Analysis Of Shakespeare 's ' The ' Antigone ' Essay

In the play Antigone by Sophocles Creon is the king of Thebes. In this piece Creon becomes overwhelmed with the power given to him as king. The result is Creon turning into a corrupt king. He orders laws that must be followed with consequences of death. He uses the body of his nephew, Polyneices, as a way of frightening the people into submission. And finally Creon walls up his niece, Antigone, to die because she disobeyed him. Such actions can not be justified and ultimately makes Creon a bad ruler.

Machiavelli’s The Prince serves as a guidebook for a lasting principality that centers around the ideas of public perception, cruel disposition, and the relationship between virtu and fortuna. Creon, the leader of Thebes in Sophocles’ Antigone, demonstrates harsh character towards his people and a willingness to make hard decisions for the benefit of his state., Creon displays good conduct as a prince because of his relationship with the people of Thebes and the actions he takes to defend his political agenda.

In the play Antigone, Creon starts off as the loyal king of Thebes. He is loyal to the gods and loyal to the welfare of Thebes. However, over the course of the play, Creon degenerates into a tyrant. His degeneration is showing his character development. Creon’s pride about the human law also develops throughout the play, creating conflict with the divine law. When Antigone rebels against his law, he becomes stubborn, and makes myopic decisions and grows into his hamartia. Besides his hamartia, Creon’s position as the king makes him a power hungry man. His power madness degenerates him into becoming a ruthless and vindictive man, even to his family. However, over the course of the play, Creon begins to see that because of the laws of men, he was being blinded of what’s

and set of values. She dies with pride and no regret for she died because she acted doing what

In the Greek tragedy Antigone, the characters Antigone and Creon can both be thought of as the tragic hero of the play. Though Antigone does show some of these characteristics of a tragic hero, Creon demonstrates the attributes more clearly and concisely. Creon is the King of Thebes, as well as the uncle of Antigone. Creon took the throne after a tragic quarrel between his two nephews, Eteocles and Polyneices. Despite his harsh governing and his crude ideals, he is not good or bad. Creon is the tragic hero of the play Antigone, because of his superiority in his society, his nobility, and his tragic flaw, self-pride.

Even though Antigone exhibits a blamable pride and a hunger for glory, her disobedience is less serious than those of Creon. It is evident that Antigone’s actions are driven by a love for her brother, and a desire to please the gods. While Creon’s actions are

The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.

Sophocles’ Antigone is a Greek tragedy that transcends 5th century BC Greece due to its complex analysis of justice and integrity. In the case of Antigone and Creon, it is not clear who in the end is suffering from injustice. In Creon’s defense, Antigone is the one committing unjust acts according to Theban law. As the king of Thebes, it

A stubborn man may rule the land, but what's in the hearts of his people will shift what's in his beloved’s hands. King Creon’s ego will be overturned when his family’s lives begin to diminish all for his own selfishness when justifying laws. As seen in Antigone by Sophocles, King Creon is a tragic figure that through his own stubbornness and pride, he promotes the suffering of not only his son, Haemon, but as well as Antigone herself, which shapes Creon’s character development and will function as a platform for the play’s tragedy to unveil . A tragedy is more than deaths and suffering, it's at the moment where one realizes that everything they've done has further doomed themselves.

Although the play Antigone was written by Sophocles in ancient Greece, and can be related to essays such as the Remarks at Michigan State published in May 1995. During that, time the world trade center was bombed along with other violent acts across the world with troubles in government leading to security, political changes and social as well. In the play Antigone, the people go through a similar situation where the people are faced with a daunting issue of the main characters judicial trial; which in turn also caused the public to become oppressed by their government, and forced to fall back on their moral beliefs to decide what to make of the situation. That is why the public standing up to problematic government leads to the start of a leader moving beyond their fixed view of the law to progress because of the inability to recognize the public’s standards.

In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, the king Creon, Antigone’s uncle/great uncle would be labeled as a bad king by the time the end of the book came. Throughout the book you slowly start to realize that he is not the greatest king for Thebes. He is stubborn, he is paranoid, and he is selfish and power hungry, and when being a king these qualities are not the best to have.

The author, LA MacKay through this article has provided a comprehensive insight into the themes of revolt and conflict illustrated through the characters and sentiments of the play, Antigone and therefore proves to be a valuable resource for the study of the same. The article has been published by the Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association and the author has composed various analytical essays, particularly on the subject of Creon and Antigone which

Hubris may be categorized as two things. As a part of the Greek theater hubris qualifies as being “the intentional use of violence to humiliate or degrade (Luebering).” However, a more modern qualification defines hubris as “exaggerated pride or self-confidence (Hubris).” Throughout Antigone both of these different characterizations of the word hubris can be found in specific events and characters. Being a Greek tragedy, it is evident that the concept of hubris plays a very important role in the development of characters and provides the reasoning for why each person does what they do. Much of the drama in this play is born from either excessive pride or from the unnecessary violence against sacred rituals or those who perform them. However, it is also possible to notice characters who fall outside of this hubris and rather choose to fight against it. By going against this traditional Greek dramatic element these characters highlight the injustices that are being displayed by those they are going against. Overall, the impact that hubris has had on this tragedy and on the culture as whole affects how each of the characters either use hubris to advance both themselves and their goals, or choose to fight against it for the good of those around them.

Creon complies with Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero by possessing high status in his society and being neither all benign nor all evil. He fulfills the first of these requirements by being the king of Thebes. After his nephews Eteocles and Polyneices,

Hubris, excessive self pride, becomes unavoidable and tragic when the state is put above a person's familial beliefs. In the tragedy, Antigone, Sophocles conveys Creon, the King of Thebes, as a man obsessed with the law and puts the state’s needs above his own family’s. Antigone, his rebellious niece, wants to uphold her duties and honor her family name by burying her “traitor” brother, who was not giving a proper burial. Creon forbids this burial, but Antigone ignores the law and buries her brother anyways. Creon becomes so obsessed with the law that he decides to bury Antigone alive, which displeases his family. Sophocles depicts Creon and Antigone as opposites to demonstrate the importance of family. While Creon puts the state above his own family, Antigone believes she must stay loyal to her familial demands. In contrast, Creon falls because of hubris, but Antigone’s spirit lives on because of the pride she has for her family.