* Jocasta was the wife of Laios and mother, then wife, of Oedipus by whom she had Ismene, Antigone, Eteokles and Polyneikes. She lived in Thebes in the heroic period before the Trojan war. In Homer when Odysseus sees her in the Underworld she is called Epikaste, In Homer and Sophocles she kills herself when she realises she has married her son, but in Euripides' Phoinissai she is still alive at the time of the expedition of the Seven against Thebes. In this play she commits suicide with a sword over the bodies of her sons. Stage Directing Theory Dionysis -- Biomechanics Method -- Apollo my eGroups vtheatre.net act.vtheatre.net direct.vtheatre.net film.vtheatre.net script.vtheatre.net shows.vtheatre.net web.vtheatre.net method.vtheatre.net biomechanics.vtheatre.net HamletWeb 2002 GeoAlaska: Theatre & Film Theory of Spectatorship

Jocasta

Motivations: "Jocasta is willing to live in incest as long as the facts remain private. She doesn't take her own life until Oedipus realizes the truth. She kills herself for fear of what he would think of her." Mike Weaver (1998) agreed: "Jocasta was trying to get Oedipus to stop looking into the death of Laius because she knew the truth. She would have lived the rest of her life married to her son and not told a sole. She killed herself because she did not want to face everyone because of the deranged person she was."

questions

"Jocasta's issue is not one of shame but of power. She knows before the play starts that Oedipus is her son; the undertones of her words illustrate this, as well as the words themselves. Check out lines 975 to 985. Jocasta, Creon, and Oedipus are in a three way power struggle... Jocasta, by marrying her son, remains queen, which is a position of power, as opposed to the dead king's wife, which is a position of little power. Using this argument, the reason Jocasta commits suicide is not because she is ashamed; in contrast to Creon's passion throughout the play, Jocasta is coldly calculating... because of who she is, shame is not an option. Instead, her suicide is a result of the inevitable loss of power brought on by Oedipus's discovery. Also, he would've killed her anyhow, and she had to know this. It isn't about shame at all... it's about personal power."

More on Jocasta’s (Iokaste) Public vs. Private Shame: I believe that Jocasta was willing to live in an incestuous relationship with her son as long as the general public didn’t find out. It is debatable as to why she would marry someone half her age when she is aware of the prophecy. I suppose that it is possible that, at one time, she believed her son to be dead; possibly at the time of their marriage. It is clear, though, that she became aware of the terrible situation prior to the events of the play. I do believe, however, that Oedipus had no idea that he was laying down with his biological mother. After learning about his “father’s” death, Jocasta tries to reassure him that the prophecy is nonsense because Polybus died of natural causes and not at the hands of Oedipus. In scene 3, line 63, Oedipus replies, “And yet—must I not fear my mother’s bed?” This statement proves that he believes he has escaped the prophecy by fleeing Corinthe. He probably believed that marrying the murdered king’s wife was the right and proper thing to do, given the situation.

Jocasta, on the other hand, had no such logical excuse. As stated earlier, the possibility certainly exists that, at the time of their marriage, she was oblivious to the true identity of Oedipus. It shouldn’t have taken her long, however, to see the scarring and swelling on his ankles. She obviously chose to say nothing and continue the incestuous relationship with him. The reason for this, however amoral and repugnant, could simply be that living with Oedipus in this way was her only option in being with her son again. While that may partially be so, I also believe that she wanted to continue holding her rank as queen. Along with the power of being queen, comes a certain level of pride and selfishness, which brings me to my next point. I believe her suicide was a direct result of her inability to face the people Thebes once her monumental indiscretions are realized. In scene 3, lines 66-69, she says, ”Have no more fear of sleeping with your mother/How many men, in dreams, have lain with their mothers!/No reasonable man is troubled by these things.” I believe that, not only is she trying to console herself, but also trying to make Oedipus believe that he is being unreasonable for his persistence towards the truth. When her efforts to halt his inquiries are failing, she says in line 139, “For God’s love, let us have no more questioning!” She does not want him to find out the truth about his past because she knows that it would then be made public. Beseeching him one last time, she says in line 144, “Listen to me, I beg you: do not do this thing!” Oedipus, disregarding her pleas, says in line 145, “I will not listen; the truth must be known.” Jocasta, coming to the grave comprehension that she is left with no further options says, in line 148, “You are fatally wrong! May you never learn who you are!” The reference to him being “fatally wrong”, foreshadows her suicide.

He comes to see her pride and belief in her own self-importance in line 150 by saying, “Let us leave this woman to brag of her royal name.” She states that miserable is the only word that she has for him. She knows that he will not only be miserable when he finds out who he really is, but also when he learns of her death. Oedipus further mentions Jocasta’s proud nature in lines 158-159, “The Queen, like a woman, is perhaps ashamed/To think of my low origin.” Who would know one’s personality better than their spouse?

In the end, I believe that Jocasta was willing to live in incest with Oedipus so long as the truth remained a secret kept from him and the people of Thebes. Her attempts to subdue his wish for the whole story, no matter how ugly, were simply brushed aside. She could no longer bear her own private pain, much less the pain and judgment of an entire city, should her misguided relationship go public. She put herself before those most important in her life. It is said that suicide is a selfish act and what more could one expect from such a self-serving woman?

http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/OedipustheWreck/Joshame.htm

PS

NB

"I believe that Jocasta held so much shame that she killed herself. She had been lying for too long about too many things. One lie that she lived in that comes to me in a strong way is the lie regarding the prophecy. She told Oedipus not to trust the prophecies, but yet she trusted or feared the prophecy to such a degree that it caused her to give away her own son!! How can she live in such a lie as big as that? She talks against the very thing that drove her to be rid of her son. I feel that Jocasta is a terrible liar and it was the shame from her life of dishonesty that drove her to kill herself."

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There is a general consensus, particularly in psychology, that boys inevitably reject their mothers... ?

Once boys have been separated from their mothers they are then conditioned to de-humanise and depersonalise women. But the process has a backlash effect on men.

[ Must boys reject their mothers to become men? Charlie Kreiner ]

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Jocasta Rising [ ? ]

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