By now Iokastê understands the truth. “Is your life nothing to you? / My own is pain enough for me to bear” (lines 1004–1005). She begs Oedipus not to question further, but he doesn’t listen to her. She exits quickly into the palace. “Ah, miserable! / That is the only word I have for you now. / That is the only word I can ever have” (lines 1015–18). In Scene 4, the shepherd arrives. He attempts to avoid telling Oedipus the truth. At last he confesses that it was Iokastê who gave him the child. The Shepherd says, “Ah, I am on the brink of dreadful speech!” and Oedipus answers, “And I of dreadful hearing. Yet I must hear” (lines 1104–05). The final scene begins with the news of the queen’s suicide, which has occurred off stage. “The queen is dead” (line 1186). From this messenger, the audience and the chorus also hear the news that Oedipus has blinded himself with the brooches from the queen’s dress (lines 1217–28). In the final scene, Oedipus keeps his noble nature. He doesn’t seek to evade or avoid his fate. He asks to be led from Thebes, because he knows that this was the punishment he placed on Laïos’s murderer. Kreon allows him to say goodbye to his daughters, Antigone and Ismene. The play fulfills the criteria for a tragedy. A noble man is brought low by a tragic flaw in his character and by his own actions. He loses his power and position, gains painful knowledge about himself, and suffers for his actions.

ASSIGNMENT 21
A Comedy by Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in your Literature textbook (pages 1538–1599). Before you read the play, be sure to read the commentary at the bottom of page 1538.

After reading the play once, return to this study guide to read an analysis of the play.