Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore, by contrasting Sophocles’ Oedipus
Rex and Jean Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine, how mythological stories
and characters are in their essence archetypes that are exploited by
authors in different ages to project different visions of the human
situation. Every writer imbibes the influence of his age to a certain
degree and if the art of Sophocles is set against that of Cocteau, the
dichotomy of moral and philosophical outlook thus established cannot go
unnoticed. Written in the twentieth century, Cocteau’s play is in major
ways different from the Greek version written more than two thousand
years ago in spite of the fact that the plot outline of both remains the
same. The contrast will be highlighted in both thematic and structural
terms: the former in conceptual differences of heroism, providence,
man’s consciousness and destiny, and the latter in the different
manipulation of theatrical devices like the chorus and physically evident
poetic symbolism. Through recourse to comments made by some literary
authors and critics on the characteristic features of the literature of the
modern age, it would be shown how The Infernal Machine is to be
categorized within it both historically and philosophically.
Muhammad Furqan Tanvir . (2006-2009) The Modernization of the Oedipus Myth: Contrasting Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine with Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex , Journal of Research ( Humanities), Volume XLII-XLV, Issue 1 .
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