... by the power structure of San Narciso is denied to us by the novel structure of Thomas Pynchon. As with SchrÖdinger's fabled cat, The Crying of Lot 49 exists inside a Black Box, and Pynchon refuses to pop the lid and resolve our uncertainty. From one perspective, we can say that Pierce Inverarity, Oedipas dead ex-boyfriend, serves to unite the respective quests of the reader ... and Oedipa. The estate that Pierce Inverarity leaves behind at his death are clues ... which may lead to his identity. Oedipa's job is to bestow life on what had persisted to bring the estate into pulsing stel...

• Word Count: 2590
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography

... ' sight (private) is what gives Oedipus his gift with the 'outer' sight (public). He cannot encompass the both of them. When he does learn the truth, he blinds himself, thus destroying his 'public' persona, and since he is wholly public, he destroys himself. The Choragos tells Oedipus, "You were better off dead than alive and blind." The use of irony in Oedipus Rex reveals much about ... met Laios (his real father), he killed him at the crossroads "where three highways meet." Our second example of unconscious irony occurs a little in the same scene. Oedipus states that: Then once more I ...

• Word Count: 2522
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... partial decomposition of catharsis whereas Miss Julie epitomises an almost total collapse of the cathartic effect. It is assumed that the higher the status of the tragic hero, the easier for the 1990's audience to identify the character's tragic flaw. The "identity" refers to the ability to relate to the situation or idea. The higher social status of the protagonist in Oedipus and Hamlet allows an easier level of reader identification that ... Oedipus and Hamlet allows a higher level of reader identification than that experienced in Miss Julie which is made evident by examining stage tw...

• Word Count: 3952
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... been ill and not left the palace. He will get rid of the guardsmen. Antigone replies that he knows she will only do the same tonight. She says that Polynices is home from the hunt and it is her duty to unlock the house of the dead for him. Creon asks if she thought her being the proud Oedipus's daughter put her above the law. No one has a more ... sacred obligation to the law than its makers. Antigone retorts that had she ... been a scullery maid she would have done the same. Creon disagrees and a maid would have taken the edict seriously. Antigone replies that ... ...

• Word Count: 4678
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: High School

... with another prophecy, "Unhappy man! Those jeers you hurl at me before long all those men will hurl at you- (1264). Carter 3 At the end of the story, this prophecy coming true proves that Tiresias has psychic abilities. Oedipus jeer he threw at Tiresias does come back to him. When Oedipus becomes irrational ... to spend time with her family. She "went out several times a week- (471) to avoid them and when she was around the house "the rest of the time Connie spent around the house thinking dreaming about the boys she met- (471). Connie's distracted by friends, boys, and her own selfishne...

• Word Count: 2789
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School