Anna Arteaga
Mrs.Bausinger
English 2 PAP
07 December 2017
The Russian Antigone
Anna Akhmatova (June 23, 1889-March 5, 1966) was a renown Russian poet and prophet. Often credited for being the Russian Antigone, Akhmatova was unlike any of the other women of her time. “ Anna Akhmatova was the leader and heat and soul of Saint Petersburg tradition of Russian Poetry in the course of the first half of the twentieth century.”(New World Encyclopedia 1). Along with being a poet, Akhmatova also wrote prose, literary scholarships, memoirs, and autobiographical pieces. In her 77 years of living Anna Akhmatova accomplished so much she went down as one of the greatest Russian poets and an inspiration for women all over the world.
Anna Akhmatova,
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Akhmatova was the modern day feminist of her time ensuring that women had a voice in the face of a man who wanted to keep them quiet. Akhmatova’s writing was even banned from 1925-1940, but Stalin was so afraid to exile a women so popular that he didn’t dare attack her directly (Huck Gutman 1).
Akhmatova’s first collection of poetry was entitled, Evening. She published this work when Russia was already in the revolutionary era. Akhmatova was one of the few who never fled Russia during World War 1 and stayed and watched as those who left, lost their creative urges, and were misunderstood or ignored (Antigone 740). One of Akhmatova’s poems, I am not one of those who left the land, was inspired by this very thing. I am not one of those who left the land to the mercy of its enemies Their flattery leaves me cold, my songs are not for them to praise.
But I pity the exile’s lot. Like a felon, like a man half-dead. dark is your path, wanderer; wormwood infects your foreign bread.
But here, in the murk of conflagration, where scarcely a friend is left to know, we, the survivors, do not flinch from anything, not from a single blow.
Surely the reckoning will be made after the passing of this cloud. We are the people without tears, straighter than you... more proud… (Antigone 704)
Akhmatova also took on the role of Cassandra, because she was a tragic queen. Cassandra relates Anna Akhmatova to a prophetess of doom.
Mina Loy’s writing, “Feminist Manifesto”, is about feminism in the early 20th century. In this period, women were fighting for equality in their everyday life. Loy’s idea is that women should not try to be equal to man but to find a standard within themselves to live up to. This piece has modernism ideas as she is encouraging a change to society and women’s values. She repeatedly questions traditional values and beliefs about women’s roles in society. She was trying to make a historical change for all women in the 20th century. Loy says, “She abandons the suffragette movement’s central issue of equality and insists instead on an adversarial model of gender, claiming that women should not look to men for a standard of value but should find it
Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries Polyneices Creon sentences her to death because of it. In Antigone by Sophocles the tragic hero is not Antigone because she only meets the characteristic of a tragic flaw, hers being pride, but doesn 't meet the other three characteristics of a
Antigone, a Greek a tragedy, is the third of the Three Theban Plays by Sophocles. Throughout the play, readers are introduced to few, but intriguing characters, one being the protagonist of the play, Antigone. Antigone is the tragic hero of Antigone; she presents recognition of the gods, exemplifies good virtues, and possess a fatal flaw, or hamartia. A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat.
“They walked and talked of the strange light on the sea… talked of how sultry it was after a hot day” and discussed employment and birthplaces (897). After departing from Yalta, Chekhov details Gurov’s dreary life of “children [having] breakfast and getting ready for school… entertaining distinguished lawyers... walking his daughter to school” (901, 905).
Aleksandar Nikitenko was among one of the serfs who served in Russia during the early 1800s. He was born from Ukraininan parents in Voronezh Province. His parents, soon along with Aleksandar, were serfs of the immensely wealthy Sheremetev family. Nikitenko’s father was chosen at a very early age to go to Moscow to sing in Count Sheremetev’s choir. While there, he received an education that allowed him to pursue intellectual interests. Nikitenko looked up to his father and believed that having to be kept in bondage despite his knowledge was entirely unfair. Throughout his life, Nikitenko is accepted by intelligent teachers for being quite knowledgeable. However, he is time and time again held inferior because of his social status. His family, had it not been for serfdom, would have probably been a part of a provincial middle class because of their associations with nobles and merchants.
example of how life was in Russia by talking through the story and reflecting her experience
When beginning to categorize the social issue of feminism, it is a sensitive topic that must be inclusive of all genders. The modern term of ‘feminism’ is defined as giving both men and women the same rights and privileges as each other. Basic human rights would give others the notion that this is how all humans should have been treated from the beginning. However, this is far from the truth. Books like The Awakening, give us an inside look at how women were treated around 100 years ago. When Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening, she created a blueprint for how we see modern feminism. Without being obvious, Chopin showed how one woman started to liberate herself from an oppressive society.
Antigone, The Tragic Hero. Antigone was the daughter of King Oedipus of Thebes and Jocasta. Oedipus married a beautiful woman and had kids with her but little does he know, she married her own mother, Jacosta. Antigone was the daughter and the sister of Oedipus. A Tragic Hero is Responsible for his/her own fate, endowed with tragic flaw, doomed to make a serious mistake in judgment, they are born from a wealthy family, and they would die with honor. Antigone is the tragic hero because she falls into every criteria in Aristotle's definition in a clear fashion. Antigone hits all the characteristics required.
“Days of a Russian Noblewoman” is a translated memoir originally written by a Russian noblewoman named Anna Labzina. Anna’s memoir gives a unique perspective of the private life and gender roles of noble families in Russia. Anna sees the male and female gender as similar in nature, but not in morality and religiosity. She sees men as fundamentally different in morality and religiosity because of their capability to be freely dogmatic, outspoken, and libertine. Anna implies throughout her memoir that woman in this society have the capacity to shape and control their lives through exuding a modest, submissive, and virtuous behavior in times of torment. Through her marriage, Labzina discovers that her society is highly male centered.
Throughout history there have been many strong females, in real life and in works of literature. Sophocles, the author of the tragic play Antigone, also created two other plays that corresponded with Antigone. Between the three plays, Sophocles tells the story of King Laius and the fight against the Greek God Apollo. Antigone begins right after an event in which Polyneices and Eteocles, Antigone’s brothers, stabbed each other at the exact same time. Both died, but because Polyneices had betrayed King Creon and Thebes, everyone in the kingdom was forbidden to give him a proper burial. Through her efforts in attempting to give Polyneices a proper burial and her defiance of King Creon, Antigone represents the strong female heroine in the story
Sophocles introduces a female character in Antigone who is a strong believer and who demonstrates feminist logic. This is Antigone, as she rejects the traditional role of women. Antigone disobeys her king Creon, in various ways causing her to be portrayed as a feminist. For instance, Antigone struggles trying to secure a
Kate Chopin was a feminist in times when feminism itself only began capturing minds all over the world. She wrote a short story that can now be a hymn for this fashionable movement. She imagines a world without men, instead of openly blaming them for her unhappiness. This is a world of freedom, bright future, unclouded skies and open windows. And “she saw … a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (Chopin 2). This is certainly a point of view that was highly accused back then, but it can be accepted even with a bit of a humour nowadays.
Society has always idolized the rebel, the outcast, the person with the moral compass directed away from the norm, who, despite direct opposition from those in power, is ultimately proven to be right. Heroes aren’t strictly aligned with authority, they veer off in a direction more suited to what they believe is right. Not all in that position, however, have shown utter selflessness and true leadership, as demonstrated by the title character and ‘heroine’ of one of Sophocles’ most famous plays: the daughter of Oedipus, Antigone. Though her life had been a pathetic one due to her convoluted family history, her attempt at realizing her own beliefs resulted not in reform, but the deaths of two innocents, along with the loss of her own life.
In 19th century Russian literature there was often a gender inequality depicted between the male and female characters. Women were expected to get married, start a family, and obey their husbands. Women often made sacrifices and married men they weren’t fond of in order to support their families. Anton Chekhov’s writing questions these gender relationships. The female characters have a strong presence within Chekhov’s works, and they transcend typical gender roles.