Introduction
The concept of family has been addressed in various plays. Oedipus Rex is a tragic play that was written by Sophocles around 420 BC. The drama involves Oedipus who became a king after the murder of the head of the city. However, Oedipus ends up fulfilling a prophecy that had indicated that he would murder his father and marry her mother. Six Characters in Search of an Author is a comedy by Pirandello that involves six family members who interrupt a rehearsal to request the producer to finish their play. The nature of family in both works shows how reality changes the identity of the characters.
Identity and Family
Sophocles shows that family enhances the identity of an individual through the tragedy of Oedipus. The life process of Oedipus is based on a prophecy that was given by an oracle before his birth. The author of the play uses the trajectory of Oedipus to show the relationship between reality and identity. The events impact the conceptualization of family and identity. Oedipus undergoes a journey of finding himself, which depicts the concept of family as an idea of origins. The curse on Oedipus represents his identity which is similar to the reality that happens during his lifetime. This indicates that the reality of Oedipus is shaped by the identity represented by the curse. The writer shows that the main character could not run away from fate. The author creates this analogy to show how the reality of Oedipus impacted his identity.
Pirandello addresses the concept of reality and identity differently. The appearance of the characters at the rehearsal seems to depict a conflict between reality and identity. Each person seems to have their version of events. The inability to understand the truth represents an instance where reality is blurred by the identity of the characters. In one instance, it becomes difficult to determine what happened in the brothel, which further enhances the concept of reality changing the identity. Therefore, the two plays show the relationship between reality and identity using the characters.
Pirandello challenges the notion of family being the key to happiness and success. To do this, the author explains the relations of the family members. As the characters explain their story, the director finds out that the mother has another family with the clerk who worked for the father. These revelations provide the truth about the interactions between the family members and expound on the identity of each member. The new information changes the definition of reality because it becomes hard to understand who is telling the factual story. The depiction of the family as deeply divided in the play reflects the challenges that individuals face in reality. As the play ends, the author shows that the appearance of a group of people does not tell the whole truth.
Oedipus Rex is different in the way it addresses the issue of the family as a source of happiness and success. The play adopts the concept of tragedy to detail how family can be a destructive aspect. The tragedy is based on three characters who are all related. The author uses Oedipus’s birth into the family of the king to initiate the challenges that will occur in his later life. The use of tragedy is crucial because it enhances the meaning that the author intended. Therefore, both Pirandello and Sophocles use the destructive aspects of the family to show how reality and identity interact.
Pirandello’s drama highlights various instances of family relationships that are different from what most people consider normal. In the play, the author chooses to include a section where the father and the stepdaughter are in a brothel. This part seems to indicate that something happened in the brothel. However, the author does not provide conclusive details and leaves the audience to guess. The writer may have wanted to expound on the negative aspects of family disharmony. By not providing all the details on what happened, the playwright challenges the reader to rethink the events that have been described. The situation between the father and stepdaughter impacts the identity of the characters.
Sophocles also provides details on relations between family members that may not be considered normal in the current setting. After the death of King Laius, Oedipus is chosen as the new leader and marries the queen, who is his real mother. The depiction of family relations is comparable to what Pirandello depicted in the relations between father and stepdaughter. The similarity is based on the relations being viewed differently by people. The two authors seem to challenge the normal views held by individuals by depicting aspects that can be considered by society as immoral. The intention may be to show that engaging in such acts may lead to the family being destroyed. This is because the characters who are portrayed end up losing what they sought to preserve. Therefore, by depicting family relationships, the writers show how the present reality of the characters impacted their identity.
The Conflict between Reality and Identity
Pirandello uses the conflict between reality and identity to show the relations between the characters. The play shows characters who have different perceptions of the events. The variance creates a struggle because it becomes impossible to determine the truth. The problems between the different characters help the author to show the way they relate, which enhances the drama. For example, the father and the mother have different accounts of what happened because of the mistrust that exists between them. The writer helps the reader to understand the connection between the two and the source of their problems. Sophocles presents a conflict between the oracle and the king and queen. The battle shapes the reality of Oedipus because he is unable to run away from the curse. The experience shapes the journey of Oedipus and is crucial in shaping the relations between the three characters. Therefore, the two stories use conflicts between family members to build the identity of the characters and show how they relate to each other.
Conclusion
In summary, both Sophocles and Pirandello’s plays focus on the relationship between identity and reality and the thin line between the two. The two dramas use characters to showcase the connection between identity and reality. The negative aspects of family are used to show how characters’ interactions affect their identity and shape their reality. The two works depict family members’ relationships in a way that challenges the identity of the characters. Therefore, family relationships, conflicts, and the destructive aspects of family help explore how reality changes identity in the works by Sophocles and Pirandello.