Oedipus Journal #4

By the end of the play, there are many things to be reflected, especially the play, Oedipus, as a whole. The plot is very straight forward. There are no subplots, or other things to be considered while following the main plot. Everything in the play occurs either in the palace, or right outside the palace doors. The plot is definitely not circular. It starts with Oedipus being king, content, and trying to avoid the prophecies. It ends with his world turned upside down, the prophecies appearing, making himself blind, Jocasta hanging herself, his family torn apart, and him not being at the throne anymore. The ending is very important. It is what makes the play a tragedy. By the end almost everything has been revealed. The truth has been revealed to Oedipus and the rest, obviously. What happens to Jocasta has been revealed. The fact that Creon now has the throne has been revealed. Many things have been revealed except for what exactly happens to Oedipus. Of course he has blinded himself, but he wishes to be exiled, and Creon will not allow that and states that the only people who have the power to do so are the gods. This does not necessarily matter however. The part that did was the matter of the prophecies and whether they were going to become true, and they did. The period of time covered is a day, at least. It does not clearly state the period of time, but the way the conversations keep going without break, gives the reader a clue that it takes place within a day. Time is not necessarily important, but what occurred is. Overall, I really enjoyed reading Oedipus.