Despair

Question:

What is the meaning of "Despair" and how does this theme manifest itself in both plays?

Answer:

The literal meaning of despair is to lose hope, to be without hope. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus despairs because he finds out that he is the sole cause of his land’s suffering/recession. He also despairs because he learns that he has committed an enormous sin. He learns that he killed his real father and married his own mother for which the gods punish him by spoiling his lands and making the people of Thebes, including Oedipus, suffer. Now he understands that he has been the sole cause for all the suffering, and he has this burden to carry on his shoulders until he dies. He is to be banished from Thebes, which was his own original punishment before he found out the true villain was none other than himself. Oedipus has lost any hope he ever had that he had changed his pre-determined fate. He despairs because he has failed in trying to avoid his prophecy even though he tried very hard to change the course of it. After Jocasta hears of this, she despairs and kills herself. Oedipus then despairs because his wife/mother has killed herself and he gauges his eyes out with golden brooches from her dress. It is his despair that leads him to do this. Oedipus must leave Thebes, his own punishment, and Creon lets him say goodbye to his children/siblings. He despairs because he must leave his family, his home. By the end of Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a perfect example of a hopeless, deeply burdened man who can hardly bear being alive. In Antigone, despair plays a large role in Antigone’s life. She defies the law and buries her brother, Polynices. She despairs because she believes Polynices deserves an honorable burial; he is family, he is irreplaceable to Antigone. Antigone is also in despair about Creon. Creon rules Thebes as a “one man state” otherwise known as the king is always right merely because he is king. Antigone is really upset about this because she did what she believed to be an honorable and respectful thing by burying her brother. Creon views her actions as being unlawful, and that is it. He doesn’t really consider the reasons why she disobeyed the law, and he doesn’t consider the “laws of heaven.” He just thinks that she should be punished because she knowingly broke the law and Antigone is in despair over this. Haemon and Antigone are betrothed, and after Haemon finds out that Antigone will be killed for her “crime,” he gets mad at Creon. (his father) He says if she is to die, then so shall he. Antigone actually hangs herself in her tomb, and at the sight of this, Haemon kills himself. Creon witnesses this and is in much despair over having sentenced Antigone to her death and Haemon by association. Now his son is dead. When Creon’s wife finds out, she too, goes into the palace and kills herself. By this point, Creon is in so much pain and despair that he cries out for the gods to kill him, he prays to be killed, because he cannot bear the pain he feels inside. However, Creon lives and is merely lead away from his dead wife. There is a lot of despair there at the end of Antigone what with everyone killing themselves on account of Creon. It is all very tragic and dramatic, which is what makes the story even more interesting.
So despair really plays a huge part in both Oedipus the King and Antigone.
“I am nothing. I have no life. Lead me away…That have killed unwittingly my son, my wife. I know not where I should turn, where look for help. My hands have done amiss, my head is bowed with fate too heavy for me.” –Creon (pg. 161-162, Antigone)
“O dark intolerable inescapable night that has no day! Cloud that no air can take away! O and again that piercing pain, torture in the flesh and in the soul’s dark memory.” –Oedipus (pg.62, Oedipus the King)