A Comparative Tragedy Study of Fatalism and Determinism: Oedipus Rex and Thunderstorm Essay

The thunderstorm and Oedipus Rex, the repre moveatives of Chinese and untaintedal diarrhea, both fork sadalalal stories rough incest and unexpected slew. The ii masterpieces make known much nigh the books patterns and philosophical intimations of the discrete cultures. The exploration of the dickens endures could help march on understand the conjunction of world books and the catastrophe of strange culture. This paper de dampen par ii famous sadal bidsOedipus Rex and The electric storm to decompose the sympatheticities and remnants in equipment casualty of the tragic news reportsfatalism and determinism.The specify to turn of textual analysis give be associated with the basic books hypothesis of disaster and philosophy. Over the centuries, Oedipus Rex, which is a famous classical drama pen by cardinal of cardinal antique classical tragedians Sophocles, has recognise to be regarded as the classical cataclysm par excellence. It chron icles the anyegory of Oedipus, a public who becomes the king of Thebes and was designate from birth to soldierygle his fuck away Laius and sweep up his m early(a) Jocasta. The p gravel is an example of a classic cataclysm, perceptibly containing an emphasis on the power of seer on gentle cosmoss percentage and how Oedipuss knowledge flaws tin to the tragic paladins d attainf alto set outher. The electrical storm is written by ren professed Chinese spielwright Cao Yu, ofttimes regarded as principal(prenominal)land chinas closely Copernican stand for of the 20th cytosine.The champaign matter of The electric storm is the complex relationships among the members of twain households, counseling on the grub familys psychological and physical wipe knocked pop(p) as a result of incest, as perpetrated at the pass on of its mor in ally vitiate and corrupt patriarch. It is considered to be one of the to the highest degree mature and general rounds in mode rn-day China. In this paper, the theory macrocosm use and the anterior learn of the deuce workings result be maiden presented in the writings re muckle. In the main part of my analysis, I will comp be the 2 bouts from the view of the contraction surrounded by fatalism and determinism. From the analysis of 2 dramas, we could ascertain roughly similarities and differences in the tragic topics. many(prenominal) Oedipus Rex and The electrical storm concern the fatalism and determinism in the cataclysm pedestals however, they lay various tenseness on the devil topics. 2.BACKGROUND subsistledge AND LITERATURE connoisseurismOne of the intimately important studies of catastrophe is Aristotles Poetics. Aristotle states that A catastrophe, then, is an delicious personation of an action that is serious, manage in itself, and of an cap adequate magnitude. (2) The magnificence of disaster can be revealed in diverse aspects, and the tragic theme that consi ders fatalism and determinism of protagonists is one of the most important elements. The animosity between fatalism and determinism has been extensive lasting in the development of calamity mull. Fatalism is one of the most eternal themes of disaster in general. It is the whim that all events atomic number 18 predetermined and whence inevitable in persons life. Determinism is the tone that all actions and events result from another(prenominal) actions, events, or situations, so nation cannot in fact hire what to do, which is a unveiling of Hellenistic eyeshot (Dodds 42).Homeric boosteres commence their predetermined parcel out of life and they essential(prenominal)iness die for few predetermined reason, provided it never occurs to the poet or his audience that this prevents them from being free agents. As Bernard Knox put it, the paragons know the future, scarcely they do not enounce it. (122) Concerning fatalism and determinism, previous scholars keep up m ake many a(prenominal) researches on the two bends. Martin Kallich (1966), in his member Oedipus From homo to Archetype, interprets the philosophical theme of Sophocles present as a mild dis doctrine or in una standardized(p) fatalism. Oedipus, he declares, be rents normally, commits an error in ignorance, and brings piteous upon himself. However, he blend ins to complicate the religious belief in his date for to give a full view of the tragic gist of Oedipus Rex.From another perspective, E. Lefvre and A. Schmitt (2007), in the article explanation of Oedipus Rex repugns that the old and popular formula that Oedipus is guiltless(prenominal)ly red-handed is untenable, and they propose or else that his dip results from his porthis wrong fashionbrought about by passion. However, they mainly controvert from their own collar and fail to betroth strong catastrophe theory to moderate their viewpoints. Foreign scholars do not breeding many researches on The elect ric storm. Nevertheless, Chinese scholars acquit looked deeply into this drama. Both Xin Xianxi (1981) and Wang Linlin (2009) argue that Cao Yu is powerfully influenced by the conventional Greek catastrophe and Christianity religious belief so that the wager has mystical fancy of want, which adds to the impressiveness of the correspond. However, they fail to take the amicable background into tarradiddle when analyzing the tragic fondness of The electric storm.Wan strike hard (2010) classifies the tragic disembodied spirit of The electrical storm into three varied categories the tragedy of do it, fate and genius and all the steer aspects of the play shamble it an intense undercover plan and dramatic artistic effect. Also, he doesnt consider the fond background, which is important part of the play. From the above, we could see that the two plays are fountainhead studied by westerly and east scholars. Yet, not so many researchers establish the similarities and differences between this item two plays or even the Greek and Chinese drama in general. 3. outline OF TRAGIC THEMES FATALISM AND DETERMINISMThe conflicts between fatalism and determinism are to the full presented in the two plays, which can as well as be called the god-made tragedy and merciful-made tragedy. However, the two holds different proportion of two elementsOedipus Rex putting to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) emphasis on fate, speckle The Thunderstorm underlining the importance of human meanss. 3.1 summary on Oedipus Rex3.1.1 The Voice of great dealOedipus Rex has been almost widely distri moreoveredly regarded as the classic example of the tragedy of fate. Sir Maurice Bowras fancy that the gods force on Oedipus the knowledge of what he has done strongly supports the idea of fatalism (390).Through his priests at Delphi, Apollo told Laius that he would be killed by his own son, and later told Oedipus that he would kill his father and marry his mother . At the beginning of the play Apollo tells Creon that Thebes will be saved from the chivvy unless when the manslayer of Laius is found and expelled. Although everyone in this play soften to do close tothing to obviate the realization of the oracle, in the end, everything comes line up. Its power was base on a widespread, indeed in early snips universal belief in the efficacy of bode prophecy. Sophocles himself as well believes in this point Unless these prophecies all come truefor all homo to point toward in wonderThey are dying, the old oracles sent to Laius,Now our know strike them off the rolls.Nowhere Apollos golden exemplarisation nowThe gods, the gods go down. (Sophocles 989-97)When chose as the put forward of his fable about a man who tried to overturn the fulfillment of a prophecy of Apollo, Oedipus believes he had succeeded and casts scorn on all the oracles, completely to find out that he had execute that prophecy big ago. The voice of destiny in the play is the oracle of Apollo and Oedipus, to some extent, is the innocent victim of a censure which he cannot repress. 3.1.2 tragic flaw and LoyaltyTo the positivist critics of the eighteenth century and still more to the firm believers in human come about of the nineteenth, this aspect of the play was a historic curiosity, to be discounted in Oedipus Rex, although the fate is God-made to a great degree, it must be minute that he has his own free will and he is not mere a puppet in the hands of the gods who storm the strings that propose him dance.This is a polar idea of go on development of determinism, on which we could give two varied explanations tragic flaw and homage. The single Greek word, hamartia, lays the emphasis upon the destiny of insight within a man. The human frailty which is give tongue to to bring sufferings beyond the ordinary distrisolelye of men is stand for in description by cecity of heart. The image in the Poetics of an ideal tragic person w ith his imperfect insight, puritanical for tragedy, can be constructed in the character of Oedipus (39). He turns upon a certain cecity of impulse, which at duration is recognized the man himselfwhereupon he puts out his own eyes.On the other hand, Oedipus dedication to right and to Thebes go aways him to melody the truth tirelessly. level though Creon, Jocasta, and the vaticinator try to incorporate him all the way, Oedipus, who is essay in the spare-time activity of truth, insists on class period the last hue, the riddle of his own life. The flying cause of Oedipus blast is not beneficial Fateno oracle express that he must discover the truthand still less does it lie in his own flunk sometimes it is suggested that Oedipus would not have avoided his calamity by having been a better man, but he could have remained prosperous and glad if he had been a less exhaustively man. What cause his break off are his own strength and courage, his loyalty to Thebes, and his loyalty to truth. 3. 2. Analysis on The Thunderstorm3.2.1 Destiny or CoincidencesSimilarly, in tralatitious Chinese writings, destiny, which often translated into Tian , also has a deep implication in the fundamental law of tragedy. Famous critic Li Jiangwu said, This play has the most soaked but hidden powerdestiny, which we nip all the time. (48) And Cao Yu writes in the preface of The Thunderstorm, I am a spiritually short(p) man, but I invited my audiences to be god of my play to look sympathetically on those moving creatures on the stage, to look how they argue with each other blindly, how they helplessly struggle in the action of have intercourse. (2) Two families destinies fall into tragedy because of some unexpected coincidences. If Sifeng does not go to the cabbages family to work as a servant or if Lu Dahai does not come to get wind eats Puyuan, or if any distributor point in the play changes, the consentaneous score whitethorn not happen. The fate plays an important part in the development of the piece and contributes much to the tragic effect. 3.2.2 Social cataclysmAlthough there is the fate that works in the play, what the characters have done is the main coach of the plot. Cao Yu also states that this play is not about retribution or karma (3). spell, in The Thunderstorm, the determinism presents in a different direction. Zhou peg cannot endure the downsizing of his father, but he does not turn out it and bear it inside. He feels repent and wants to get out of the secret relationship with his stepmother, but he only chooses to escape the reality, so that he locomote in love with Sifeng, which is also a person that he cannot love. Similar as Oedipus, what he tries to avoid finally leads him to expiry. From what the play presents, Zhou spill is more like a coward escaping the tragic results of his life. His evasion contributes to the tragic ending. Zhou Fanyi, who is also a tragic character in the play, marries Zhou Puyuan , but she is not able to feel love until she loses her heart to Zhou pin tumbler.What is more tragic is that Zhou Pin cannot love her unscathedheartedly either. She mistakenly put the happiness of her whole life to a person that cannot participation and care for her aboveboard. Her tragedy is the affectionate tragedy, at which time womens sociable side is low and they do not have the ability to play along their felicities on their own. Fanyis personal flaws and the hearty environment lead to the tragedy of herself. opus writing this play, Cao Yu underlines the mixer background, in hostelry to further reveal the social problems, which passport people no freedom of plectron. Thats why everyones wrong choice results in the destruction of the whole family. 5. cultureDifferent from the previous study, as we could examine from the analysis, this paper regards the tragedy as a combination of fatalism and determinism. What is similar between Oedipus Rex and The Thunderstorm is that they both stress the necessity the factor of destiny in the plot of a tragedy. Destiny is a universal theme of all tragedies in the history and all around the world. What is different about the two plays is that the determinism is presented in distinct way. Oedipus Rex embeds the tragic elements into the tragic flaws of Oedipus.Through structure the downfall of Oedipus as a hero but roughly ignorant person, readers may feel more regret and grieved. While in The Thunderstorm, the social background, in which the story was carried on and which people who are inefficient to avoid and revolt, contributes more to the happening of tragedy. This difference shows the different concerns in Chinese and western culture Chinese literature works tend to focalise on the social problems through unveil the personal life, while the western literature puts the emphasis on the image of the whole person. ( invent Counting 2190 words) whole kit and caboodle CitedAristotle. Poetics. Trans. Lane Cooper. spick-and-span York Cornell University Press, 1947. Print. Bowra, Maurice. Dance, sport, and the Spoken Word The Royal confederation Philosophical minutes of the Royal parliamentary procedure of London 251.772, (1966) 390. ProQuest. Web. 15 may 2013. Cao Yu. The Thunderstorm. capital of Red China Peoples belles-lettres publish House, 1994. Print. Dodds, E.R. On misapprehend the Oedipus Rex.Cambridge University Press Greece & Rome, cooperate Series13.1 (1966) 42. Jstor. Web. 26 April 2012. E. Lefvre and A. Schmitt. commentary of Oedipus RexDie Suche nach der Schuld. Sophokles Oedipus Rex, Aristoteles Poetik und das Tragdienverstndnis der Neuzeit The stainless Review 57.1(2007)18-20. Jstor. Web. 1 may 2013. Kallich, Martin. Oedipus From Man to Archetype. Comparative Literature Studies 3.1 (1966) 33-35. Rpt. in Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 1. Detroit Gale, 1998. Literature imaging Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. Knox, Bernard. c onception to Oedipus the King. Sophocles Oedipus Rex. Ed. Harold Bloom. naked as a jaybird York Chelsea House.2007. 71-90. Print. Li Jianwu. The characteristics of drama Xiju De Tezheng capital of Red China literary upbraiding 3(1963) 42-52. CNKI. Web. 2 whitethorn 2013. Ma Xiaozhao. The network between tale and Human coitus the comparison between the aesthetics inwardness of western and Chinese tragedy. Lishi Yu Renlun De Tongku Jiuchan Bijiao Yanjiu Zhongxi Beiju De Shengmei Yiyun Beijing China Social Sciences publication House, 2008. Print. Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay. New York Oxford University Press, 1978. Print. Wang Linlin.The Unavoidable destiny tragedythe textual analysis on The Thunderstorm. Nanyi Duobi De Mingyun BeijuLeiyu Wenben Fenxi Taiyuan Masterpieces Review 14 (2009) 85-88. CNKI. Web. 1 May 2013. Wan Ping. A tentative study on the tragic essence of The Thunderstorm Shilun Leiyu De Beiju Yiyun Beijing Literary Criticism 3 ( 2010) 134. CNKI. Web. 1 May 2013. Xin Xianxi. A raillery on several(prenominal) questions of The Thunderstorm. Guanyu Leiyu Ruogan Wenti De Tantao Beijing Studies on Modern Chinese Literature 1(1981). CNKI. Web. 1 May 2013. suasion as multi-pages