THOUGHT
In drama, thought is expressed in words and deeds and reveals characters in action. Thought is the basic material of text and subtext, speeches and lines, and choices and actions. The interplay between action, character, and thought works in reverse for the playwright. The playwright first selects the actions that make up the plot, then chooses the characters who work as agents of the plot, then creates the thought that builds the character. The type of character determines the thoughts they express.
The action of a play from beginning to end is the formulation of a thought. Changes that the characters undergo help express thought. For instance, In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus and his family have tried to thwart the Oracle of Delphiís prediction that he would kill his father and marry his mother. After Oedipus has, to the best of his knowledge, managed to avoid the prophecy, he discovers the horrible truth that the prophecy has been fulfilled. On a metaphorical level, Oedipus learned that he was blind (to the truth) when he had vision, thus he blinds himself as punishment when he is enlightened. Through this discovery he has learned that no individual can count oneself as happy until his or her life has been completely lived. Sophocles expressed this profound thought in a skillfully wrought action.
The characters chosen as agents of Sophocles tragic action represent two sides of a fundamental question: "Who killed King Laos?" Tiresias, the blind soothsayer who represents the Oracle, after prodding, declares that Oedipus is guilty. Oedipus, who did kill King Laos, but does not know it, argues against his guilt in a determination to find the blameworthy. All of the other characters, such as the Shepherds and Jocasta, fall on one side or the other of the argument as proof or support. Thus, the characters fulfill their function as instruments of events while expressing deliberation that conveys the overall thought through action.
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