Oedipus Rex- Conflict and the Essence of Drama

Conflict: The Essence of Drama In the story of "Oedipus the King" by Aristotle, the main conflict is Oedipus' internal struggle with his pride and egotism. He likes to be praised, always having to get things done and be known for it. Oedipus himself is also off balanced due to the nature of his controlling character, and because of this he is almost destined to self-destruction. In other words, his tragedy is to be predicted …

…outweigh it. The gods in their wisdom predicted this long ago, but Oedipus was determined to take responsibility (again another example of his take-charge attitude) and take his strong will to surreal proportions. His search for the truth, in the end is what causes his destruction. His inner conflicts with control and egotism slowly boiled to the surface, which disrupted the natural balance of the life created by the gods, and led to his destruction.