In Oedipus Rex, Jocasta and Oedipus commit violence toward themselves offstage. How do they do this? Why does Sophocles make this creative choice...

In
,dies by hanging herself. , upon finding her body, pulls the pins out of
her robe and blinds himself by simultaneously plunging both pins into both eyes.

largely followed the prescriptions about dramatic form and content that Aristotle had
established in Poetics. Not only death but any violent act, such as
mutilation, toward human beings or animals was depicted offstage. The purposes of drama focused
on eliciting great emotions in the spectators and to instigate thethat came from identifying
with the tragic events of the play. Such emotions would not be inspired by witnessing bloody
actions.

In addition, the unity of action was central to Aristotles
understanding of . All action should appear onstage in a single setting. While Sophocles altered
this slightly through the introduction of scenery, multiple settings are rare. In
Oedipus Rex, the actions occur on the palace steps. In the case of an
important scene, such as a death offstage, a...

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