Irony in Oedipus Rex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Irony in Oedipus Rex - Essay Example For instance, Oedipus commits to locate and penalize the one found guilty irrespective of where he/she belonged as his words may show, â€Å"but as if from myself I shall dispel the stain† (Sophocles 16, line 22). While he makes this commitment with the audience, the audience knows that the murderer of Laius is Oedipus, which makes it an example of dramatic irony in the novel. Later in the novel, that guilty person turns out to be Oedipus himself. Oedipus goes on to say that his own life is also at stake as long as that murderer is free, â€Å"For whoever he was who killed that man would as soon kill me with that same violent hand† (Sophocles 16). This is an example of double irony in the play. A dialogue can be identified as double irony if the original statement seems to be irony, but turns out to be true, thus, making it the irony’s ironical use. Although Oedipus does not know that he is the killer himself, yet he does take his own life later in the story when he comes to realize that the murderer of Laius was nobody else but