Alice Paul Antigone Analysis

As the tragedy concludes, the chorus issues its final words: "Pray for no more at all. For what is destined for us, men mortal, there is no escape," demonstrating how justice remains impartial to the prejudice of men; those who make imprudent judgments will ultimately suffer from the consequences of their actions. In Sophocles' Antigone, these prejudices notably surface in the form of paternalism as demonstrated through Creon's government, highlighting the importance of gender roles throughout the play. Therefore, analyzing the motif of gender roles and its effect on the definition of justice through the perspectives of Ismene, Antigone, and Creon enables the audience to understand how Sophocles' macroscopic analogy to humanity's

To begin with, the play Antigone has come to be a great representation of anti-feminism showing just how poorly woman in that time were looked down upon. While it creates the mood of how woman were mistreated, it also sheds a light on the choice a woman

Gender and its roles are exposed in the story of Antigone as the central themes. Roles and rules are set and followed by several people in this era, this is appreciated in this text. Ideas of contradiction to these rules were not explored. In Greek mythology, several women held positions of power, but none of these women were human, making the idea of a powerful woman godlike and unattainable, as if to keep woman in their place, which of course, was always under the rule of the superior gender, the male. To challenge a patriarchy with feminism was dangerous, for both sexes were equally protective of it, leaving the challenger desolate in the battle against it. To rely on women to help other women rebel against this social norm was not probable, in the contrary, women held each other accountable for complying to these rules and punished those who didn’t. Women were their gender’s prevalent critics and suppressors, not only because they feared the repercussions, but since they didn’t have the means to rebel against it.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, gender roles are a major conflicting theme throughout the entire play. The setting of the play was written during the Greek mythological days, around 442 B.C. During these days, men were dominant and held all of the power, so women were automatically treated as less. Antigone and Creon portray the conflicting sides between male and female, and Ismene and Haemon portray opposing sides to Antigone and Creon’s actions. Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haemon each show differences in behavior due to their sex versus the actions each character chooses to take. Antigone tells Ismene about her plans to bury their brother, Polynices, which is going against Creon’s orders. Antigone and Ismene, have contrasting perspectives on

The texts Antigone, by Sophocles and The Chosen by Chaim Potok, have similar themes. Antigone, is about a king named Creon who bans his nephew from being buried, but his sister, Antigone, buries him anyways. The Chosen, is about two boys named Danny and Reuven who become best friends despite their cultural differences. A similar theme in both of these texts is that too much pride can result in losing everything people love.

Throughout the play, Antigone is presented as an audacious and unorthodox female character, whose actions

boldness, bravery and , unyielding morals are all extremely important to her role in the play.

In the Greek play Antigone writer Sophocles illustrates the clash between the story’s main character Antigone and her powerful uncle, Creon. King Creon of Thebes is an ignorant and oppressive ruler. In the text, there is a prevailing theme of rules and order in which Antigone’s standards of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as the king. Antigone was not wrong in disobeying Creon, because he was evil and tyrannical. The authors of “Antigone: Kinship, Justice, and the Polis,” and “Assumptions and the Creation of Meaning: Reading Sophocles’ Antigone.” agree with the notion that Antigone performs the role of woman and warrior at once. She does not only what a kinswoman would, but also what a warrior would do.

To start, Antigone was written by Sophocles to make the people question their faith in both their religion and their government. Putting a young woman in a position in which she had to choose between staying loyal to her country and staying loyal to the gods, Sophocles showed the men of Athens in their comfortable lives that there wasn’t always a simple solution to all of life’s problems. It is important to note that it was only the men of Athens that were shown because they were the only ones that were able to see this remarkable play because of its depiction of women, specifically through Antigone. In a way, if women had been able to see this play, being

In the tragedy of Antigone, by Sophocles, many themes are presented. The themes of civil disobedience and the role of women are heavily presented. The theme of civil disobedience is the refusal to believe in or follow certain rules set by the leaders. In Antigone, Antigone defies the rules and chooses to not follow them. The theme of the role of women is the role that women are supposed to follow. Although, Antigone yet again defies the traditional women role. These two themes mainly relate to the main characters of the story such as Antigone, Creon, Haemon, and Ismene.

Throughout many pays and novels, women have had important roles of helping form the main characters, in the way they think, move or change the story. Women have always been subordinate to men all through history, but in plays, novels, short stories, etc, they have been given large enforcing roles, showing the power within women. William Shakespeare and Sophocles use guilt, pride, and influence to demonstrate the importance of the women’s role to support the main characters in both the plays of Macbeth and Antigone.

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

The theme of Antigone is still relevant in today's society, for issues in democracy, religion, and protest still arise today. Antigone believed Creon was overstepping his bounds as the King by preventing her freedom as a citizen to bury Polynices in accordance with religion, and protested against him, just as similar conflicts arise around the world today. Sexism is another relevant topic found in Antigone which is an issue today. Throughout the play, it is inferred that women are inferior to men. Ismene says, "We must remember we are women, and women are not meant to fight with men. Our rulers are stronger than ourselves…" In another scene, Creon says "No woman shall rule me while I'm alive." The idea that women are a lower class than men, is a conflict that is prominent throughout all world history in many societies. It is still relatable in essence, despite being written 2,500 years ago.

Sophocles’, The Theban Plays, takes place during the intellectual experiments in the Age of Enlightenment in Greece. The Theban Plays is dramatic literature consisting of a trilogy of plays: Oedipus the King, Oedipus of Colonus and Antigone. Oedipus the King and Oedipus of Colonus were written in a very male-focused manner. Throughout these plays, Sophocles’ main characters and main plots are written around Oedipus, Creon, Polynices, Tiresias, Theseus and very few spotlight is given to the female figures such as Jocasta, Antigone, Ismene, and Euridice. After Oedipus the King and Oedipus Colonus, Antigone comes into play in a protagonist role. Sophocles’ play, Antigone, represents a never before seen type of ‘woman power;’ or what in today’s era can be referred to as feminism—“the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (Merriem Webster). Antigone’s characteristics are symbolic of feminism—she is a woman who goes against the male dominated government, a woman who is strong and courageous, but even more so a woman who is willing to sacrifice her life to fight for what she believes in.

Society today, as many other societies before, often permits itself to trivialize the roles of women than those of men. Beginning with the story of Eve, who carried eternal blame for the downfall of humanity, and continuing to be manifested in prominent women of current times, the male gender seems to frequently triumph over its counterpart. This trend is refuted, however, by two distinctive women from Sophocles’ Antigone and Harold Brighouse’s play Hobson’s Choice. Although these works occur in separate time periods and in different societies, the struggles that both women encounter are similar. By being self-sufficient and rejecting self-preservation, Antigone and Maggie epitomize the attributes that women in a male dominated society should uphold in order to attain the good life.