Oedipus - Journal 2

To what extent would you agree that plot should be valued more highly than style in the work. In you answer you should refer to two or three works you have studied.

I would agree in some cases that plot is more important than style when regarding a specific work, however this is wholly dependent on the work itself. In the tragic plays we are currently reading I believe the plot needs to be viewed in greater focus due their nature; a tragedy focuses on human suffering and their fall from happiness/power/etc. To do so a playwright must bring attention to the actions and occurrences that brought the individual to ruin. This is evident in Oedipus the King, Sophocles brings much of the focus on the plot. All of the characterization that goes on is based around the driving actions the propel the plot forward, for example  Oedipus' well meaning but arrogant nature being explored in his declaration to hunt down Laius' killer. Sophocles use of literary techniques, namely foreshadowing and allusion, also supports this. Admittedly, the techniques are partially a reference to the common knowledge of the audience, but nevertheless they draw attention to the plot's ideas and direction. In contrast would a be a more serious novel such as The Stranger, which is designed to present ideas and views rather than to entertain. Here there is a much stronger case for a greater attention to style; the actual plot of The Stranger seems mundane but it is in the details of the novel that we are able to decipher Albert Camus' worldview. Our ideas and opinions of Meursault are formed to a greater extent through Camus' use of language than the actions taken by the characters; we learn more in Meursault's description of the beach and sun than through his (seemingly random) murder of the Arab. Ultimately it would be a fruitless effort to focus singularly on either plot or style, both must be considered to create a full understanding of the work. Although we may see Oedipus the King as plot driven, it must be understood that Sophocles was neither the first nor last to tell the story of Oedipus, and looking beyond plot can flesh out our understanding of the work.