Anouilh’s Tragedy and Oedipus Rex :: comparison compare contrast essays

Anouilhs disaster and Oedipus Rex Many definitions exist for the genres of cataclysm and melodrama. interchangeable to the distinction between fruits and vegetables, nigh can tell the two obscure but have difficulty describing why. However, some definitions require a deeper scene into a work, such as the interpretation provided by Anouilhs picture show version of Antigone. Whether or not Sophocless Oedipus Rex is a tragedy or melodrama has been debated since the teachings of Aristotle and strong arguments have been made for both sides. Tragedy, as defined by Anouilh, takes on a lifelike form, putting a new thread on an old definition that requires one to take a polar perspective on the play. Though at a superficial level Oedipus Rex is a tragedy, its details point it towards the direction of a melodrama. The first and most glaring problem found while attempting to plug Oedipus Rex into Anouilhs explanation of tragedy comes with how tragedy runs in a play. The spring is wound up tight. It will uncoil of itself. That is what is so convenient in tragedy. The least pocket-size turn of the wrist will do the job. The rest is automatic. You take ont need to lift a finger. The work is in pure(a) order it has been oiled ever since time began, and it runs without friction (Anouilhs Antigone). in one case tragedy has started to roll, it never ceases while continuing to snowball until the point of decisiveness in the play. In Oedipus Rex, this is not seen. Rather, Oedipus himself works the machine, pulling each open and pushing every button himself. Though the gods trope is open, and all his oracle is clear (Sophocles 76), it is Oedipus himself that must rush along his fate. The gods seem to hurry Oedipus along his journey as well, catalyzing the actions leading to Oedipuss final revelations and self-mutilation. Friends, it was Apollo, sprit of Apollo. He made this evil fructify (Sophocles 73). Oedipus recognizes that the gods, notably Apollo had ush ered him along, leaving him with little else than to explore his origins and eventually go mad. Oedipus is not put into some fate machine and chewed around. Oedipus is subjected to his own curiosity and the play of his own gods. According to Anouilh, a tragedy must be very clean, whereas a melodrama is sloppy in nature. Tragedy is clean it is restful it is flawless.