Oedipus the King and Metamorphosis Comparative Essay

In Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Kafka's Metamorphosis, the protagonists loss of sensory perception and ability (loss of sight vs. loss of voice) reflect their own internal conflict.


Help?

Greek tragedies are sometimes difficult to understand, especially when then where written over 2400 years ago.

To point you in the right direction for Oedipus, I would suggest researching Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_the_King

The question has asked you to focus on sensory perception as the play has several actual and metaphorical references to sight -

- In Corinth, Oedipus seeks a Delphic oracle to help him see the truth which also introduces the self-fulfilling prophecy.

- The prophet Teiresias is blind but sees the truth. In contrast, Oedipus who is able sighted, is bling to the truth that he killed his father.

- And of course, the gouges out his eyes at the end when he discovers the body of his wife/mother.

The play is a greek tragedy about a self-fullfillling prophecy. Oedipus has free will in his actions but is blinded by no being able to see the truth.

Hope this helps.

If you need help on how to write a persuasive essay, be sure to check out my blog at http://www.persuasiveessayguide.com/

Great advice here!! Do you understand how they are using the word "reflect" here? If you read the story, you will understand!!

After reading the plan and some explanatory summaries, sum up the significance of the inner conflict to the loss of senses... sum it up in your intro paragraph, and explain it as if you were explaining to a smart person who had not read the play.

Use the body paragraphs to give support (quotes from the play) for your explanation.

Use the conclusion para to restate the thesis and reflect on the implications the meaningfulness of this expression through story, this life lesson by Shakespeare.

Well, in Oedipus, the protagonist is unable to see the cause of the plague affecting the city, and then blinds himself when he finally uncovers the truth in an attempt to return to the comforting darkness of ignorance. In Metamorphosis, the protagonist is a shy, retiring, unimportant, insignificant person who is psychologically unable to express himself assertively, and he transforms into an insignificant insect that is literally unable to speak. There are definitely grounds for comparison.