Discuss the role that dramatic irony plays in Oedipus Rex. Be sure to give examples and state exactly what the purpose of the dramatic irony is.

Well, we know that Oedipus's birth parents were King Laius of Thebes and his wife Jocasta. The Delphic Oracle ruined their happy family by stating that Oedipus is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The reader or audience knows this but Oedipus, being a baby, does not. So the king abandons baby Oedipus on top of a mountain to die. Now you never know if your son, who will one day score with his mother, is really dead unless you do the deed yourself. Oedipus survives and you just know how this is going to end up! The purpose of dramatic irony is for the audience to know something the protagonist does not thus intensifying the drama. This play gives allot for the audience to cringe about. Right after Oedipus, unknowingly kills his father in a fit of road rage (or path rage?), we just know that somehow he is going to jump into the sheets with his mother. The audience can just connect the dots from that point on. It's kind of fun but immensely creepy as at the same time, no matter how hot his mother might have been!