Anyone who labors under the delusion that Karl Marx has nothing worthwhile to stay about the state of economics in the real world need only look at the sad situation that is Oedipus at Colonus on stage. The first hurdle, of course, is actually finding the opportunity to see Oedipus at Colonus being performed on a stage or screen or anywhere. And there is the rub.
Oedipus at Colonus is nearly universally looked up as the supreme achievement in the Oedipus trilogy composed by legendary Greek playwright Sophocles. Such high regard would naturally seem to dictate that it should be the play from the trilogy which is most often performed. After all, the performances of Hamlet over the centuries outnumber the performance of The Winter’s Tale by…well, nobody really knows because The Winter’s Tale is hardly ever performed at all. And why? Because it is the Crystal Pepsi to Hamlet’s Classic Coke. It is the USFL to Hamlet’s NFL. It is…well, you get the idea. Hamlet is superior in every conceivable way to The Winter’s Tale (except for length which is important in considering which plays to actually put on) and so, naturally, it is performed much more regularly.
Which is not to suggest that Antigone is to Oedipus at Colonus what The Winter’s Tale is to Hamlet. It is more like regular Pepsi to Classic Coke or the old American Football League to the National Football League. Not quite on the same level, but certainly not a disaster unworthy of comparison, either. And yet, most people are much more likely to have seen some sort of production of Antigone than Oedipus at Colonus. Or, at the very least, have been assigned to read Antigone at some during their academic career. So what gives? And what, exactly, does all this have to do Karl Marx?
It’s all about the Marxist critique of capitalism. Antigone offers a much more pleasing protagonist and (for Greek drama, anyway) a much more exciting story. Marketing a production of Antigone may not be the easiest job in the world for a theater PR person, but in comparison to marketing a play that is basically about an old man wandering around and talking about death, selling the fiery Antigone is like giving away candy. Oedipus at Colonus is held in the highest esteem by scholars and academics, but not so much by producers and theater owners. It’s a tough sell; like King Lear without all of Edmund’s devilish (and entirely justified) chicanery to hold your interest while the old man succumbs to dementia. By the time he gets to Colonus, the story of Oedipus is nothing but a downer. There’s none of intrigue involving incest, no fun in figuring out riddles, no watching as man trying desperately to avoid a curse runs full speed into its open maw and, worst of all, not even the gruesome satisfaction of watching a scene take place on stage in which a man puts out his eyes. (Even Lear offers that diversion, though, admittedly, it is not exactly the man’s choice to have his eyes gouged out, but that only adds to the excitement.)
Ultimately, the real comparison that should be made here in reference to Oedipus and Antigone is not one between Hamlet and The Winter’s Tale, but between Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Few serious Shakespeare buffs would ever even bother trying to make the argument that Romeo and Juliet is on the same level with Hamlet. And yet, producers and theater owners absolutely love it. In fact, it is really more a sure thing than Hamlet. Just look at how many different film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet are available compared to adaptations of Hamlet. And why is this?
Because audiences love a good teen romance - always have and always will. Even if it is absolutely predictable and features two of Shakespeare’s least interesting tragic figures. Doesn’t matter; it is an easy sell. Slightly easier than Hamlet, but way, way easier than King Lear. Because King Lear is a story that mainly speaks to an aging demographic and Marx’s critique of capitalism posits that the primary motivation for selling anything is profit and the profit margin is much higher when selling teen romance to a teen audience than selling a sad story of an aging man to an audience of aging men and women. The same holds true for Sophocles. Everyone who knows about such things may be in general agreement that the Oedipus play which is the cream of the crop of the trilogy is final chapter of the blind man’s life as it draws to an end at Colonus.
