Moments of intensity in a writer's work:
In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, a moment of intensity that stands out quite plainly is when Oedipus discovers that he has killed his father and married his mother:
Shepherd: ...If you are the man he says you are, believe me,/ you were born for pain.
Oedipus: O god-/ all come true, all burst to light!/ O light- now let me look my lost on you!\ I stand revealed at last-/ cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage,/ cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!
In this section of the play, Sophocles uses intense and vivid language to show how Oedipus' grief is demonstrated. Another way that Sophocles maximizes the intensity of this moment is the previous lines that build up to it. Oedipus' wife, Jocasta, has recently receded into the palace for some unkown reason. It is apparent that she is dishearted, however:
Jocasta: Stop- in the name of god,/ if you love your own life, call of this search!/ My suffering is enough.
This provides foreshadowing to the realization that Oedipus will soon discover that he has killed his father and married his mother.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the author uses similar techniques to develop the intensity of the scene in which Meursault kills the arab: "The sun was starting to burn my cheeks, and I could feel drops of sweat gathering in my eyebrows [...] It was this burning, which I couldn’t stand anymore, that made me move forward."
Here, as in Oedipus, it can be seen that Camus use of tense and violent language provide a rising action to Meursault's murder of the Arab. It is already known that Meursault is progressing down towards where the Arab was laying, and this use of expressive and violent language foreshadown Meursault's murder of him.
This leads up to Meursault's actual act: "My whole being tensed and I squeeze my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave." Here, we can see that Camus describes Meursault's whole body being involved in this murder, and this reflects how Oedipus describes the intense feelings he has after realizing his murder and crime.
No comments:
Post a Comment