ENGL101 College of San Mateo Oedipus Antagonist Passages Analysis & Questions

One: Select a key passage and provide your analysis of it: Instruction on Close Analysis 200 words

Two: choose any 4 questions to answer. Write about 100 words each.

Who do you consider to be Oedipus’ antagonist in this play? What makes you say so?
Who do you consider to be Jocasta’s antagonist in this play? What makes you say so?
How do you interpret the “fate/destiny/the prophecy”? What does it represent or symbolize in this play?
Why do you think Alfaro makes the sexual and emotional relationship between Oedipus and Jocasta so central to his adaptation (as opposed to Sophocles)? What do you think he wanted the audience to understand or see?
Prison as metaphor…for what? What do you think Alfaro is trying to show about prison/mass incarceration, and how does he do this?
Why doesn’t Oedipus believe in God? How does this compare to other characters’ faith, as shown in the play? Why do you think Alfaro is trying to convey about “faith”? What makes you say so?
How do you interpret scene 26, the “resolution” scene with dialogue from the Coro and the final action described in the stage direction there? What do you find significant about it? How do you think it contributes to the message of the play?
What factors led to Oedipus’s tragic ending in this play? What role, if any, does “fate” or “destiny” play in this, and how do you interpret those terms in the context of this play?
Why does Oedipus kill Jocasta? What do you see as the significance of this action? What might it metaphorically represent?
Which scenes in the play were examples of “pathos” for you? Explain.