English 1027F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Peripeteia, Laius, Anagnorisis
18 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
A noble figure suffers a change in fortune, to which he is led by his harmatia (tragic flaw) Precipitated by two key moments in the tragic plot: the discovery of facts unknown to the hero (anagnorisis, the sudden/unexpected reversal in fortune (peripeteia) This is catharsis (the violent purging of emotion that the audience experiences: the end goal of the tragedy. Laius was murdered and there was no justice for him as they never found the killer. Suggests that who and what we are today is determined by an unexpected and uninvestigated history: the only way to get rid of the plague is to find out who killed laius, the last king. Oedipus now has a goal, a noble action. It is the paradox whereby even if we know what the fates have. The thing that we cannot escape is our own history. Oedipus(cid:495) tragic flaw is his pride: (cid:498)huddling at my altar, praying before me(cid:499, (cid:498)i am oedipus(cid:499)
