Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysis
(This is one of two studies I plan to do on Ianto. This one concentrates on Cyberwoman. The other follows Ianto's character development through the first series.)
Cyberwoman had an intriguing beginning, but my Inner Classics Geek grinned from ear to ear at the two minute mark when I recognized the story they were working from. Cyberwoman is based on one of the Great Stories that few modern scriptwriters have the nerve to tackle. Cyberwoman is Oedipus Rex.
Thanks to Freud modern audiences tend to think Oedipus Rex is about incest, but that is just a plot device. Oedipus Rex is the dark mirror of the standard fairy tale that Doctor Who and most heroic fantasies write about. It's about what happens when a Hero falls in love with the wrong woman and is moved to heroic deeds in her name. A good man expends his considerable talents and virtues on the wrong woman, and tragedy ensues. It forms the plot not only of one of the world's oldest plays, but also of nearly a third of all country songs (and more than a third of all folk songs.)
If the woman were the right woman, all the Hero's valor and heroism would be rewarded. It wouldn't matter if he threatened to destroy the world in the process, everything would work out in the end because she was the right woman. Blah, blah, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, "I did it for love" as the magic "Get Out of Jail Free" card. This is the plot of almost every hackneyed fantasy movie around, overused to the point where when the kid in the leather headband whines "But I'm doing it for love" I want to shoot him on the spot.
Oedipus Rex is the flip side of that story. Same Hero does the same heroic deeds, but because this woman is the Wrong Woman it destroys or nearly destroys the world instead of saving it. She doesn't have to be an evil woman or a tramp or secretly his mother. She's just the Wrong Woman.
(Technically, she doesn't even have to be a woman. She can be the Wrong Cause or the Wrong Side in a war, but let's stick with the Wrong Woman for right now.)
Ianto demonstrated great loyalty, courage, coolness, and organizational skill on saving the life of the woman he loved. He went far "above and beyond the call of duty" in his duty to her, even betraying everything else that means anything to him for her. If this were a children's show that had a happy ending he would have been successful, and his bravery and devotion would have been rewarded by some happy resolution of her fate.
But this isn't a children's show. It's an adult tragedy. All of Ianto's noble efforts not only fail to save her, but result in suffering, destruction, and the death of innocents. The doctor and Alice are innocents who die. Lisa, as the girl she used to be, is an innocent who suffers cruelly from the Cyberconversion and who ends up suffering even more cruelly after an implanted Cyberconciousness uses her memories and mannerisms to try to destroy the man she loves. And Ianto loses forever the innocence of being able to think if he just follows his heart and does what he thinks is right that everything will turn out right in the end.
That's a powerful theme, and not for children.
Here's the play-by-play:
Oedipus Rex is the world's oldest who-done-it. The city of Thebes has been ruled for a generation by the Hero-king Oedipus. A generation ago the city was plagued by a terrible Monster. In proper fairy-tale fashion, a Hero appeared out of nowhere, slew the Monster, saved the city, and married the girl. Everyone lived happily ever after. For the past roughly 20 years it's been a fairy tale. The Hero proved to be a good king who rebuilt the city better than ever, a leader who loves and is loved by his people, a husband passionately in love with his wife (even though she's old enough to be his mother), and a good father to their four devoted teenage children. Oedipus has done everything a Hero is typically asked to do. He's done it well, and it's paid off with a fairy-tale ending.
He's completely unprepared for what's about hapen.
In Oedipus Rex], we know that Oedipus has done all these heroic things because the Chorus tells us. In Cyberwoman we see the evidence of Ianto's heroic deeds in how he has smuggled Lisa and her life-support systems out of London into Cardiff and cared for her secretly all this time. Only a Hero could possibly pull off a task that monumental, and Ianto has risen to the challenge.
But something has gone wrong in Oedipus' beloved city. A terrible disaster threatens to destroy everything he loves. Plague stalks the land, the crops wither, the animals die, and the women have gone barren. It's the End of Days.
In Oedipus Rex this disaster falls on the entire city. In Cyberwoman it has fallen on Torchwood 1. The only one Ianto could save was his beloved Lisa, but he has saved her.
The people, who love and are loved by Oedipus, come to him for help. They make perfunctory offerings at the altars of the gods, then turn away from the Higher Authorities and turn to him. Even the High Priest of Zeus leaves his temple to beg Oedipus for help. They know he's not the equal of a god. In some ways he's better. A Higher Authority might tell them that what they want is impossible. But he's a Hero. It's a Hero's job to do the impossible, and Oedipus has never let them down.
"You (Ianto) always keeps your promises."
Ianto, er -- Oedipus is not so sanguine. He doesn't go to the Higher Authorities either, but he does call in a consultant. He puts his top investigator, his brother-in-law Creon, on the job. Creon's primary job is to find out how to fix the problem.
In Cyberwoman Creon's primary role is filled by Tanezaki. His secondary role (we'll get to that later) is filled by Jack.
Creon's been sent to consult an oracle. He comes back with the news and asks Oedipus if he could speak to him in private. Oedipus believes he has nothing to hide from the people, and asks Creon to deliver his report in front of everyone. Creon reports that the oracle says their troubles are brought about by an unsolved murder. The previous king had left the city one day walking to place X and was murdered before he arrived. No one has a clue who did it.
Oedipus demands to know why this murder has been left unsolved all these years. Creon points out that immediately after that the city came down with a bad case of Monster. Then there was the cleanup, the rebuilding, all Oedipus' own projects, et al, and nobody found the time to reopen the case. Oedipus wants it solved pronto. The damage was done before his time. But he's a Hero. He vows to do everything in his power to solve the problem. He's not going to let down the people who love him.
In Cyberwoman, the damage to Lisa was done before Ianto had a chance to save her. He found her like that. But he's a Hero. He vows to do everything in his power to solve the problem. He's not going to let down the woman who loves him.
Meanwhile the problem gets worse. More damage is done, more people die. What follows next is a murder investigation in Oedipus Rex and a base-under-seige story in Cyberwoman, but that's just a stylistic change to fit the different settings.
Oedipus curses those who have caused all this harm to his loved ones, just as Ianto curses those who have caused all this harm to Lisa and the others.
As conditions worsen Creon asks Oedipus to consult the seer Tiresias. Tiresias has always been a favorite of mine. He is probably literature's first bisexual. He lived and loved freely in both a man's body and a woman's body. While a woman he became pregnant and had children.
(Some people say he was a prostitute while he was Lady Tiresias. Other people figure it was none of their business.)
Because of his unique perspective he is considered the Ancient World's greatest expert on sex. Even the gods consult him on sexual matters, as well as other issues. He's a favorite of the gods and knows how dubious the honor is, as he's been struck down and brought back to life multiple times. Some people think the gods won't allow him to die because they value him too much. Along with his questionable immortality he's also been cursed by them with a physical affliction, blindness.
In his old age he's been gifted by the gods with knowing the future, but he finds no comfort in it. These days its his job to speak the hard truths no one wants to hear, and usually his only reward is curses. It's tough being the spokesperson for the Higher Authorities.
Guess who plays Tiresias in Cyberwoman?
Tiresias is summoned before Oedipus. He says he knows who did the crime but refuses to tell. Oedipus accuses him of being the criminal mastermind behind the murder. Tiresias accuses Oedipus of being the murderer. "In your ignorance, you conduct the vilest acts with those closest to you. Vile acts which you know nothing of and which you cannot see." Oedipus utterly does not want to hear it. He accuses Tiresias of being a monster and of being blind to the truth. He wants to know where Tiresias was when the city needed a seer to save them from the Sphinx Monster, and why it had to be him, a mere Hero, who saved the day.
Once you get past the murder investigation, I take it y'all remember Ianto and Jack having those same discussions?
Oedisius goads Tiresias further, questioning his motives, his authority, and the source of his mysterious knowledge. Tiresias shoots back that the whole problem comes from Oedipus loving the Wrong Woman.
In Oedipus Rex Jocasta is the Wrong Woman because she's really Oedipus' mother. In Cyberwoman Lisa is the Wrong Woman becasue she's been Cybernised.
Oedipus refuses to listen to Tiresias. They both stalk off. The Chorus declares their support for Oedipus based on the heroic deeds he has performed for them in the past.
Tiresias rattled Oedipus. Oedipus wildly accuses Creon of conspiring with Tiresias to murder the previous king, bring in the Sphinx Monster, and discredit him. Creon points out the holes in Oedipus' reasoning, but Oedipus isn't listening. Oedipus wants Creon executed for his crimes and for disloyalty. Creon wants to know if you can be disloyal to a lunatic request. Oedipus informs him you can when it comes from the king.
Jocasta enters. She and the Chorus try to get Oedipus to calm down. Oedipus can't calm down. He's begun to believe in his heart that Tiresias is right after all, and that's driving him crazy. He tells the Chorus, who's trying to get him to be reasonable, "Know this well, old man: that if this is what you really want then you must also want my destruction or my exile from this land."
In Cyberwoman when Ianto goes to Lisa after Owen stabs her, he knows by then that she is truly a monster. That's why he scrambles away from her when she opens her eyes. But he can't bring himself to admit it yet, and it drives him crazy.
Oedipus agrees to send Creon into exile instead of executing him. Creon accuses Oedipus of being Oedipus' own worst enemy.
Jocasta demands an explanation. Oedipus accuses Creon of using Tiresias to accuse Oedipus of murdering the previous king, Jocasta's first husband. Jocasta knocks holes in that theory. The old king was killed by theives at a three-way crossroads. Anyway he was fated by the gods to die at the hands of his and Jocasta's son whom the old king had ordered killed at birth, and no mere seer can undo the will of the gods.
Oedipus blanches. Run that bit about the three-way crossroads by him again? He asks Jocasta for the exact place, the exact day, the old king's height, age, and appearance. With each answer Jocasta gives him he grows paler. Oh gods, could Teresias be right? Is he the cursed murderer after all? He asks Jocasta one more question: how many men did her husband have with him?
Five, including one herald. The old king had ridden his carriage.
Oedipus asks who told her this?
The only survivor, an elderly servant of good character. When Oedipus freed the city from the Sphinx, he resigned on the spot and asked to be sent to live as far from the city as possible.
Could he be brought back ASAP?
Sure, but why?
Oedipus is terrified of the servant's story. But he's a Hero, he's got to know the truth. He can't live with a lie.
He tells his wife that he is the son of the king of Corinth. One day he overheard a servant say that he was really adopted. His parents denied it. He went to an oracle to find out the truth, and was told that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Disbelieving but horrified, he left town. He came upon a certain carriage at a certain spot, got into an arguement with the occupants, and killed them. Oh gods, could he really be the murderer of his beloved wife's first husband? Is he really the one responsible for all the death and devastation that has struck his loved ones? Is he truly the one he himself has cursed for all the pain they caused? He can't believe it, but what if it's true?
In Cyberwoman Ianto was a bit quieter when he came to the same realization, but you could see it going down.
But if it is true, what then? He can't go home again, not with the terrible prophecy waiting him there. Where will he go, what will he do? Maybe the old servant's story will clear things up. If the servant says a group of men fell upon the old king, Oedipus is safe. But if he says the old king and his men fell to a single man, Oedipus is doomed. He sends for the servant.
The people turn from Oedipus to pray at the altars of the gods. Maybe having a Hero is no guarantee of their safety. Maybe they need to call upon the Higher Authorities after all.
A herald from Corinth brings news of the death of Corinth's king. Oedipus is invited to return home and be king of Corinth. But if his father is dead of old age, then Oedipus has escaped the fate the oracles foretold. Ha! See? A Hero can change his fate and save the world by his own actions. Take that, gods!
But his mother is still alive. The part about marrying his mother still worries him.
The Corinthian herald asks what's the matter. Oedipus tells the prophecy. He explains that while he loves his parents dearly, he has stayed away all this years out of a Hero's desire not to cause them pain and misfortune.
The old herald laughs kindly. If that's the only problem, Oedipus should have come to him ages ago! Oedipus is adopted. The old herald found him as a baby when he was a hired shepherd. He brought the baby to the king and queen for adoption, and was rewarded with a place in their service. There was no reason for Oedipus to avoid Corinth all these years.
Oedipus interrogates the herald. The details of his story match those of Jocasta's story about the abandonment of her infant son. The herald tells Oedipus that the baby was given to him by another shepherd who worked for the old king of Corinth.
Is the other shepherd still alive? Yes, he's the same old servant Oedipus sent for earlier.
Abruptly, Jocasta tells her husband to call off the search immediately and pursue the matter no further. He insists. She begs. They argue, and Jocasta leaves in furious tears. Oedipus puts it down to shame at his own humble birth. In true Hero fashion, Oedipus declares himself the son of no one but Fate, and hasn't he always done well by none but his own work? The Chorus declares that he must be the son of a god or goddess. They eagerly await the shepherd's story to tell them which god has sired their Hero.
The old servant arrives. The Chorus and the Corinthian herald confirm his identity. Oedipus interrogates him thoroughly. The old servant is reluctant to talk, but slowly confirms all the details of Jocasta's and the Corinthian herald's stories.
Oedipus accepts the truth. He exits in horror and self-loathing.
The Chorus is in a state of shock. They can't take it all in. Oedipus screams offstage. A servant comes to tell them that Jocasta has hung herself in their bedroom. When Oedipus found her body, he cut it down and gouged out his own eyes.
Like I said before, in Cyberwoman the murder mystery part of the story was replaced by a base-under-seige story. Doubtless this had to do with time constraints, genre constraints, and the need to work the Cybermen into the story. Instead of the destruction caused by Hero loving the Wrong Woman being seperate from the Wrong Woman herself, in Cyberwoman the Wrong Woman becomes the Destroyer. Thematically it works, but I wonder how much more they could have done with a two-parter. Alas, no two-parters were allowed in the first season of Torchwood.
Creon takes command, Creon being played by Jack instead of the Japanese doctor in most of Cyberwoman. Oedipus begs Creon for exile, but Creon isn't making a move without consulting the gods first. Creon calls Oedipus' children on stage to say goodbye to their father, and promises to look after them as if they were his own children.
Sophocles' play ends before the gods' verdict has been announced, but other sources reveal what happened next. Teresias arrives with the verdict of the gods. Remember who plays Tiresias in Cyberwoman? Oedipus is to go into exile, but the gods will not allow any harm to fall on him for two reasons. First, because his actions were those of a Hero not a criminal, albeit not a very wise Hero, and that's a mitigating circumstance as far as gods are concerned. Second, because no punishment dreamed up by gods or men could equal the horror of fully understanding the pain, shame, death and destruction his own actions have caused.
Oedipus leaves in the care of his oldest daughter. No one else will lend a hand to help him.
In Cyberwoman Ianto's exile is internal, but for a long time he is equally shunned by all save for the occassional kindness of women.
Now both Oedipus and Tiresias share the same wound, blindness. They share the same fate, wandering. It's strongly hinted that Tiresias takes Oedipus under his wing and teaches him how to survive. Tiresias becomes Oedipus' role model, and Oedipus tries to become as much like the older man as he can.
Ianto and Jack anyone?
In the sequel, Oedipus at Colonnus Oedipus has become the caretaker of a sacred place outside the jurisdiction of the cities, where only the gods have any say in matters. He is trying to fill Tiresias' role as a teller of hard-won truths. Problem is while there's an air of mystery and glamor around Tiresias, everyone knows the sordid tale of how Oedipus came to know so much. No one respects him and no one listens to him, even when they should.
In Captain Jack Harkness Ianto tries to pass this hard won wisdom on to Owen, but of course Owen pays no more attention to Ianto than Ianto paid to Jack in Cyberwoman. After all, people are always telling the Hero the odds are impossible to beat. What Hero ever wants to listen? But because this is a story for grownups, there are consequences for not listening.
Are they going to go any further with the Theban Saga? We'll find out if Gwen gets buried alive in the second series. Oedipus' elder daughter Angitone is the voice of decency and morality in the plays. Is Gwen playing Antigone? Antigone becomes the caregiver of Oedipus until his bodily assension into Heaven, just as Gwen becomes the caregiver of Jack. Then she goes back home and tries to become the voice of morality for Creon, only Creon won't listen. She does the decent thing for her brother when Creon forbids it, putting her own OTP relationship with her fiance in jeapardy. Creon then buries her alive, only to have his own son, Antigone's fiance, commit suicide at the door of her tomb. Neither Creon nor Antigone can back down, and everyone pays for it.
And that doesn't include what preceeded her return home, where her brothers plunged the city into a civil war in Seven Against Thebes, the world's first version of The Magnificent Seven, before they both died in battle.
We'll see how far they go with it.
LOL And some people say RTD always steals from Joss Whedon.
ETA: Teaspoon is deleting their entire essay section in half an hour. Boo! I'm moving my reviews here:
Melengro2007.10.04 - 02:15PM1: Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysisSignedWow, now I feel like an idiot for never thinking of this myself! I definitely found the Jack/Tiresias parallel (and not even in Oedipus Rex, but in Bacchae), but the Ianto/Oedipus parallel never suggested itself to me. I thought that Ianto may have been Cadmus, but I didn't really see how Torchwood fit that part of the Theban Saga. Now I see that it doesn't have to fit that part. Well done.
Author's Response: Good Heavens, my language! Yay! I dearly hope they do more with Jack/Teresias. It fits him so much better than Jack/Jesus. But who would be Dionysis? His former lover, Captain John Hart (James Marsters)? Now that would be cool!
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rea_p2007.04.21 - 05:29AM1: Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysisSignedInteresting (in a good way). I'm not certain that the parallels are on Purpose, but as I tend toward Jungian ideas re: archtypes, I enjoyed reading your arguments.
Also, when we studied Oedipus in high school, they completely skipped the full character of Tireseas (sorry, can't spell). So I learned something new! Yay!
Author's Response: I figure those parallels are as on purpose as the Christian parallels in EoD. Heh. Tiresies is cool.
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anne3rose2007.04.21 - 01:20AM1: Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysisSignedI have to disagree. There are many dissimilar critical factors in Oedipus that are missing in Cyberwoman. You could as easily say that she's Helen of Troy, or Pandora's Box. It's an oversimplification.
Oedipus kills his own father in an argument, not knowing it's him, but other than that he does all the right things. He could not possibly know his new wife is his mother.
Contrast that with Ianto who knew the Cybermen were evil, knew his girlfriend was a danger, and failed to do the right thing.
One character is acting out of ignorance, the other out of full knowledge of the wrongness of his actions. I'm not seeing the similarity.
Author's Response: Ianto acted out of the honest belief that Lisa could be cured. Remember, Torchwood hadn't encountered Cyberman conversions before. His belief was born of ignorance and an excess of hope, but it was a genuine belief.
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ClocketPatch2007.04.21 - 01:16AM1: Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysisSignedThat was great, and I really disliked Cyberwoman - couldn't get past the metal bikini, but when you put it like that I can actually see the deeper themes. Now I might give it a re-watch. You also managed a far more understandable explaination of Oedipus than my grade 12 English teacher ever did. Thank you.
Author's Response: You're welcome. Re-watch and enjoy!
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rutsky2007.04.21 - 12:34AM1: Cyberwoman as Oedipus Rex, an analysisSignedI really enjoyed this, and for two reasons. Not only is your proposal *very* convincing, but separately, your presentation is lively. Really admirable!
Author's Response: Thank you!
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