Extra Credit: "The Buried Child"

            The themes and motifs in the play “Buried Child” is related to that of fairy tales. The main theme that was presented in the play was the oedipal complex. The term “Oedipus complex” signifies the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, through dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a child's desire to have sexual relations with the parent of the opposite sex.

            In the play, the mother and son have an incest relationship. This is an element of the plot that relates to the oedipal complex that is also displayed in fairy tales.  The son of Laius is Oedipus, who then becomes intimate with his mother, as does Tilden with his mother Halie.

            For example, in the most recent the fairy tale I have analyzed, “Snow White” is also related to the myth of Oedipus and the oedipal complex. Snow White’s stepmother raises her after her father’s death. The evil stepmother/queen was very vain and jealous of Snow White. The queen’s mirror said Snow White was fairest of all and so because of that, the queen ordered her to be killed. This can be compared to the life of Oedipus: Laius believed his unborn son, Oedipus, was going to kill him and then become king. Laius’s jealously forced him to have a royal servant kill his baby. The huntsman in “Snow White” is sent to kill Snow White but he could not kill such a "beautiful creature." As a result, he abandoned her in the forest. As the story goes on, Snow White finds a home and lived with seven dwarfs. "Despite her stepmother’s jealousy, Snow White not only survives but finds great happiness." The servant that was sent to kill Oedipus but he could not commit such a tragedy. He chose to leave Oedipus at a home in the forest. In spite of the king’s attempts to kill his son, Oedipus still gains the crown and becomes king in the end, resulting in great happiness.

            To wrap things up, the play “Buried Child” is related to fairy tales because the oedipal conflicts that is shown. Each fairy tale is different, however in some way; a child has a desire to want the affection and attention of the other gender parent. Just like that of Tilden and his mother.