Sophocles’ Oedipus stands out as one of the popular tragedies in literary history. Authors and researchers across various disciplines pay homage to the play with extensive knowledge generating from the study of it. Sigmund Freud in particular grew the psychoanalytic field through his reference to the Oedipus complex. Sophocles first produced the play in Athens around 430 BC. In the play, Oedipus learns of the ravaging of his city that sets him to begin investigating the death of his predecessor King Lauis. In a twisted notion of fate, he discovers that he unknowingly killed his father and married his own mother Jocasta. Compounded by the truth, Oedipus blinds himself and exile follows. This paper analyzes the written play by Sophocles and the film adaptation of 1986 to identify the differences in depiction of the Greek drama while playing attention to the plot, characters, theme, and setting.
Setting
The settings of the Sophocles play traces to Ancient Greek with Thebes suffering from a plague that is because of the wrongful murder of King Lauis. The play begins in front of Oedipus palace with a priest standing together with a crowd of children. Oedipus emerges from the central door to address the people. The film takes on a similar approach with beginning of the movie showing people moving towards Oedipus palace and waiting for him. The palace doors open after which Oedipus steps out in a white gown that does not reflect Greek attire as the costume is more 19 th century oriented. The slow and static presentation of the film makes the viewer anticipate the nest scene whereas with the play, transition from one scene to another is easier. John Gielgud reinforces the setting by presenting himself as calm while conveying the concerns he had about the plague to Oedipus. In the film, Oedipus plays close attention to the priest revealing his importance in the plot of the play.
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Plot
The plot of Oedipus centers on the idea of fate and heavy reference to Greek mythology. In developing of the plot, the initial situation rests on Oedipus being aware of the curse on Thebes and asks Creon to assist him in finding out the cause of it. In the beginning of the play, Creon mentions his knowledge of the curse by stating ‘ I will tell you then, what I heard from God. King Phoebus in plain words commanded us to drive out pollution from our land ’, (Sophocles, 2009). Oedipus inquires on the remedy for the curse to which Creon responded by saying it would be through the banishment of the man who killed Lauis. In the film, Oedipus played by Michael Pennington appears arrogant and in his address to the priest and people shows enthusiasm in having the culprit banished.
An important component of the plot is conflict. The different characters experience conflict with Terresias upon learning the truth struggles revealing the mystery. Along with conflict is the working element of reversal especially in the film that reveals the scene where the messenger tells Oedipus of the death of Polybos whom he believes to be Oedipus’ father. In the film however, the cohesiveness of the plot is unstructured compared to the play following that there is a focus on the visual style and delivery of the play as opposed to the detail description of Sophocles work.
The element of complication as part of the plot builds up the climax of the play. The climax is one that is breathtaking and jaw dropping especially in the film where Michael brings out the character of Oedipus in a raw manner especially where he was gorging the eyes out.
Characters and Character Portrayal
In terms of character portrayal in the film, Michael Pennington who plays Oedipus displays him as a figure of authority with his expressions shedding light on the paranoid nature of Oedipus. Claire Boom who plays Jocasta ads a softer touch to the film that makes the viewer sympathizes with her. Her role adds strength to the plot to reveal the depth of the tragedy set in motion. The film does a better job of giving life to the characters as opposed to the play. From the play and with the complexity of the text lost in translation, it is difficult to have a vivid imagery of the characters compared to the film.
Theme
The cinematography in the film draws the audience in however; the characters use 19 th century costumes that contradict Sophocles play. As explained by Brooke (2012), the importance of costumes in theatre helps in strengthening of the theme. This follows that it is an outward and immediate expression for the actor and reveals the dramatic values he hopes to convey. In the film, the characters do not wear masks or ancient Greek costumes giving off the impression of a 19 th century tale. While this encourages the viewer to have an understanding of the story, the written work by Sophocles provides a better description of the era and imagery of Ancient Greek. The film does a good job by adhering to the theme of fate conveyed through the work of Sophocles.
Conclusion
Sophocles play is one that has a wealth of information to draw from theme to character analysis. Through the various film adaptations, it is clear that the literary work of ancient Greeks encourages filmmakers to tell their stories.
References
Brooke, Iris. (2012). Costumes in Greek Classic Drama . New York: Dover, Publications, Inc.
Sophocles, E. A. (2009). Oedipus the King (p. 313). Find away World LLC.
