Feministic Notes Upon Oedipus Rex

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* Greek theatre was entwined within Ancient Greek society * Multiple didactic, dramatic works were directed and performed for the Greek society * Multiple tragedies invoking thought upon the layered meanings of the work * Satyr comedies, which provided relief from the dark tragedies * Oedipus Rex is a theatrical tragedy directed by Sophocles in which it describes the consequences of King Oedipus’s past * Begins ‘in medias res” in which it commences after the Greek myth tale of Oedipus’s homicide * Banishing of the wicked sphinx and his incestuous activity Oedipus is oblivious of his past sins, depicts events leading up to his anagnorisis, and consequences of such sins * Within the text, frequent examples of feminine characters are often used as derogatory, negatively slanted, or non-equal representations to masculine characters * Characters that cause the problems * Masculine characters are depicted as the more powerful characters that have dominance over the women, and solve the negative events that feminine characters have caused * Femineity and Masculinity are often represented within languages, often implying a negative connotation towards the feministic side, and more positively focused upon the masculine side. * “Priests… and the pick of our young MANhood” * The use of the word “manhood” implies masculinity, and not including the female populous * Priests implies a good term, due to them being connected with the gods * Only males may do this, no females due to linguistics of the word manhood * “Where were you when the Dog-faced WITCH was here” * Specifically chooses the word “Witch” which implies a feminine character for the evil, vile Sphinx * Could have been Wizard, however chose the feministic option as it implies the negativity towards female
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