Oedipus Big Question

Oedipus is one of the most well known of the Greek tragedies. Oedipus, cursed from birth, is destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Learning of this curse he leaves his home to try to avoid his curse. Despite his best efforts however, he ends up fulfilling his fate. There are two main opposing parties in this story I think. Oedipus him self, and the gods that cursed him. The gods that curse Oedipus, to me, represent the evil part of humanity. We don't know why Oedipus was cursed. For all we know it could have been because of some petty squabble between the gods. Like humanity, they are random. And like humanity, they are immature, quarreling at the cost of individuals. Oedipus represents the individuals. He has no control over his fate. Despite the lengths that he goes to to try and avoid his destiny, he still fulfills the prophecy. The gods for some reason have decided that Oedipus is a very unlucky man.

Oedipus and the gods' representation of individuals and humanity also relates to chaos and order. The gods are chaotic because they're so childish and unpredictable. Oedipus is a force of order because he opposes the gods' chaos. Because the gods represent humanity and chaos, and Oedipus represents individuals and order, it can be said that humanity and chaos and individuals and order go hand in hand.

Wuthering Heights Big Question

Wuthering Heights revolves around revenge. One could argue that all misfortunes that Bronte's characters succumb to can be traced back to a grudge or a plan for revenge. So, if all the conflicts are caused by a character's need for revenge, could it be argued that the avenger is evil? Though it is a depressing book, I don't think so. Heathcliff  was originally a peasant in Liverpool, who was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw. As soon as he was taken in by the Earnshaw family, he was immediately shunned by everyone in the family except for Cathrine and Mr. Earnshaw himself. This isolation later drives Heathcliff to extreme levels of revenge, to the point where he starts treating his enemies' children badly. Heathcliff is turned into an evil man no doubt. But he wasn't a bad person to begin with. It was his environment that drove him to depression and hate.

If Heathcliff isn't inherently evil though, what about the people who drove him to evil? Hindley resented Heathcliff from the first night he spent at Wuthering Heights. Later, after Mr. Earnshaw and Hindley took control of Wuthering Heights, he cast out Heathcliff as a servant, denying him an education, despite the fact the they were brothers. Hindley's hate for Heathcliff was uncalled for, and was fueled by jealousy. He wasn't poor, he wasn't pushed away, he was just stuck up. Hindley was just jealous of his father's attention for Heathcliff.

These two men, who caused so much pain and suffering for the people around them, are both meant to be resented by the end of the book. They both fight with each other over childhood grudges, and harm they're loved ones in the process. They are both despicable. But Heathcliff was driven to hate, while Hindley was inherently stuck up and cruel. Society, like Hindley, falls into bad habits and morals. Individuals I think are not inherently evil, they're driven to evil by society, like Heathcliff was driven to evil by Hindley.