Character Determines Fate4页

Character Determines Fate

Every person has his own character.

A person may have many defining characteristics, no matter

positive ones or negative ones. People often try to control their

own destiny, or be subordinate to a controlling force which has

pre-determined the process of a person’s life. This could be

largely related to the story Oedipus the King. Sophocles shows us

that character determines fate. “Aristotle stated, ‘the tragic

hero falls into bad fortune because of some flaw in his character

of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such

as Oedipus’” .The decisive characteristics of pride and

temperament can be attributed to the misfortune of Oedipus. His fate

is closely connected with his moral character.

Sophocles portrays Oedipus as having too much pride. At very

beginning he says, "Here I am myself--you all know me, /the world

knows my fame: /I am Oedipus". This directly shows his profound pride

in himself. Later, when he talks about how he will catch the murder

that has killed Laius, he says, "You pray to the gods? / Let me grant

your prayers. / Come, listen to me―/do what the plague demands:

/ you’ll find relief and lift your head from the depths". He begins

the thinks of himself. Proudly, His actions and words run into the

orbit of fate and destiny.

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Based on pride, Oedipus continues on his particular schedule

of life, accompanied by growing power. His conversation with

Tiresias reveals such characteristic. “Blind, lost in the night,

/endless night that nursed you! /You can’t hurt me or anyone else

who sees the light―/you can never touch me”. He orders other in

the position of King. He is proud enough to contempt Tiresias who,

in Oedipus’s eye, is inferior to King:

There was a riddle, not for some passer-by to solve―

it cried out for a prophet. Where were you?

Did you rise to the crisis? Not a word,

you and your birds, your gods―nothing.

No, but I came by, Oedipus the ignorant,

I stopped the Sphinx! With no help from the birds,

the flight of my own intelligence hit the mark.

And this is the man you’d try to overthrow?

You think you’ll stand by Creon when he’s king?

You and the greatest mastermind―

you’ll pay in tears, I promise you, for this,

this witch-hunt. If you didn’t look so senile

the lash would teach you what your scheming means!

As a hero, a liberator of Thebes, Oedipus criticizes Tiresias

arrogantly. However, he neglects the way to express himself:

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You―here? You have the gall

to show your face before palace gates?

You, plotting to kill me, kill the king―

I see it all, the marauding thief himself

scheming to steal my crown and power!

Tell me, in god’s name, what did you take me for,

coward or fool, when you spun out your plot?

Your treachery―you think I’d never detect it

creeping against me in the dark? Or sensing it,

not defend myself? Aren’t you the fool,

you and your high adventure. Lacking numbers,

powerful friends, out for the big game of empire―

your need riches, armies to bring that quarry down!

He believes largely in his own abilities and actions to live

his life. He looks down upon others, only affirming his own identity

and achievement. In a big sense, Oedipus pays too little attention

to his moral character of pride and his decisions. Once he avoids

such arrogance, he is possibly to change the outcome of his life.

Oedipus insistently runs into the tragedy without hesitation

“If he had not been so determined to escape and prevent the prophecy,

he would not have fulfilled it”. If he keeps mild and moderate mind,

things may go a different way. “Possibly, he was doomed to fulfill

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the prophecy because he believed he could avoid it. Nevertheless,

his fate was sealed by his actions of pride and determination”.

His marriage with his mother, Jocasta, is caused by his pride for

the reason that he defeated Sphinx. The action that he takes avenge

on King Laius’ death, he is also urged by his pride and comes to

the point that he was the murderer who killed his true father. When

Teiresias told Oedipus the truth that he killed King Laius, his true

father, Oedipus refused to believe and accept. Nevertheless,

following the development of plot, it can not be helped that his

unavoidably realized the matter. He was awakened by the truth of

what he had done. Oedipus blinds his eyes to ease torture of his

soul. “He had fulfilled the prophecy because of his own actions,

which he had believed were beneficial-based on highly respected

attitudes of pride and determination”.

Oedipus as a king is excellent. “We can say Oedipus is

希望以上资料对你有所帮助，附励志名言3条：：

1、世事忙忙如水流，休将名利挂心头。粗茶淡饭随缘过，富贵荣华莫强求。

2、“我欲”是贫穷的标志。事能常足，心常惬，人到无求品自高。

3、人生至恶是善谈人过；人生至愚恶闻己过。

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