Oedipus the King: Jocasta’s Role
Oedipus the King: Jocasta’s Role

Oedipus the King: Jocasta’s Role

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 4 (890 words)
  • Published: May 20, 2017
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

In the play "Oedipus the King", Jocasta has the roles of both Oedipus's wife and mother and is also Creon's sister. At first, she appeals to Oedipus to reconcile with Creon and not exile him. Jocasta provides comfort to her husband and calmly tries to convince him that Tiresias's prophecy is false. Remarkably, Jocasta solves the puzzle of Oedipus's true identity before he does. She expresses her love and protective instincts towards her son and husband by wanting to shield them from this knowledge (Sophocles, 1999). In "Othello", Desdemona is a young, sexual woman who is recently wed.

Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio, is secretly married to Othello before the play starts. Despite being perceived as pure and meek, Desdemona is also determined and self-assured. She can defend her marriage, engage in bawdy banter with Iago, and respon

...

d to Othello's incomprehensible jealousy with dignity. Although she may appear submissive at times, notably when she accepts responsibility for her own murder, the play portrays Desdemona as both a submissive, faithful wife and a confident, independent individual.

This discrepancy could be intentional, aiming to depict the conflicting emotions that Desdemona experiences after defending her choice of marriage to her father in Act I, scene iii, and then suddenly having to defend her faithfulness to her husband. Initially, she is portrayed as a highly autonomous individual, but midway through the play, she must fight against all odds to persuade Othello that she is not excessively independent. The way in which Desdemona is killed - asphyxiated with a pillow while lying on a bed adorned with her wedding sheets - carries symbolic meaning. She is literally stifled unde

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

the pressure to remain faithful.

Emilia is the wife of Iago and the attendant of Desdemona. She is a cynical and worldly woman who is deeply loyal to her mistress but distrustful of her husband (Shakespeare, 2005). In Tartuffe, Elmire is Orgon's second wife and represents a reasonable attitude towards life. Mariane, also in Tartuffe, is Orgon's daughter who loves Valere but is being forced to marry Tartuffe. Dorine, a common character in Moliere's comedies, is the wise servant who can see through any pretenses. Despite her lower social position, she outwits others in any contest of wits.

Dorine, surrounded by the deluded and tyrannical Orgon, the hypocritical Tartuffe, and the ineffectual Mariane, appeals to us with her winning wholesomeness, directness, and simple honesty. In the social structure of the time, Dorine would be both a servant and companion to Mariane, which explains her open manner compared to a typical servant. She consistently demonstrates her ability to perceive the truth amidst hypocrisy and fanaticism, and satirically expresses the audience's frustration (Moliere, 2000).

The Father Laura is The Captain’s wife. Despite accepting her maternal relationship with her husband, Laura despises her role as a spouse and seeks revenge by ruining him. To prove his madness, she resorts to forgery and distorts the identity of their daughter's father. While both Laura and The Captain acknowledge that it is not feasible to raise Bertha in their household, they have contrasting desires for her upbringing. The Captain wishes for her to be raised as an atheist in the city, whereas Laura envisions a different path for her daughter, possibly as an artist.

Swedish law at the time prevents Laura from having her wishes

about her daughter's future followed. Therefore, she devises a plan to frame the Captain as mentally insane in order to gain control over her daughter's future. As part of this plan, she hints that Bertha may not even be the Captain's daughter, suggesting that she had been unfaithful. Additionally, Laura intercepts the Captain's mail and deceives the influential Doctor to convince him of the Captain's insanity (Weinstein, 2011). Waiting for Godot is a two-act play.

Samuel Beckett's decision to not include women in his plays was motivated by his belief that they lack prostates. This is significant because Beckett argues that having a prostate is crucial for the character Vladimir, who frequently leaves the stage to urinate. Moreover, he asserts that females would struggle to accurately convey the character's vocal tone. Nevertheless, I personally think that introducing female actors in the play could introduce a unique dynamic in portraying relationships, like friendship or marriage, between men and women.

According to Weinstein (2011), various interpretations of Godot exist, with some suggesting religious connections and comparing him to Jesus Christ. Changing the gender of Godot could potentially alter the play's meaning, implying sexual motives if two men were waiting for a woman, or similarly if two women were waiting for a man. However, if all actors were female, their gender would not impact the meaning as they belong to the same sex. It is when genders are mixed that different meanings and portrayals can emerge (Weinstein, 2011).

Retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/tartuffe02027gut/trtff10.txt
Shakespeare, W. (2005). Othello. Retrieved from http://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-othello.htm
Sophocles. (1999). Oedipus the king. Retrieved from http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/oedipustheking.htm
Weinstein, A. (Performer). (2011). Godot absent - didi and gogo present. [Web

Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pb8oNOYLAU
Weinstein, A. (Performer). (2011). Strindberg's father - patriarchy in trouble. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q-yNsh8lBQ

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New