Oedipus the King and a Doll’s House

The development of drama over the years has changed drastically, but as seen in the two works of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, there has been a common theme that has stuck throughout the long past of english writing. Sophocles is one of the three great ancient Greek dramatists. During the period in which Oedipus was written, it is told that, “the Greeks were especially interested in the relationship between greatness and hubris, the excessive pride and ambition that leads to the downfall of a hero…they were fascinated by the idea that hubris can bring destruction: the same traits that can elevate a person to greatness can also cause his or her ruin.” (Mandell, Stephen R. and Kirszner, Laurie G. Portable Literature. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013, 2012, 2007. Pp. 1060-1061.) During the period that A Doll’s House was written, the excessive pride subject was still present, but it was not called the same thing. The theme is in a way similar and different because at the time, it was perfectly fine to have excessive pride and treat your wife like a lower human being and like a doll, except in Henrik Ibsen’s work, he shocked the world by doing the unthinkable and changing the norm of the time period. In both works, there is at least one character who falls to their ruin. Also, the theme of reality versus illusion is portrayed and is most significant in the works. Oedipus falls victim to the reality versus illusion factor and so does Nora and Torvald.

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a self-centered king who believes he knows his past, but in reality, is actually completely blind to where he truly came from. It all comes back to the idea of hubris. His excessive pride blinds him from reality. Everything around him that appears normal and fine and nice is actually not. Everything about him and his beginning is hidden behind a curtain of truth. The illusion to Oedipus, without him even knowing it, is that he is not who he thinks he is. Even in the most disturbing ways. He killed his own father, his mother is also his wife, and his whole life has been a big, huge curse from the gods. All Oedipus ever does is point his finger at everyone else. He calls them liars and traitors, but he never stops to think about what he could have done wrong. Just like the theme states, he never stops to see the reality in things and in his life in general. He doesn’t want to believe the truth and face the facts. That is why at the end of the play, Sophocles, being the genius that he was, created the imagine of Oedipus being blinded at the end of the play. Because all throughout the play, in reality, he was the one who was blinded from the very beginning. Everything in his life before that was just an illusion, an appearance.