“Anarchy – show me a greater crime in all the earth! She, she destroys cities, rips up houses, breaks the ranks of spearmen into headlong rout. But the ones who last it out, the great mass of them owe their lives to discipline. Therefore we must defend the men who live by law, never let some woman triumph over us. Better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hands of a man – never be rated inferior to a woman, never.”
– Sophocles
Antigone
Line 751
In the world of literature, there is certainly no lack of notable playwrights to create the classic drama that even today is used as an influence for a wide variety of movies and other works of cinema. The question, however, lies in how to distinguish one such playwright from another. In the same manner as authors can develop their own signature and unique style of writing, it seems only natural that playwrights should have that same gift. The challenge, though, lies not in subject matter, but rather in form. After all, a novel or short story offers a large amount of freedom to the writer as to choices on narration, written form, sentence structure, and overall creative format. In direct contrast, the writer of a play or other drama must almost always work within a set format and style. Nonetheless, there are still some great playwrights who have managed to go beyond this limitation and craft their signature style in spite of the difficulties, which lie before them.
Perhaps one of the most well known playwrights to have developed such a signature style is the Greek writer Sophocles. Simply by analyzing one passage of his work, it is possible to notice many distinctions, which help to document the author’s signature style. There are many elements of writing which can aid one in determining and examining the signature style of Sophocles. Perhaps the greatest single element that can be used when identifying the work of Sophocles is the powerful language and tone that is used with nearly every character. Also, the sentence structure of Sophocles is unique. Of course, there are many other passages within his plays that can be used to point out his signature style, but the selected one above highlights many of the key elements that help to make Sophocles a unique playwright.
It is quite easily the tone of the work, and the selected passage which helps to set it so far apart from other plays that were written in the common time period. Although many playwrights gave their characters powerful language, few characters in any play can match the passion that those in Oedipus the King seem to exhibit. Therein lies one of the most powerful aspects of Sophocles signature style, which is the passion that his characters possess and speak with. There are few points in the play where this passion can be better noted than the above passage.
Another key element to the writing of Sophocles is his sentence structure. Note that throughout the novel, one can repeatedly, in the same style as noted in the passage above, notice both broken and elongated sentences. This sentence structure is indeed common throughout the play, and it is simply one more showcase of the unique writing style of Sophocles. However, it must be noted that while that same broken structure is in no way unique to the world of drama, Sophocles was one of the fist playwrights to perfect that style, and, as a result, when one today reads the work of Shakespeare or other notable playwrights, the style which was first perfected by Sophocles and his brethren of classic playwrights comes shining through.
Although identifying a signature style in terms of a play is very difficult, as what makes a play a signature work is not the style in which is written but the content which it possess, Sophocles is nonetheless a unique author. His writing style helps to transform the trilogy of Oedipus the King into the classic that some feel it is today. There can be no doubt that without the writings of Sophocles, and his unique contributions to the world of drama, as well as the signature elements that he brings with him in regards to his style, the modern world of drama would, quite simply, never be the same.
