A Helper of Oracle Fulfillment——Jocasta： Enslaved Female Image by Patriarchy Society

【Abstract】Oedipus the King is regarded as one of the most famous plays written by Sophocles. The play is about Oedipus who is doomed to the fate that was predicted by the Oracle at Delphi before his birth. As an important character of Oedipus the King，Jocasta was the mother of her husband and wife of her son， her fate made audience sigh or even cry. But， The Oracle fulfillment—Oedipus killed father and married mother not just caused by Oedipus himself， also created by his father Laius and his mother Jocasta. In this article， the author tries to express that Jocasta was a helper of the Oracle fulfillment， she was a selfish mother and careless wife whose thoughts enslaved by the Patriarchy society.

【Key words】Oracle; Jocasta; fulfillment; enslaved

I. Introduction

In the play， Oedipus learned of his fate and immediately made an effort to prevent it， as did his mother and father. Oedipus then met his fate unwittingly by killing his father Laius and marrying Jocasta who was his mother. After the truth was revealed， he stabbed out his eyes and exiled himself. The actions Oedipus， Jocasta， and Laius took actually fulfilled the prophecy the Oracle told them. In fact， what Jocasta should do was to give her son a chance to survive. But， she did not do this， she accepted to remarry. Someone said that if Jocasta chose not to remarry， she would control the fate. But in Greek era that placed an importance upon male control in the household and the country. The females thoughts enslaved by Patriarchy Society， Jocasta was one of them.

II. Selfish Mother

Jocasta lacked mothers love even cruel to her newborn baby， in her deep heart that only left desire for self-insurance and power. We can see that after Jocasta knew her son would “kill father to marry the mother”， she actively assisted her husband to pierced three days newborn babys ankles and pinned together， then thrown into the barren hills. She did not show any mothers compassion and mercy to her baby， governance the city and kept her queen status were most important things in her deep heart. For example， in the second script， Oedipus talked with Jocastas brother Creon—Creon said： “And as thy consort queen she shares the throne？ ” Oedipus said： “I grant her freely all her heart desires.” I think those desires must be keep her queen status， governance the city with king， enjoyed the same rights as before.

After she gave her baby to the servant， she believed that the baby will die， she didnt need to worry about lose the power， she said： “To die my childs hand， but he， poor babe……Henceforth I will look for signs neither to right nor left.” She said that without any pain as a mother just lost her son. So she was a selfish mother without in doubt.

III. Careless Wife

After Laius died， she didn't show the pain， nor find the murderer for revenge， but immediately married with the new king Oedipus. It was understandable that she didn't know her new husband was her son in a short time. But in the after daily life， she never doubted in her husband's identity was unreasonable. On the one hand， Oedipuss heels on a nail pierced since childhood， this permanently disabled， as his wife， its impossible to turn a blind eye to this. On the other hand， the name Oedipus was from the heel of disability named， which meaning “swelling of the ankles” in the Greek word， but she has never questioned about that. In order to cover up the truth， she even sent the servant who knew the truth to the countryside. When plague occurs in Thebes， Oedipus tried to track down the murderer， she became aware of that her husband was her son. But she didn't want to reveal it， she prevented Oedipus to track down the murderer many times， in the script， she begged him： “…… yet humor me， I pray thee; do not this.” When the truth was revealed， Jocasta knew the serious consequences that she would lose the queen status. Finally she committed suicide possibly because of the regret and shame. From what above said can prove that she also was a careless wife.

IV. Conclusion

As a mother， she didnt give mothers love to her baby， as a wife， she was careless about her husband. On the one hand， we can say that Jocasta was selfish mother and careless wife. On the other hand， we can see that females thoughts enslaved deeply by patriarchy society and always followed by male.

References：

[1]Sophocles.Oedipus the King[M].Translation by F.Storr，BA.Published by Harvard University Press，Cambridge，MA & William Heinemann Ltd，London，1912.

[2]趙文.母與妻的悲歌——以心理分析學解讀《俄狄浦斯王》中的伊奧卡斯特[J].海外英語，2012（8）.

作者簡介：邱南（1985-），女，漢族，海南海口人，研究生在讀，文學碩士，研究方向：英美文學。