Week 6 Discussion Jerry Cantave

From the very beginning, what makes Oedipus ‘ actions in his quarrel with Teiresias and throughout the play so dramatically compelling, is the fact that the audience knows the outcome of the story. We know Oedipus ‘ fate even before he does, and there is no suspense about the outcome itself, instead, the audience anxiously awaits Oedipus to reveal his fate unto himself in his desperate quest to rid his city of the terrible plague, or maybe even more so, to simply discover his unfortunate tale. Oedipus is relentless in his pursuit of the truth, and his determination is commendable. There is nothing that compels him to act in this way, instead, he freely chooses, with much zeal, to initiate the chain of events that will ultimately lead to his downfall. The main dramatic irony in Oedipus the King contrasts Oedipus’s limited knowledge of his unfolding situation and how the audience is fully aware of it.