Vision and Stagecraft in Sophocles

by David Seale

Overview

In this study, David Seale argues that Sophocles’s use of stagecraft, which has thus far received little attention, was as sophisticated as that of Aeschylus or Euripides. His discussions of the physical and visual elements of Sophocles's seven plays center around the theme of sight; he demonstrates that each play is staged to maximize the implications and effects of “seeing” and not “seeing,” of knowledge and ignorance. This emphasis on visual perception, Seale maintains, harmonizes with Sophocles’s use of verbal and thematic techniques to create dramatic movements from delusion to truth, culminating in climaxes that are revelations—moments when things are truly “seen” by both audience and characters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226181745
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	04/11/2014
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Seale is the longest serving member of the university faculty at Bishop’s University, Quebec, where he is a professor of classical studies.

Table of Contents

Preface 10

1 Introduction: Aristotelian Principles, Visual Conventions, the Visual Theme 12

2 The Philoctetes: illusion and Surprise 26

3 The Electra: Illusion and Suffering 56

4 The Antigone: Concrete Visualisation 84

5 The Oedipus at Colonus: Inner Vision 113

6 The Ajax: the Shame of Revelation 144

7 The Women of Trachis: the Verge of Truth 181

8 Oedipus the King: Blindness and Sight 215

Select Bibliography 261

Index 264

Editorial Reviews

Interesting . . . with considerable percipience. ‘Vision’ is studied in both internal and external senses. Internally, within the tragedies, there is the pervasive interplay of ignorance and knowledge, secrecy and revelation, illusion and reality, seeing and blindness, sight leading to horror, sight leading to pity. . . . The external sense of ‘vision’ . . . is less well-trodden ground: the use of the visible in order to enhance the audience’s perception of the play. Seale is good at this theatrical approach, and draws out many details without resorting to undue speculation.

Phoenix, a journal of the Classical Association of Canada - Oliver Taplin

A new approach. In place of a general commentary on Sophoclean stagecraft or a close study of a particular problem in stagecraft itself, verbal texture and theatrical spectacle are linked through a study of the theme of vision. Seale suggests that a Sophoclean drama is typically a movement from illusion to true sight. This movement is represented both in the language, as characters speak of what they see, and in the spectacle, in which reality is presented before the audience. The great advantage of this approach is the immediate relevance it gives to the spectacle, which embodies the revelation to which the drama leads. . . . Stimulating and enlightening.

Echos du Monde Classique/Classical Views - Ruth Scodel