Tuesday, 10 June 2008: begin Sophocles, Oedipus the King (pages 1-24 of handout / email, up to Jocasta's emergence from palace) + handout on Sigmund Freud and The Oedipus Complex in Oedipus the King and Hamlet (both the Oedipus & Hamlet texts will be emailed to students)

Film / video presentation: Shanna Farmer

Questions

Pre-Video Questions:

What is Irony?

·         A clash between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

·         Problems in a situation developed in a drama and the additional words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

·         A usually humorous or ironic literary style or form portrayed by irony

What are a few specific types of Irony? (Verbal, Dramatic, and Tragic)

Types of Irony:

Dramatic/Tragic:

·         Oedipus: We know that Oedipus is the murderer that he is looking for and he does not.

·         Little House on the Prairie- the gift mix up

·         Friends- Phoebe Abbot and Phoebe Buffay have the same quirky personality and share the same first name

Oedipus the King:

Line 170- Oedipus states that he will himself remove the man who killed his father, because he fears that whoever killed his father may be after him too.

Lines 290- Oedipus says that if the man who killed his father be a guest in his home that he himself should suffer the curses that Oedipus put on the man.

Lines 420- Teireisia tell Oedipus that he is the man who killed his father, he’s the man he himself just cursed.

Situational:

Oedipus the King: They were told that their son would murder his father and marry his mother, so to avoid that happening they had him left for dead or so they thought.  And he ended up killing his father and marrying his mother.  In avoiding the situation they inadvertently caused the situation/prophecy to come true.

Verbal:

Not necessarily pertinent, though present. 

Post-Video Questions:

Do you see dramatic or tragic irony in the Little House on the Prairie film clip?

What were the situations were irony was present?

·         Laura sells Bunny to buy Caroline a stove for Christmas

·         Charles refurbishes wagon wheels to buy the same stove

·         Mary and Caroline make the same shirt for Charles

·         Charles makes Laura a saddle for Bunny, whom she sold

How does the Irony in these two situations compare to the Irony in Oedipus the King?

·         They both use dramatic irony to engage the audience (the audience knows, but the characters do not)

·         The characters actions though their actions appear noble at the time result in tragic consequences

·         Helps develop the plot