne's emotions, and the peaceful glow of the room. In XX, the imagery compares the speaker's emotions with the beauty of nature. Both of these comparisons are used to show how wretched the character feels, and the misfortune associated with love.

Poetry - XIII Journal

This poem is about a romance. It begins with a passionate and loving relationship. However, towards the middle of the poem, the lovers have a conflict to deal with, and they become much more separated, figuratively and literally. This distance causes the man, who is also the speaker, to become extremely unable to express himself, ultimately resulting in his despair.
This poem occurs between a man and a woman. The man is the speaker. I know it is between a man and a woman because of the repeated letter of 's'. The way that this letter is used is in rather feminine, soft, caring way, while it is definitely a man from the way he calls her a doll. I have never seen a male doll, and never heard a woman calling another woman their "toy doll,". The speaker is the man because of the lack of 's' sounds after the consequence of his inability to express himself. He is still there, but the woman, and all the femininity, is gone.
This poem was written to show the effects of expression. It was written to show the reader how being unaware of yourself, and unaware of your own abilities can cause your life to crumble. The poet is conveying the negative effects of being closed off from the world because of a lack of expression. Through this, he shows how the world, and humans, need to see expression in others, even when all they desire to do is express themselves. People need a person to be able to appreciate their life, and their ways of expression.
The poet does this through the references to water, and liquids. In the beginning of the poem, there are many references to thirst, water, and so on. However, towards the end of the poem, when he is becoming more and more closed off, the liquid references dwindle, and eventually stop. Water is used to represent life, and water gives life. When the man becomes closed up, and unable to express himself, the water references go away. This shows that when a person expresses themselves, they are able to live.