Oedipus Journal 1

The story does not have a narrator, so it is not from one point of view. If anyone, it leans toward the chorus' point of view, even though Oedipus is the main character. This is because the chorus represents the people, the general population, and therefore the audience. The whole play is written to make the audience identify with the chorus. Oedipus is the lesson and the tragedy, but the focus of the play is on the chorus. In the end when he says nothing can be beautiful again, he still appreciates that the chorus stays loyal to him. They can see what a great ruler he is, that he cares about his city and is willing to do anything to save it. But they can also see his flaws. He is very easy to enrage and slow to forgive. The story is objective and just shows the facts. This might not be significant, because almost all plays are written with just the facts. It is hard to write a play from a person's point of view rather than just laying it all out on the table. Sophocles does a good job of presenting strengths and flaws of every character, so there is not one that the audience is supposed to sympathize with more than the others, except the chorus.

Since the characters' bad sides are shown, they are more realistic and less idealistic. Sophocles made a king, almost godlike, into a regular man by giving him a short fuse, strong curiosity, and unfaithfulness. The audience can see that rulers are just people too, and fall prey to the same, or worse fates as the people themselves.

Oedipus's children are interesting characters. They have no lines and are only on stage for a few minutes, and only one of their names is revealed, but they are very important characters. They give the message that even in hard times, a person's family will be there to support them, and a person can always find happiness in their family. These girls are presented as weak by Oedipus, yet he exposes them to his tragedy, and on top of that, tells them that they are destined for sad existences. Sophocles has these two contrasting images of the girls to further show the tragedy, that a person is helpless, but happy being ignorant, or very unhappy, but can have some say in their destiny by knowing the truth. He wants his children to, if not change their fates, at least go into them prepared for whatever comes.