Introduction
Dramatic irony plays a major role in distinguishing both Oedipus and Medea as tragic heroes. The use of it acts as a tool to capture the notion of ‘tragic heroes’, as it allows the audience to apprehend the character’s fate even before the said fate occurs. The contrast between the audience’s knowledge of the tragic circumstances and that of the ignorant characters enhances the depth of the tragedy. In the particular plays of Medea and Oedipus, the irony is played out as the characters stubbornly disregard the signs that foretell their fate. In the case of Oedipus, he is blinded to the implications of his actions, while Medea in a stream of consciousness is aware of them but neglects them, thinking she is stronger than pain.
Oedipus
Oedipus thinks that he can circumvent a pre-written fate, which was foretold before he was even born. His decision to leave for Thebes in order not to fulfill the prophecy has been less ridicule than his stubbornness at believing the messengers, later on. Indeed, dramatic irony with regards to Oedipus’s character is best embodied in the disparity between his limited understanding of his own situation during the unfolding action, and how the audience is simultaneously aware of both perspectives. The audience from the onset is aware of his fate, but Oedipus thinks all throughout the plot, that he is above Fate.
He is spiritually blind to the power of prophecies and thus pays no heed to messengers. He is too complacent about what he can perform. Oedipus’s spiritual blindness results, in the end, in his own downfall. Oedipus’s urge to free the citizens of Thebes from the plague leads him to vow to do everything in his power to find the murderer of Laius. ‘The only way of deliverance from our plague is for us to find out the killers of Laius and kill and banish them.’ – Oedipus. He believes that his power of insight will guide him to the truth and subsequently, down the correct path. The Irony of the situation, this leads him to an unexpected truth. ‘I say, you murdered the man whose murderer you require.’ – Teresias. Ironically, by acting out as a hero, Oedipus is about to find that ‘he is looking for himself’, as Teresias puts it; he is the killer of Laius, his father.
Teresias words shed light on Oedipus’ abstract blindness; Oedipus is, metaphorically, blind to his own wrongs. As Oedipus continues to mock him, Teresias specifies his prophecy and proves that Oedipus is ‘blind’ and cannot see the certainty of his downfall. Oedipus’s inability to comprehend Teresias’s riddles is a product of his pride and arrogance, which act together to figuratively blindfold him and make him incapable of acknowledging the possibility of being Laius’s murderer and marrying his own mother, Jocasta. ‘You blame my temper, but you do not see your own that lives within you.’ – Teresias.
Oedipus proves his blindness lies not only within the eyes, but also within his ears. He proves himself to be a man who can listen carefully to others, but his ability to reason falls victim to his rage and anger. He refuses to acknowledge anyone else’s views and opinions except his own. ‘You are pleased to mock my blindness. Have you eyes, and do not see your own damnation? Eyes, and cannot see what company you keep?’ – Teresias. Teresias states that Oedipus, despite his fully functioning eyes, cannot see the truth that lies in front of him. Due to his attempts to escape his inevitable destiny, Oedipus lands himself the fate he was destined to have.
Oedipus lets his own image overshadow the images, voices and acts of those around him. His extreme pride is his tragic flaw, and his mental blindness leads him to his own downfall, whereupon he physically blinds himself, fusing a previously symbolic impediment with reality. ‘How could I meet my father beyond the grave with seeing eyes; or my unhappy mother, against whom I have committed such heinous sin?’ This is when he is able to truly see the ‘light’ – the terrible truth that he has been blinded all his life. ‘Oedipus, greatest of all men, he held the key to the deepest mysteries’. – Chorus.
The play’s powerful use of dramatic irony emphasizes the limitations of human understanding and the high cost this lack of knowledge forces upon the characters. In the end, man must choose his fate, and it is the act of choosing that determines much of our humanity. The vivid portrayal of human frailty in the face of impending doom demonstrates the classic dramatic elements of a Greek tragedy.
Medea
Dramatic irony also plays an important role in distinguishing Medea as a tragic hero. Medea’s cunning and trickery are evident in her interactions with Jason, in which she pretends to have overcome her jealousy, whilst simultaneously planning his downfall. In spite of arguing with him at the beginning of the play, she later attempts to beguile him, claiming that she has reasoned with her soul and seen how foolish she was in her senseless enragement: ‘So I reflected and I realized how stupid I had been, how pointless my anger’.
With regards to Medea, the device of dramatic irony is played out as she is able to foresee the implications of her actions but thinks she is more powerful than pain. In a soliloquy she briefly lets her heart guide her to the price to her actions: ‘I will bear off my children from this land. Why should I seek to wring their father’s heart, when that same act will doubly wring my own?’.However, she immediately resolves herself to do it: ‘No, I’ll give up my plan. No, I must go through with it. What a coward I am, even to allow such weak thoughts.’ Her downfall lies in her thinking that she is stronger than the pain she is about to inflict on her husband and children, and by extension herself.
Therefore, she slyly masks her true emotions. She is still indeed senselessly enraged, to the point of being unable to see the shortcomings of her own plans. ‘Heaven-born light, restrain her, stop her, get her out of the house, the murderous accursed fiend of vengeance.’ – Chorus. She manages to fool Jason into believing her children are safe in her hands, but at the same time, plotting to kill them. ‘Miserable woman, you must be made of stone or iron, to kill the fruit of your womb, a self-inflicted fate.’ – Chorus.
The major element that makes Medea a powerful tragic hero is the fact that the many admirable qualities that she possesses are ruined by a tragic flaw- the blinding vengefulness. The play opens with the nurse’s soliloquy about Jason forsaking her for a younger princess. ‘Jason has betrayed his own sons and my mistress – left her for royal wedding bed.’ – Nurse. This immediately draws the audience to Medea’s side and induces it to emphasize with Medea when it is revealed that Medea left her native country and killed her brother to be Jason’s bride. ‘She wails aloud for her dear father, her country and her home, which she betrayed, when she came here with the man who now dishonours her.’ – Nurse.
Medea’s tragic flaw leads her character to a greater understanding and experience through suffering. It is due to her tragic flaw that she loses many of the ones she loves, including her home, children and Jason. She destroys Jason’s life by killing his new bride and his children, preventing any continuation of his legacy. Medea never truly achieves a full understanding because her vengefulness prevents her from good judgement.
Conclusion
All in all, it can be concluded that Oedipus and Medea’s strong tragic personas that are flawed caused their downfall. Oedipus tragic flaw lies in his blinding pride that made him think he is stronger than Fate, and which closed his eyes on paying heed to Teresias and the messenger’s revelations. It took two messengers and Jocasta self-inflicted hanging to open his soul to accept the truth. His very accusation of Teresias, an old blind man, shows how he is shut off any sense. He is in denial about owning to the wrongs he committed with his own hands just as Medea is about the wrongs she resolved herself to commit. Medea, enraged with vengefulness, ended up not only killing her husband’s would-be bride but also her own children. The soliloquy at the middle of the plot depicts her as wrestling between sense and her wish to avenge her husband’s betrayal. However, her vengefulness wins over sense and she goes on with her destructive plan. Tragically, she overlooks her motherly feelings and disregards the call of conscientious reason and goes through with her plan. In the end, both protagonists fall victims to their overlooking ominous signs, the messengers’ revelations on the part of Oedipus, and conscience epiphany on the part of Medea.