Lady Macbeth And Peripeteia In Oedipus Rex

It was once said by Aristotle that every great tragedy in drama has an anagnorisis and peripeteia that occur at almost the same time. By having these two occurrences, it leads to the turning point in the drama that takes the plot from good to bad. This statement was proved to be true by Sophocles when he wrote Oedipus Rex. The term anagnorisis comes from the Greek language; meaning “recognition”. The anagnorisis is usually accompanied by the peripeteia. Peripeteia is Greek for “reversal”. This usually follows the anagnorisis due to it having such a long term effect on the outcome for the protagonist of the drama. In Sophocles’ famous tragedy, Oedipus rex, the anagnorisis, and peripeteia are very clear and understandable. In Oedipus Rex, …show more content…
Macbeth started as a well-respected man with high morals, then throughout the play the audience comes to see that he changes a great deal from the man he started out to be, and into a man with a lack of conscience and almost no respect for others lives. Lady Macbeth also seems to undergo changes in her demeanor. Lady Macbeth goes from being a conscientious, strong woman to a more regretful and moral character. While seeing imaginary blood on her hands that symbolized the murders that were not only of her own doing but of Macbeth’s as well, Lady Macbeth says: “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All / the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand. O, O, O!” (5.1.53-55), leading up to the contradiction of her own words. Lady Macbeth’s transition from a emasculating her husband to enable him to be able to kill his way up to obtaining the Crown of Scotland to then committing suicide from having done these things. Lady Macbeth begins seeing blood on her hands that symbolizes the murders that had occurred from not only her own doings but also my Macbeth himself. By showing how much the guilt Lady Macbeth held had changed her, Shakespeare displayed another example peripeteia. Although the clearest inclination of anagnorisis in Macbeth appears to occur at the end, at this moment, Macbeth learns of the witches' prophecy, that Macduff would be the one to take the life of Macbeth. The anagnorisis and peripeteia occur when Macbeth realizes that it is too late and that his fate has already been

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