Oedipus the King: Journal #2

Setting: Outside the Royal house of Thebes

The setting of the play Oedipus the King takes place in Thebes a Greek city in 430 BC. The entire setting of the book takes place outside the castle in Thebes which is significant because this gives the audience no way to see Oedipus' private life, and everything we see that Oedipus does is done the chorus or the people of Thebes.

The effect of having only one scenery in the entire play gives the audience no way to sympathize with Oedipus because he is always in the public. We never see him in a place he is more comfortable and more secluded from the people, we only see him in the public. This makes the audience have a more harsh opinion towards Oedipus because of his arrogance and his inability to trust anyone that could be wrong, and always has to get a second opinion. This setting in addition give the audience the illusion that he does not care what the public thinks about him because he has meeting of business such as conversing with the seers, Creon and the shepherds outside where everyone can see him. Thus the setting of the play outside the royal house of Thebes tempers with the way the audience views Oedipus as a character.

Since there is only one location the play has a narrow view point as opposed to being able to see what happens in other locations at the same time. This gives the reader no way to see Oedipus outside of the public or the way he runs his family household. This also narrows the way information is conveyed to the audience. Since during this time period in the style of Greek theater there was a Chorus the information that cannot be conveyed to the audience through other means. For example the Chorus gives the audience background information on the condition the city of Thebes is in which is dirty and dieing figuratively.

Since Oedipus the King takes place during ancient Greece there is a frequent number of  references to the Greek gods. There is also a frequent reference to branches of wound wool introduced to us on the first page and continues to resurface throughout the play. The branches of wound wool refer to offerings made to these gods because the people have lost hope and need their prayers to be answered which is exactly what Jocasta does towards the end of the play.