Oedipus The King Irony Essay

Irony is commonly used in literature to add humor and suspense to stories. Over time, many authors have adapted the use of irony into their writing. One famous example is Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Sophocles follows the life of the main character, Oedipus, who encounters many ironic situations. The author makes use of several types of irony throughout the story. Three of the main types of irony are verbal, dramatic, and situational irony. Sophocles uses verbal irony frequently in this tale. An example is this statement, “I fight in his defense as for my father, and I shall try all means to take the murderer of Laius (line 286),” when Oedipus is not aware that he, himself, is the one that took the life of Laius. In Cox’s article, Sophocles' 'Oedipus the King.', he states, “Jocasta’s husband had been slain by their own son who was none other than Oedipus” (Cox). Later on, Oedipus thinks rationally and realizes that he could be the murderer of Laius. In Lesser’s piece, Oedipus the King: The Two Dramas, the Two Conflicts, he states, “His conscious intent, which has been to discover the murderer of Laius, shifts to disentangling himself from the thickening web of evidence indicating that he is the murderer” (Lesser). It also shows the verbal irony in it because

It is often used in literature to add effect. A great example is Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Sophocles follows the life of the main character, Oedipus, who goes through all of these different ironic situations. The author makes use of three main types of irony being shown in this tale. Those three main types include dramatic irony, where the audience knows everything that the character does not. Second is verbal irony, where the character says one thing, but means the complete opposite of what they said. Last but not least, situational irony, when something happens, but something completely different occurs than what was normally expected to