Oedipus & Hamlet
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Before we can look at either Oedipus or Hamlet as tragic heroes, we need to form some criteria for judging them as heroic or not. If we look at the Aristotelian definition of tragedy, we see tragedy defined as “An imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude” (O’Brien and Dukore 1). While the actions of Oedipus and Hamlet are serious, complete and of a certain magnitude, Aristotle’s definition does not seem to do full justice to the characters of Oedipus and Hamlet. For while each character imitates an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude (Oedipus kills his father and sleeps with his mother; Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes, Claudius and is indirectly responsible for the death of Ophelia and his mother Gertrude), the Germanic definition of the tragic hero appears to be much closer to the characterizations of Oedipus and Hamlet. This definition appears to apply to the characters we see in each of these tragedies in a more complete manner. The Germanic definition of the tragic character includes the following “The Germanic hero accepts his destiny, and launches himself on it, knowing that on the one hand he is sacrificing human happiness, and on the other obeying the dictates of honor” (Smithers 78).In Oedipus and Hamlet we see that both title characters act in a manner whereby they accept their destiny, and they launch themselves on it knowing that it jeopardizes
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imes through the course of the tragedy, but it is readily apparent in Oedipus’ curse upon the responsible individual(s) “Whoever he is, a lone man unknown in his crime or one among many, let that man drag out his life in agony, step by painful step— I curse myself as well…if by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house, here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, may the curse I just called down on him strike me!” (Sophocles 280-287).
That both Hamlet and Oedipus follow their destiny at the expense of their own happiness is obvious. The difference is that Hamlet curses his destiny and is overcome with melancholy by his dilemma, while Oedipus is less concerned with the individual ramifications of his destiny. Oedipus knows that in the scheme of things it is his destiny to have been the one who killed his father and slept with his mother. He knows he, alone, is the cause of the disasters in Thebes. Therefore, he accepts his destiny more willingly even though it causes a large measure of grief “I’d never have come tot his, my father’s murderer—never been branded mother’s husband, all men see me now! Now, loathed by the gods, son of the mother I defiled coupling in my father’s bed, spawning lives in the loins that spawn
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Approximate Word count = 1992
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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