Compare And Contrast Essay

Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the play

Oedipus Rex

by Sophocles with the

play

Trifles

by Susan Glaspell. You should focus on 3 or more of the following elements in your

essay: theme, character, setting, dialogue, stage directions, plot, and structure. Please consider 1

or more of the following questions in your essay

1.How is

Oedipus Rex

an example of ancient Greek drama, and how is

Trifles

an example

of modern drama? Ancient Greek drama is often characterized by a ritualistic tone. The

presence of a chorus is an example of this tone.



2.Is Susan Glaspell’s

Trifles

an example of a feminist play? In a feminist story or play, the

female characters typically struggle to assert their rights in a society dominated by men.



3.The title character in Sophocles’ play

Oedipus Rex

is often referred to as a tragic hero.  A

tragic hero or heroine begins the play as a well-loved person of stature, but that stature

disappears, because of a tragic set of circumstances that (a) is foretold, (b) is inevitable,

and (c) is brought about by the hero’s or heroine’s own actions. Compare and contrast

Oedipus, Creon, or another character from

Oedipus Rex

with Minnie Foster or another

character from

Trifles.

Is Minnie a tragic heroine?  Is Minnie’s tragic circumstance (being

arrested for and possibly convicted of murder after killing her husband) foretold,

inevitable, and brought about by her own actions, like Oedipus’s circumstance?