Oedipus #3

I know that this prompt is intended for us to compare whichever world lit book we're reading to one of the other two, but while reading Oedipus, the comparison to Othello was so great and so obvious that I couldn't NOT write about it. Oedipus rushes all his accusations. He says, "Tell me, in god's name, what did you take me for, coward or fool, when you spun out your plot?" (189). He immediately thinks that Creon is simply trying to ruin him. Creon responds calmly with "are you quite finished? It's your turn to listen for just as long as you've....instructed me" (189). Though in Othello, he jumps to conclusions about Desdemona (who is really innocent) and trusts Iago (who is really plotting against him), the situation here seemed similar. Here, Oedipus jumps to conclusions about Creon (who has done nothing wrong), and trusts Jacosta fully (who isn't necessarily guilty of anything, though we do find out she is really his mother, which is gross). Another connection, which is totally without meaning is that both Othello and Oedipus have names that start with an "O".

I guess a comparison I could make about Oedipus and another of the books is that so far from what I've learned, all three books have men as main characters. Oedipus, for example, is misguided in the sense that he easily jumps to conclusions. His power is important to him, and he plans on holding on to his position. A prophecy read to him at Delphi, I believe, that says he will kill his father and marry his mother makes him wary, as well. He seems jumpy about anything that might stop this happy life he's established for himself. Apparently in Blood Wedding, the main female character runs away with her first love and leaves her fiance behind. The first man can be called misguided because he basically helps a woman cheat on her fiance. This also reminded me of A Midsummer Night's Dream, because the two main characters in that run away at the beginning to be together despite the wishes of their parents, as well.


So all in all, I think Shakespeare stole all his ideas from Spaniards and Greeks.