The Death of Jocasta

Essay by grogan730University, Bachelor'sA+, May 2006

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Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" is the epitome of Greek tragedy. The play displays a kingly character, Oedipus, who through his character flaw meets his catastrophic fate. The story relates everything a Greek tragedy should have, but it leaves many pieces unresolved and the minor characters do not receive any explanations for their actions. One of these characters is Oedipus' wife and mother, Jocasta. She plays a major role in the play and ends up committing suicide; however, the audience is left to wonder why she took her own life. Jocasta kills herself because she can not change her or Oedipus' fate and she awakens to her own blindness and realizes she has nothing left in this world.

Jocasta can not change the destiny set out by the gods. Throughout the play, she pretends that she does not believe in the gods' prophecies or soothsayers. In Act Three, she tells Oedipus that soothsayers are false and relates the story of her own prophecy.

She says, "Thus, Apollo never caused that child to kill his father, and it was not Laios' fate to die at the hands of his son, as he had feared. This is what prophets and prophecies are worth! Have no dread in them."(Oedipus Rex P.18) Jocasta does not think that what she did was wrong or that she worsened her fate until she realizes that Oedipus is her son. She cannot control the fate of the gods, because she tried to give Oedipus away as a baby, but the prophecy continued to come true without her or Oedipus' knowledge. She kills herself because she ruined her fate and the fate of her husband and son.

The roles Jocasta plays, both as a wife and a mother to Oedipus cause extreme conflict in her life. Jocasta...