Farfrae. This prompts Farfrae to begin a business the eventually eclipsed Henchard’s. Henchard’s pride leads him to treat others with insensitivity because he cannot control his temper. When he is confronted about his poor wheat, we are told “Henchard's face darkened. There was temper under the thin bland surface--the temper which, artificially intensified, had banished a wife nearly a score of years before” (Hardy 73).
The actions of Oedipus are also marked by hubris. When the play opens we see Oedipus in full confidence of his own glory, much as Henchard appears to his former wife and daughter as he holds court at an expensive restaurant. Oedipus resists the efforts of others to stop his search for the evil that plagues Thebes. Oedipus will not listen to anyone in his efforts to trace the source of the evils plaguing his beloved city. However, each step of Oedipus’ journey makes him recognize that he alone is the author of the source of those evils. He has inadvertently killed his father and married and had intercourse with his mother. As king, Oedipus views himself first and foremost the protector of the city. He makes a pledge to the people of Thebes that he will do everything in his considerable po
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