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Following on from our discussion in February, this month we're looking at prophecies! Prophecies seem to go hand-in-hand with Chosen Ones, and as a plot device they have an ancient pedigree indeed. In the modern day they can be found in Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, His Dark Materials, Star Wars, and of course, sporadically in Pokémon - to name just a few. Much of the fun in prophecies comes from the impact they have on the plot. Sometimes prophecies entirely drive the plot, sometimes they linger in the background. Rarely do they seem to come literally true, and the more symbolic the language used, the more likely it is to keep the readers guessing.
One very old and well-known prophecy plot comes from the story of Oedipus. The oracle of Delphi prophesied that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and subsequently marry his mother. In an attempt to avert this fate, he goes into self-imposed exile. What Oedipus doesn't know (But the audience does) is that Oedipus is adopted; parents aren't his biological parents. The long story short is that Oedipus murders his father, an apparent stranger, in a fit of rage, and marries his mother, who believes she's merely marrying the local hero. In this case the prophecy comes literally true because the characters aren't fully aware of all the facts.
In Macbeth, a prophecy comes true in a symbolic way. In this play, Macbeth is told that he shall not be 'vanquished' until:
“Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him"
Macbeth takes this prophecy very seriously as assumes he's therefore invincible, since a forest moving by itself is impossible. That is, until an army wearing branches and foliage from Birnam forest marches on him to Dunsinane. J.R.R Tolkien famously regarded this particular symbolic fulfilment to be cop-out on Shakespeare's part
It perhaps goes without saying that prophecies are very hard to discuss without spoilers, so this discussion may well be full of them!
One very old and well-known prophecy plot comes from the story of Oedipus. The oracle of Delphi prophesied that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and subsequently marry his mother. In an attempt to avert this fate, he goes into self-imposed exile. What Oedipus doesn't know (But the audience does) is that Oedipus is adopted; parents aren't his biological parents. The long story short is that Oedipus murders his father, an apparent stranger, in a fit of rage, and marries his mother, who believes she's merely marrying the local hero. In this case the prophecy comes literally true because the characters aren't fully aware of all the facts.
In Macbeth, a prophecy comes true in a symbolic way. In this play, Macbeth is told that he shall not be 'vanquished' until:
“Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him"
Macbeth takes this prophecy very seriously as assumes he's therefore invincible, since a forest moving by itself is impossible. That is, until an army wearing branches and foliage from Birnam forest marches on him to Dunsinane. J.R.R Tolkien famously regarded this particular symbolic fulfilment to be cop-out on Shakespeare's part
It perhaps goes without saying that prophecies are very hard to discuss without spoilers, so this discussion may well be full of them!