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Alex Ikeda
ENGL-2600 Introduction to Literature
Brandon Alva
Tragedy and Self-Knowledge
Aristotle believed that out of great tragedy comes great self-knowledge, what he termed
anagnorisis. It is only after a tragic hero falls that they gain the knowledge and enlightenment
that was once hidden to them. Whether it is excessive pride, ignorance, or the influence of
societal norms, our tragic heroes are blinded to the truth about themselves. And even though the
truth of self-knowledge eventually comes to light, the truth is not always inviting. In Sophocles’
Oedipus the King, and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, one can follow how the tragic heroes’
lack of self-knowledge leads to their downfall, and how it is only after their tragic fall that they
gain self-knowledge.
In both plays, the tragic hero lacks certain knowledge about themselves that eventually
leads to their downfall. In the play Oedipus the King, the tragic hero Oedipus does not truly
know the story of his past and the reality of his present. Tiresias, the blind prophet, attempts to
reveal to Oedipus his ignorance when he says, “You have your eyes but see not where you are in
sin, nor where you live, nor whom you live with.” In the play A Doll’s House, the tragic hero
Nora fails to see the truth behind her marriage and the meaning of freedom. Nora is blind to her
loveless marriage, her dishonorable husband, and her true potential. Until the end of the play,
Nora does not see that her “home has been nothing but a playroom,” and she has been nothing
but a “doll-wife.”
It is clear that both Oedipus and Nora are incapable of seeing their unfortunate realities,
but what comes to question is why. In Oedipus’s case, it is his personality and character that
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makes him incapable of seeing the flaws in his logic and the truth that is presented to him. For
Nora, the problem is buried in her psyche, which has been molded by her patriarchal society.
Oedipus is the notable leader and ruler of Thebes, a position he gained after saving the
city by solving the sphinx’s riddle. Oedipus declares with great pride, “I [am] Oedipus whom all
men call the Great.” Oedipus is a celebrity in Thebes, and is known for his compassion and
interest in the wellbeing of his subjects. He continually voices his concerns for his people, as can
be seen when he exclaims, “My spirit groans for city and myself and you at once… the grief I
bear, I bear it more for these than for my own hear.” Oedipus is also notable for his sense of
justice and candor. He is quick to action, yet is also quick to anger. Oedipus is vehement on
finding the murderer of the previous king, Laius, in order to lift the plague for his people. His
leadership skills and genuine concern for his people, however, end up being his downfall.
Oedipus almost brings about the catastrophe willingly: “Whoever he was that killed the king may
readily wish to dispatch me with his murderous hand; so helping the dead king I help myself”
and “if with my knowledge he lives at my hearth I pray that I myself may feel my curse.”
While Oedipus’s need for justice and salvation for his city lead to his uncovering of the
truth, it is his excessive pride and ego that prevents him from hearing and seeing the facts around
him. His tragic hubris and reputation for being intelligent blinds him from seeing the relationship
between his past and his present situation. Oedipus mocks Tiresias, who has sight from Apollo,
for not being able to solve the sphinx’s riddle, stating, “I solved the riddle by my own wit alone.”
Oedipus refuses to listen to Tiresias, even as he begs, “Let me go home… I will not bring this
pain upon us both, neither on you nor on myself.” Tiresias tries and fails to convince Oedipus to
stop searching for the truth saying “it will be easiest for us both to bear our several destinies.”
Oedipus, however, will not take no for an answer and accuses Tiresias of being “blind in mind
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and ears as well as in [his] eyes.” Angered, Tiresias divulges and tells Oedipus “you are the
land’s pollution… this day will show your birth and will destroy you.” Oedipus continues to
ignore the prophet of the gods, almost taking up the role of a god himself. He is called “savior”
by the people of Thebes. Oedipus suffers from dangerous pride, which hampers his ability to
connect the dots about his past. This blindness brings about his ruin and fall from greatness,
while also justifying his downfall.
Like Oedipus, Nora Helmer is shielded from self-knowledge. However, it is the influence
of society that has caused her blindness. Nora lives in a world where it is a woman’s role to
please the men in her life. Her husband Torvald treats her like a doll, which is only good to be
played with. Nora has lived like this her whole life, first as her father’s “doll-child” and second
as her husband’s “doll-wife.” She has known no other life and does not know what she really
wants. When Dr. Rank asks Nora if she has “any notion what Society really is,” Nora replies
with, “What do I care about tiresome Society?” Nora wants freedom, but does not know what
that really entails. She thinks that to be free is being a mother and a traditional wife who
maintains a beautiful home: “Free from care! To be able to be free from care… to be able to keep
the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!” As the play continues, Nora
becomes increasingly aware that she must change her life to find true freedom, freedom that does
not include the traditional domestic world she grew up in. Her understanding of the word “free”
changes as she begins to learn that she has “sacred duties” to herself.
The truth eventually comes to light for both Oedipus and Nora and with it a tragic end.
For Oedipus, all the pieces come together as he listens to the stories told of how Laius was
murdered. It took him listening to Creon, Tiresias, Jocasta, and the Shepard to finally see what
has been in front of him the whole time. He finally learns that Laius and Jocasta sent out their
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baby to die, and that the Shepard saved him, giving Oedipus to the king of Corinth to raise as his
own. Upon discovering the truth about himself, Oedipus is thrown into madness. He exclaims,
“O God, I think I have called curses upon myself in ignorance.” He cannot bear to think of the
crimes and sins he has committed, saying, “madness and stabbing pain and memory of evil deeds
I have done!” In his anguish, he stabs his eyes out, making him as physically blind as he was
mentally blind. Oedipus comes face to face with catastrophe, and falls from his pedestal just as
Tiresias predicted: “blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go
journeying to a foreign country tapping his way before him with a stick.”
Blinded and ashamed, Oedipus comes to full realization his situation. He has murdered
his father, slept with his mother, and caused his mother/wife to commit suicide. While Oedipus’s
end is not joyous, he takes full responsibility. He takes his own curse upon himself along with
the punishment of killing Laius. Oedipus affirms, “I must obey, though bitter of heart.” He
leaves Thebes an outcast, a lowly man who was once a great king.
Nora is able to reach self-knowledge once the illusion of the doll’s house has fallen. It is
when she finally sees Torvald as he really is that Nora’s outlook on her married life changes.
Nora took out a loan with a forged signature in order to save her husband’s life. When Mrs.
Linde tells Nora that she knows “so little of the burdens and troubles of life,” and that, “small
household cares and that sort of thing,” are not considered troubling, Nora is offended. She hates
being thought of as a child, and that she is “incapable of anything really serious.” The fact that
she went behind Torvald’s back and borrowed money, shows that Nora is more capable than
everyone else thinks. However much she wants everyone to know how cleaver she is, she must
keep her secret hidden for Torvald’s sake: “How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald,
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with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual
relations altogether; our beautiful happy home would no longer be what it is now.”
When Torvald does find out her secret, Nora did not expect the reaction he gave. She
wanted him to take the blame upon himself and be gracious for the sacrifices Nora made for him.
Torvald, however, reacted by yelling at Nora and stating that “I must sink to such miserable
depths because of a thoughtless woman!” Her disappointment with Torvald’s reaction elicits her
awakening. Rather than sacrifice his own reputation for his wife, Torvald is only concerned with
upholding his reputation, saying “no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves,” which
is exactly what Nora did for him: “It was tonight, when the wonderful thing did not happen; then
I saw you were not the man I had thought you were.” When Torvald asks her, “Do you
understand what you have done?” Nora answers, “Yes, now I am beginning to understand
thoroughly.” When the contract is returned to them, Torvald becomes joyous again and tries to
take back all of the insults he bestowed on Nora. He tries to regain his noble stature, saying “only
lean on me; I will advise you and direct you.” He even says that Nora’s helplessness makes her
seem even more attractive to him. Nora comes to the realization that her whole marriage was a
performance. She tells Torvald, “You don’t understand me, and I have never understood you
either—before tonight… You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in
love with me.” She finally sees that Torvald has held her back and is the reason she has made
nothing of her life. Nora reveals that she has “never felt [her] mind so clear and certain as
tonight.” Nora realizes that she no longer wants to exist only to please men. She learns that she
wants to live independently and thus leaves to find freedom.
Personal and societal flaws led Oedipus and Nora to be blinded to the truth. They were
unable to genuinely know who they were. It was only in their tragic fall that they were able to
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gain self-knowledge. Once the truth came fully to light, Oedipus and Nora were both
enlightened, yet shared different fates. Oedipus fell into madness, stabbing out his eyes and
leaving Thebes a cursed man. Nora also left her home, yet she left to new beginnings with more
independence. For Nora’s tragedy came triumph as she stood up for herself and left an
independent woman, yet it was also tragic. While she left in order to create a better life for
herself away from her husband, she had to leave her home, her children, and her marriage. She
took a leap into a male run world that would not be so accepting of her decision to abandon her
family. Anagnorisis is reached for both characters, but with it the fall into tragedy.