Characters play a very important role in the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles. Without characters, the play would lack a certain dimension and be very difficult to read. The presence of characters in the play make it more easily understood. If characters did not appear in the play it would be close to impossible to understand it since everything that takes place is through the words of the characters. Also if there were no characters the outcome of the play would be different. The significance of characters in the play is very obvious. Without them the play would be much shorter and much more boring.
The role of characters is very important to the play. Characters make the play possible just by the virtue of existing. If they did not exist the play would not either. If the play did not exist then the characters would not either. The characters and the play are codependent and need to have a symbiotic relationship to ensure their mutual survival. A lack of characters in the play would make very difficult reading and perhaps more difficult viewing. A lack of characters would necessitate some other device to be used and a substitute has not been found that replaces the role characters play in a play.
An example from the play is when Oedipus was speaking to Teiresias: “I did not know then you would talk like a foolor it would have been long before I called you”. If there had not been any characters in this play, this could not have happened. If the play did not have characters the outcome would be much different. All the actions and conversations could not have taken place without the use of characters. Characters made the play and its tragedy possible. Without characters nothing could have taken place. They made it possible for Oedipus to kill his father and have sex with his mother and for everything that was bad to happen.
If Jocasta or better Oedipus did not exist within the context of the play everyone would have been much happier and the tragedy could have been avoided. Even if the herdsman who saved Oedipus as a child did not exist or the messenger from Cithaeron the tragedy of the play would have been avoided and made for a much happier ending. This clearly shows how important all of the characters are in the play. They each have an important role and contribute to the final outcome of the play. Even the non-speaking characters such as Oedipus’ daughters, Ismene and Antigone, play important roles in the play.
The characters make the play and its’ tragedy possible. The significance of the role characters play is fairly obvious. They make the play move along by delivering the plot and its developments very quickly and accurately. There is no better way of doing this in a play. This makes characters necessary in order to have a play at all since it would probably be very boring without them. The length of the play would also be affected by a lack of characters. It would most likely make the play much shorter and would consist of very little. Characters are very necessary especially in a Greek drama such as this.
Very few stage props or sets were used and depended on the characters for all the actions and focus of the play. Characters are necessary in order to have a play. Characters play a very important role in “Oedipus the King” as in most plays. They make the play possible and able to take place. They greatly affect the outcome of the play. They keep the play focused and through them one can understand what is happening. Characters are perhaps the most important aspect of the play or at least a vital part of it. Without them there would be no play at all.