Oedipus the King and Dead Again free essay sample

The play Oedipus the King and the movie Dead Again share almost no similarities at first glance. One is an ancient Greek play, while the other a murder horror movie made in the 1990s. However, taking a closer look reveals that some main themes exist that both works share throughout their storylines. One key similarity found throughout the play as well as the movie is the concept of fate and the terrible consequences of believing that one is powerful enough to cheat or escape one’s fate. In Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus as well as his parents Jocasta and Laius were fated by the gods. It was prophesied that the child of Laius and Jocasta, Oedipus, would kill his father and marry his mother. Afraid of this prophecy coming true, Jocasta and Laius sought to avoid their fate by piercing a spike through baby Oedipus’ ankles and leaving him on a mountaintop to die and therefore preventing the events the prophecy predicted from occurring. We will write a custom essay sample on Oedipus the King and Dead Again or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, because of the actions they took to avoid their fate, they actually caused the prophecy to come true. Oedipus is rescued and put in the care of an adoptive family who he believes are his real parents. Because of this, Oedipus runs away from home after hearing the prophecy several years later because he does not want to kill his father or marry his mother. However, his action actually causes the prophecy to come true as he kills his real birth father, Laius, and marries his birth mother, Jocasta, unaware that he was adopted after being found abandoned on the mountainside. In this way, by trying to avoid their fate, Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius actually cause it to happen. In the movie Dead Again, the characters are also fated. Grace and Mike are the present-day reincarnations of Margaret and Roman Strauss. In the 1940s, Margaret was stabbed to death by someone with a pair of old antique scissors and her husband Roman was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. In the present day, Grace and Mike visit a hypnotist and Grace recalls several hazy memories from her past life and she believes that she was once Margaret Strauss and that Mike is Roman Strauss. After this, Grace becomes concerned that Mike might try to murder her in an attempt to finish her off for good and she tries to avoid him at all costs. She believes that Margaret and Roman are fated to meet again and that it is likely bloodshed will occur if they do. Grace attempts to avoid Mike at all costs in order to change her fate. However, she does not know that fate has already taken over. It was fate that the same house where Roman and Margaret lived in the past would be the same place where Mike grew up and that took Grace in when she had amnesia. It was fate that drew them together to meet again at that same house forty years later and fall in love once again. In the play of Oedipus the King as well as the movie Dead Again, the main characters face very similar situations. In both the characters are victims of fate and in both the characters’ attempts to cheat fate and avoid their destiny ended in violence and bloodshed for all involved. In this way both works show that fate is a powerful thing that cannot be cheated or avoided. Attempting to escapes one’s fate will only cause it to come true and believing that one is powerful enough to escape fate will only cause one’s destiny to occur. In this way, two seemingly unrelated works, Oedipus the King and Dead Again, share a common lesson that unites them: one can never escape fate, and even attempting to do so will only cause the predicted events to actually transpire.