Little does the reader know, Oedipus’ adamant and presumptuous character pushes himself to make the wrong choices, making him responsible for fulfilling his own fate. Although other characters and Oedipus himself may believe that it was “fate” that brought this horror upon him, the reader and the audience is fully aware by the end of the play that Oedipus is the one responsible for this outcome. Oedipus’ downfall caused by this theme can be traced back to the crossroad encounter with Laius, his questioning to Tiresias, and at the end of the play. The audience never sees the encounter between Oedipus and Laius at the crossroad. However, the encounter characterizes Oedipus’ character.
The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their social or political positions. Those actions happen when the Herdsman tells Oedipus who his mother is, and Oedipus replies Oh, oh, then everything has come out true. Light, I shall not look on you Again. I have been born where I should not be born, I have been married where I should not marry, I have killed whom I should not kill; now all is clear (Sophocles 1144). Oedipus's decision to pursue his questioning is wrong; his grandiosity blinded him and, therefore, his fate is not deserved, but it is far beyond his control.
In selecting the frailty of illusion over the constancy of reality, the protagonists meet their inevitable disaster. From the start of Sophocles’ tragic play, Oedipus takes many actions and makes many choices leading to his own downfall. Oedipus selects to disregard numerous warnings, involving truth of his life and family background. Teiresias supplies Oedipus with everything he has to know about regarding his fate by stating, “I say you live in hideous shame with those Most dear to you. You cannot see the evil” (Sophocles 149).
The speaker is trapped in desire and cannot find his way out. He then goes and compares desire to a "...fool's self-chosen snare..." illustrating that desire is an act of foolishness, in continuation he accuses desire to be a "...web of will..." which is a difficulty brought by men upon themselves. He continues to use repetition on specific sets of words to emphasize his negative impact with desire. Another example is " With price of mangled mind...", an idea of him trying to accomplish the task of defeating desire yet he does not achieve anything but still loses the sanity he had left. The speaker demonstrates desire to be a trap that you won't ever be able to escape.
. . for that which is hateful to the gods has been shown to be also pleasing and dear to them.” From here on, Euthyphro seems to become increasingly challenged to defend his concept of piety. Adler/Vasil suggest that Plato shows that Euthyphro is not as wise as he gives himself credit for, and therefore his reasoning is flawed. They say: “We shall argue that the bad reasoning that Plato attributes to Euthyphro in the eponymous dialogue is to be explained by defects in character.
A short essay cannot investigate all instances of this occurrence in all works of the author, but could provide the reader with the major categories. This way, deception will become more recognizable and appreciated as a major element and a spine of the particular story. In two of the most famous Shakespeare’s plays where deception appears as a building block of the story are Hamlet and Othello. In Hamlet the prince uses deception as a tool to distract attention and hide better his strange but vital moves and activities necessary to gather enough information regarding Claudius. The deception comes in the form of fake madness.
The main representation of madness is within the character of the protagonist, King Lear. Through him, Shakespeare shows us true insanity and how it waxes and wanes due to outside influences such as love and rejection. At the commencement of the play, Shakespeare presents the seeds of madness through Lear’s vain demands for appreciation. Lear states that he was ready to express his “darker purpose” (I, i, ln36) when he begins to divide up his kingdom. From an outsider to the drama’s perspective, is obvious that the ‘darker purpose’ is related to Lear’s mad insecurities, which go
Evoking erroneous empathy, Iago questions whether he “in any just terms (is) affined to love the moor”. So, ambitious and envious Iago determines to “hate the moor” and to “follow him to serve my term upon him”. He is not one for “love and duty”, demonstrating instead his duality in order to achieve his “peculiar end”. Throughout the play, Iago manages to live up to his declaration, “I am not what I am”, covering his evil intentions in a façade of righteousness, loyalty
After the audience becomes aware of this, and Edmund’s duplicitous plotting, the audience loses all sympathy for the main antagonist of the subplot in King Lear. The loyal, earnest Edmund presented to Gloucester and Kent in Act 1 Scene 1 is a stark contrast to the scheming, bitter Edmund seen alone for the first time in the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2. His first soliloquy begins with Edmund asking why he should not take it upon himself to better his societal standing. The only things standing in his way are societal conventions and complicated laws. He has faith that, with masterful planning, he can overcome the barriers society has set up for him, and take what he believes to be rightfully his: land, money, and power.
He is a man who tries to discover a deeper philosophical understanding of human behaviour. However, as Hamlet is thrust into a role which forces him to act he begins to question his sense of identity. His stifling and consuming insecurities restrict him from pursuing his ‘purpose’ of seeking vengeance, and cause him to become morally conflicted. Hamlet’s failure to navigate his changing world ultimately results in inner turmoil and moral corruption by the end the play. Despite Hamlet being a sixteenth century text, the concerns of truth and deception remain relevant to any context, thus enhancing the value of Shakespeare’s work as it has the capacity to stand the test of time.