OEDIPUS FLAWED PERSONALITY
Guidelines: Your paper should be 3-4 pages in length, typed in Times New Roman style, with 12-point font size. Avoid 1st and 2nd person voice in your writing. No research is required, but there are critical essays available to read and use on D2L. Feel free to quote from them and use them in your writing (either to incorporate into your argument, or to argue against.) No Works Cited page is required.
Directions: First, choose one of the 4 dramas we have read in class (Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, Oedipus Rex, or Antigone). Then, choose one of the 3 or 4 questions that is associated with the drama. You must focus your paper on answering the question posed. Therefore, you do not need to create your own thesis for this paper—but you do need to use quotes from the drama in support of your argument and avoid a “plot summary.”
As always, please proofread your paper before finally submitting your paper to D2L dropbox.
No Late Papers or emailed will be accepted under any circumstance. Please submit them to D2L dropbox.
Extensions granted on a case-by-case basis.
Hamlet
1. Explain the function of the Gravediggers at the beginning of Act V and why they have such an affect upon Hamlet and his thoughts on life and death. What is the significance of his “Alas, poor Yorick” speech following this meeting with the main Gravedigger.
2. Discuss Hamlet’s “madness” in the play. At what points do you feel Hamlet is faking madness, and at what points is he actually “mad.” [Please keep in mind that I mean mad/madness as insanity, not feeling upset.] How does Hamlet’s madness shape the play?
3. Discuss why Hamlet’s inactivity and why he does not take immediate action against Claudius. How does the Ghost of Hamlet’s father affect Hamlet’s indecisive and inactive nature? How does Hamlet’s “Mousetrap” play work into this argument of indecisive and inactiveness in Hamlet? (look at the end of Hamlet’s soliloquy at the very end of Act II, the “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” Perhaps something Hamlet says here about ‘the ghost’ will help with your analysis.)
A Streetcar Named Desire
1. Why is Blanche DuBois so concerned about her appearance, and how does her obsession with constantly bathing and being in shade/soft light fit into her concern? Which characters call her out on this aspect? How does it help us understand her personality and her past better?
2. Why is Stella so in love with Stanley? How would you describe their relationship, and in what ways is it destructive or beneficial to them? How does it affect Blanche?
3. Discuss the character of Stanley Kowalski. In what does he place value and believe? How does he treat the people in his life, especially Stella and Blanche? What do you make of the end of the play and Stanley’s affect upon Blanche and Stella?
Oedipus Rex
1. What is the major “Tragic Flaw” of Oedipus? Does he have more than one? In what ways does this tragic flaw act as his downfall? (Please do not discuss what Oedipus could have or should have done in order to avoid his tragic fate. Only analyze what the play gives us…not what could’ve or should’ve happened.)
2. Discuss the role of the Chorus in the play. How do they act as a mediator between the audience (us) and the action within the play? How do they interact and affect Oedipus? What is significant about their final words in the play?
3. Discuss the interactions Oedipus has with Creon and Tiresias the blind prophet. Why does he treat these characters with so much hostility? What is ironic about his arguments with Creon and Tiresias and the ending of the play?
Antigone
1. Discuss how Antigone represents “Moral/Religious Law” and Creon represents “Civil Law.” (Remember, this has nothing to do with the Christian religion.) Which character is right and which is wrong?
2. Examine the interaction between Creon and his son, Haemon. What do they argue about? Why does Creon not listen to his son, and why do you think this is significant? What does this tell us about Creon’s personality?
3. Discuss the change that Creon goes through during the course of the play. How is Creon different at the end compared to the beginning? What characters and events affected him? Why do you think he finally listens to the Chorus at the very end?
Answer preview
As a literary device, tragic flaw or fatal flaw is a trait found especially in the hero leading to the downfall of the character in a literary work. This trait could be because of either lack of self-knowledge, judgment or simply because of hubris…
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