First, they are both classical Tragedies. The definition
of a what makes a play a Tragedy was coined by Aristotle in his
Poetics. In essence, it must contain heightened language (ie -- be
written in verse), and the plot must follow the tragic demise of its main character (or
tragic hero) due to this hero's tragic flaw. The events of the Tragedy must inspire
pity and fear in the audience, which basically means that the audience must empathize
with the hero's fall from his high position.
Both Oedipus
and Macbeth are the aforementioned tragic heroes. They both begin the play as noble and
high-born men, and both "win" the kingship that they hold throughout the plays by
murdering the king that preceded them. The difference is that Oedipus doesn't know that
he has murdered Laius and Macbeth makes a conscious choice to murder
Duncan.
Both kings have wives who die as a result of the
weight of the guilt of their (knowing or unknowing) complicity in their husbands
actions.
Both Macbeth and Oedipus have a moment, near or at
the end of each play when they become aware of the consequences of their actions. For
Macbeth, this awareness comes in his famous soliloquy from Act V, scene v, which begins
with the line "She should have died hereafter." Though this line refers to the death of
his queen, in the body of the speech Macbeth becomes aware that he has created a life
that adds up to nothing. He has acted in order to gain everything and found that the
power and prestige amounts, after all to nothing. Oedipus also has a moment of
awareness at the end of the play in which he blinds himself because he believes that he
no longer deserves to see the beauty of the world.
So, the
Tragedies Macbeth and Oedipus Rex (or the
King) share many similarities, some of which I have given above. Please
follow the links below to the study guides on Poetics,
Macbeth and Oedipus Rex for more
information.
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