1. Presentation of plot in Oedipus Rex a) Look for expository...
Presentation of plot in Oedipus Rex
a) Look for expository dialogue at the beginning of the play, spoken by the Chorus or
individual characters, which puts the audience up to date on background information about
the hero and others who come into play in his situation.
b) Retrospection ispost-expository dialogue where characters explore what took place
before the time of play. What is the function of retrospection inOedipus Rex? What is its
importance in relation to the action in the real time of the play?
c) The play is thick with irony, the most obvious being that Oedipus is the king's own son
and did commit the crime but does not know it. His investigation of the killer will lead him
to himself. How is this outcome ironic?
d) What do dialogues between Oedipus and certain key characters, such as blind Teiresias,
do to define the progression of plot building to its climactic change of power?