Sunday, August 27, 2006
No Strings Attached
"Women on posters, immense posters of women in factory clothes, in peasant clothes. 'We too can produce for the country.' Women calling to women: Come out and work! Build our country! Women and men with that smile to the fore, looking starry-eyed into the sky."
-Han Suyin, My House Has Two Doors, p.258
I've had to cancel a movie outing with Leanne so I can work on my Oedipus essay. It's such a great play, but I struggle to really work out how much of the tragedy can be attributed to the gods, how much of it to Chance (Chaos) and how much of it to Oedipus himself. I'm reluctant to blame Oedipus much, but because the Aristotilean concept of tragedy (which I find kinda formulaic, don't you?) has worked its way in to modern intrepretation... so he must have a tragic flaw. But it rankles with me so much because I feel he is disproportionately punished for his crime, in other words (of Lear himself, actually - yay for inter-subject cross-referencing!) "a man more sinned against than sinning".
Edited to add: I suppose there is comfort to be had in the words of my English teacher - "better to have complex inconclusiveness than simple conclusiveness."
Ok. So Oedipus has a healthy ego. He rises to anger easily. He's kinda cocky and paranoid. But he's also a good ruler, he's kind, he listens, he's a good father, he's intelligent, he takes responsibility, he keeps to his word.
He could be a perfect man and he would not have been able to prevent the prophecy from happening. AND he did fulfill it anyway, AND was still punished anyway. I'm feeling too lazy to go into all the delicate nuances and finer points of discussion, but basically what Sophocles is telling me is: shit happens.
And I think that just summed up my life.
P.S: Anyway who wants to discuss this with me is welcome to.You think you'll be enjoying a philosophical debate, but in actuality you'll be helping me with my exam it'll be fun! A philosophical debate, no strings attached.
-Han Suyin, My House Has Two Doors, p.258
I've had to cancel a movie outing with Leanne so I can work on my Oedipus essay. It's such a great play, but I struggle to really work out how much of the tragedy can be attributed to the gods, how much of it to Chance (Chaos) and how much of it to Oedipus himself. I'm reluctant to blame Oedipus much, but because the Aristotilean concept of tragedy (which I find kinda formulaic, don't you?) has worked its way in to modern intrepretation... so he must have a tragic flaw. But it rankles with me so much because I feel he is disproportionately punished for his crime, in other words (of Lear himself, actually - yay for inter-subject cross-referencing!) "a man more sinned against than sinning".
Edited to add: I suppose there is comfort to be had in the words of my English teacher - "better to have complex inconclusiveness than simple conclusiveness."
Ok. So Oedipus has a healthy ego. He rises to anger easily. He's kinda cocky and paranoid. But he's also a good ruler, he's kind, he listens, he's a good father, he's intelligent, he takes responsibility, he keeps to his word.
He could be a perfect man and he would not have been able to prevent the prophecy from happening. AND he did fulfill it anyway, AND was still punished anyway. I'm feeling too lazy to go into all the delicate nuances and finer points of discussion, but basically what Sophocles is telling me is: shit happens.
And I think that just summed up my life.
P.S: Anyway who wants to discuss this with me is welcome to.
# posted by me lah @ 8:12 am 
