Oedipus the King- Relationships
In this play we see that Sophocles has only put light on the relationships which are
muddled up, for example Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus and his children, Oedipus and
Creon. There are no hardly any interactions or no interacts between those people whose
relationships are sorted out, for example Jocasta and Creon, Jocasta and his daughters.
Oedipus+Jocasta= Mother Son, Husband Wife: The relationship between
them two is the most muddled up relationship because Oedipus has married his
mother and slept with her. But in the play there is a dialogue which is “Every son
has a desire to sleep with his mother”. But this doesn’t mean that having sexual
interaction with your own mother is appropriate.
We also see how Oedipus orders everyone and asks questions, but when Jocasta
comes in she is the head of the crowd, she asks questions to everyone including
Oedipus, a husband can most of the time have most of the control over his wife,
but here the matter is different. Jocasta is Oedipus’s wife as well as mother due to
which she naturally has control over him.
When Oedipus gets a clue about Laius’s murder and thinks that he is the one who
has murdered him, then he falls on the floor saying that ‘I have cursed myself’
and Jocasta then behaves like a mother and pacifies him.
Also the play we watched in the National Theatre showed us that Oedipus and
Jocasta gave kisses to each other every now and then, but that didn’t happen in
the original Sophoclean play. So I think that the director is trying to show us how
much Oedipus and Jocasta are sexually close, which is why they both feel so
guilty after finding the truth and harm themselves.
We also notice that there is only one woman in the whole play, so she holds a
very important role, and also we see that all the main things are told by Jocasta.
She begins telling Oedipus about Laius’s death and then she also tells him that
Polybus is dead. So in a way she is guiding her son/husband.
The relationship between them is not at all acceptable in the society and also
within themselves they feel guilty about it and when they find out they Jocasta
kills herself and Oedipus blinds him maybe because they are not brave enough to
face each other.
Oedipus+Creon= Brother-in-law, Uncle: In this dual relationship both of
them are head of each other, as Creon is Oedipus’s Uncle that makes him
superior than Oedipus, but then again Creon is Oedipus’s Brother-in-law which
makes him inferior to Oedipus. We can see this throughout the play as they
always try to boss each other. But still we see that Oedipus’s is very big headed
and blames Creon without having a second thought, and Creon just tells him that
he is happy with what he has, he isn’t interested in being the King.
“Why is he taking so long,” says Oedipus about Creon. Sense of suspicion, and
then he says “I trusted my friend, Creon.” He is calling Creon his friend but he
also suspects him. There is no sign of love between them. Oedipus takes very
quick decisions and misunderstands almost everything that comes his way, this
can also be a reason why every relation he has is muddled up. “You are my
enemy,” says Oedipus to Creon after Tiresias tells the truth to Oedipus because
he thinks it’s all a plot which is created by Creon because wants to be the King of
Thebes. This is a sign of a bad relationship, and also they have a dual
relationship. It also shows that Oedipus doesn’t respect the people who are older
than him.
At the end we see the way Creon behaves after finding out the truth, because he
now knows that Oedipus is much inferior to him and he is also a murderer, so he
doesn’t even talk to him and just tells him to go away.
Oedipus and Creon have a dual relationship but instead of having dual love
between them they just have hatred filled in their hearts for each other.
Oedipus+his Daughters= Brother Sisters, Father Daughters: We see a very
little sight of these relationships, but within that time we are able to figure out
how much they love each other, maybe this is because they have a dual
relationship. Oedipus realises this at the end that his daughters and his sisters
too and maybe he wants to love them as his sisters for once but he doesn’t get
that chance.
Oedipus+his sons= Brothers, Father Sons: In the play which we watched
in the theatre they showed that Oedipus had two sons who were standing at the
back when Oedipus blinded himself. They didn’t come to bid him for the last time
maybe because they were disgusted by the fact that he had sexual interaction
with their mother.
Jocasta+Creon= Brother Sister: This is the relationship in the play which
is pure. Even though Jocasta is younger than Creon he always listens to her.
When at the beginning Creon and Oedipus fight and Jocasta comes in and tells
them to stop, Creon leaves without saying a word. This shows that they have
respect for each other, and also it is a very pure and respectable relationship but
Oedipus has abused it too.
Chorus+Creon+Oedipus: Although chorus is not one person but still it is
like it, because chorus does the same thing, it has same reaction to everything.
They support Creon most of the times rather than Oedipus even though he is the
King. Maybe because they support only who they think is right.
Jocasta and her children except Oedipus have no interaction at all because
when she and Oedipus’s children arrive on stage Jocasta is already dead.
Creon and Oedipus’s children do not have any interaction with each other
as well; Creon just pulls Oedipus’s daughters away from him.
This shows that Sophocles didn’t give much importance to some
relationships which are not muddled up.
All the relationships end at the end except Creon’s relation with Jocasta
and Oedipus’s children.