English
Xavier Cuevas
Professor Hughes
ENC 1102
February 11, 2013
Oedipus vs. Prufrock In ENC 1102, we have read two stories: Oedipus the King and “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” As a class, we distinguished characteristics and personality traits of the main characters of each book. The main characters are Oedipus, the tragic king of Thebes, and Prufrock, an insecure man. While Oedipus and Prufrock do have some common characteristics, they have many distinguishable differences. Oedipus differs from Prufrock in plenty ways. Oedipus comes from a royal family and is a king. He lives a tragic life that he can’t control since it is destiny, although he tries to change it. Oedipus is a man with a lot of pride and is really stubborn for example; Oedipus continued to pursue who he was and what happened to the previous king of Thebes, no matter how many warnings he received from everyone, especially his wife. According to Sophocles, Jocasta warns Oedipus by saying “I beg you-do not hunt this out-I beg you, if you have any care for your own life. What I am suffering is enough.” (Sophocles 1738). Even with this warning Oedipus stubbornly continued to pursue to discover the truth, which led to him losing his eyes. Oedipus is also courageous as he defeated the sphinx. Key characteristics of Oedipus were “his relentless pursuit of knowledge, his absolute confidence in himself, and his quickness to anger” (Oedipus). 13 February 2013. He was quick to anger when he had the idea that Creon planned to replace Oedipus as king. Although Oedipus seemed to care a lot about himself, he truly cared about his people and their safety. Oedipus had many characteristics that separated him from Prufrock. Prufrock differs from Oedipus in many ways. Prufrock is an insecure man with very low self-esteem. He has no self-worth or self-confidence which leads him to having difficulty talking to other women. He believed that the women would say harsh things behind his back for example; when
Professor Hughes
ENC 1102
February 11, 2013
Oedipus vs. Prufrock In ENC 1102, we have read two stories: Oedipus the King and “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” As a class, we distinguished characteristics and personality traits of the main characters of each book. The main characters are Oedipus, the tragic king of Thebes, and Prufrock, an insecure man. While Oedipus and Prufrock do have some common characteristics, they have many distinguishable differences. Oedipus differs from Prufrock in plenty ways. Oedipus comes from a royal family and is a king. He lives a tragic life that he can’t control since it is destiny, although he tries to change it. Oedipus is a man with a lot of pride and is really stubborn for example; Oedipus continued to pursue who he was and what happened to the previous king of Thebes, no matter how many warnings he received from everyone, especially his wife. According to Sophocles, Jocasta warns Oedipus by saying “I beg you-do not hunt this out-I beg you, if you have any care for your own life. What I am suffering is enough.” (Sophocles 1738). Even with this warning Oedipus stubbornly continued to pursue to discover the truth, which led to him losing his eyes. Oedipus is also courageous as he defeated the sphinx. Key characteristics of Oedipus were “his relentless pursuit of knowledge, his absolute confidence in himself, and his quickness to anger” (Oedipus). 13 February 2013. He was quick to anger when he had the idea that Creon planned to replace Oedipus as king. Although Oedipus seemed to care a lot about himself, he truly cared about his people and their safety. Oedipus had many characteristics that separated him from Prufrock. Prufrock differs from Oedipus in many ways. Prufrock is an insecure man with very low self-esteem. He has no self-worth or self-confidence which leads him to having difficulty talking to other women. He believed that the women would say harsh things behind his back for example; when
Cited: Eliot, T.S. “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter 10th Edition. Eds. Alison Booth and Velly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 1015-1019. “Oedipus the King.” The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter 10th Edition. Eds. Alison Booth and Velly J. Mays. New York: Norton,2010. 1711-1749 print. Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles." Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Elisabeth Gellert and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 47. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. 269-361. Literature Criticism Online. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T(homas) S(tearns) Eliot." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter, Deborah A. Schmitt, and Timothy J. White. Vol. 113. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. 181-227. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. LINCC, Library Information Network for Community Colleges.