Critical Lens Essay On The Relationship Between Antigone And Creon

Antigone said “ I admit I did it. I won’t deny it.”(500) She disobeyed Creon’s law not to give Polyneices a proper burial for being a traitor.

Antigone face a potential death of being stoned to death for going against her uncle's law, which has never been brought on any woman before. When Antigone buries her brother Polyneices, she jeopardizes her life because the law of Creon goes against the laws of the gods. Her motives for her disobeying actions are religious morals, genuine love, and caution for her country.

Until Creon follows the simple burial rites, numerous misfortunes, including the deaths of his loved ones, will occur as a result of his actions. One may think that Creon must challenge the Gods because Antigone challenges his laws; however, fear of the Gods and guilt motivate Antigone to defy Creon. Antigone’s defiance does not lead to the deaths of others because she defies an individual who did not follow the law, while Creon’s disobedience ends in violence.

This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be

A major theme of Antigone is the conflict between religious law and government law. King Creon’s first speech is dominated by words such as “law”, “policy”, and “decree,” which demonstrates his belief and commitment to government and law as the supreme authority. Whereas Antigone believes in religious law and adheres to the divine law of the gods. Antigone knows Creon has “no right to trample on God’s right” (Sophocles 221). She makes it known that no law surpasses the divine, inherent law of the gods by defying Creon’s orders and buries her deserted brother. “She performs the burial, or rather that symbolic and ceremonial act which is taken for it, because the gods demand it, and not so

This act led her to be declared a heroine by the people. While Creon is the idea that a person’s country interest should take preeminence, Antigone values and beliefs were that family comes first and that blood is always thicker than water. This belief persuaded her to bury her brother even if the king had outlawed it, and she states that “the king has no right to keep me from my own” (Sophocles). Even though, she understood the consequences of her disobedience, she didn’t try to hide her treason act. She admits publicly before Creon that she would choose death but bury her brother than live knowing that her brother is rotting on the battlefield. In her disobedience speech, she eloquently tries to make her king understand how unjust the laws are rather than pleaded her case. There evident force and confidence in her words, which she punctuates well and offers examples together with accusations. Furthermore, her lines are emotional and full of sarcasm and contempt towards the king and his unjust laws, which gives her speech a bitter edge. In burying her brother, Antigone shows obedience to the gods rather than the king even if it was illegal to do so. To prove her allegiance, she states that, “Look at me, you noble sons of Thebes, -the last great line kings, I alone, see what I suffer now at the hands of breed of men- all reverence, my reverence for the gods" (Sophocles). Through this quote, Antigone shows that she feared the

Creon is a typical tyrant - angry, controlling, and paranoid. He considers the sisters to be ‘terrorists’ and ‘neurotic lunatics’. Antigone’s appeal to ‘common human decency’ and ‘ancient truths’ as the justification for acting burial rites for her dead brother in resistance of Creon’s decree is faveolated against his ‘arrogance’ that is just masquerading as ‘patriotism’ and ‘civic duty’. When brought before her uncle, she tells him that ‘it’s your law, not the law of god.

It becomes clear that Antigone’s strong sense of right and wrong is defined by the “unwritten and unshakable” laws of the gods’ (454-455), almost more than her love or concern for the fate of her brother. Her outrage, while justified, is laden with concerns for her own soul, as she states that she “was not going to pay the gods’ just penalty for

Antigone feels that the law of the gods should be obeyed especially with family. In the conflict in this play, Creon orders that Polyneices will not be buried because of his betrayal towards Thebes and attacking the Thebes people. Thus, if anyone gets caught burying him, they will be killed for disobeying his orders. However, Antigone believes she has to show respect and love towards her brother and must give him a proper burial. This burial is not only for her brother, but also to honor her mother and father. She refused to back down even though Ismene has told her she would be

Though the choices that Antigone and Creon face in Sophocles’ Antigone differ, their decisions often end up pitted against the other’s, inviting comparison. Since the characters’ degrees of rightness are being juxtaposed, I believe that the rightness of the reasoning behind their stances, not just the stances themselves, should be examined. The entirety of the argument, not just the conclusion should be considered. Furthermore, I am interpreting right to be a synthesis of its two definitions: correct and morally just. This also incorporates scale into my argument, instead of the black and white lens of correct or incorrect.

Her insistence on her situation turned her into a male-mind woman, and she had not merely refused the law, but also she had tried covering the body of his brother, “No, he has no right to keep me from my own” (Antigone 61). However, “Ismene” advised her sister not to defy the laws of throne, “Remember we are women, we're not born to contend with men … so we must submit in this, and things still worse” (Antigone 62). Moreover, Antigone had a little more freedom to defend her situation: it is a divine law from Gods that the dead must be buried and it cannot be violated, but “Creon’s” sexism led him to respond adversely towards “Antigone’s” rebellion: he entombed her alive in order that she would come to death, regarding her as an example of law violation penalty; furthermore, the spirit and desire, stemmed from “Antigone”, proves that extremes, associated with women’s behaviors, coexisted with powerful personality, which is aiming at freedom and equality amongst other individuals in the

“Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.” - Stephen King (brainyquotes.com). In Sophocles’ Antigone as well as Anouilh’s version of the play duty versus personal motives is a very significant theme that heavily contributes to the outcome of the character’s actions. The two protagonists, in both plays, Creon and Antigone are aware of the negative consequences of their actions. Creon and Antigone both believe that they are correct within their arguments, regardless of their knowledge of the repercussions. Looking at Creon and Antigone’s actions in both Sophocles’ and Anouilh’s versions of the play, they prove that duty to the law is much more important than anything else. Making decisions

Antigone is placed in a tough situation when her uncle, creates a law that bans the burial of traitors of the state, which is directed towards her brother Polyneices. Antigone, trying to demonstrate her disapproval of the law, decides to bury her brother and tries to convince Ismene, her sister, to help her honor their brother by explaining that “He (Polyneices) is [her] brother and [Creon] has no right to keep her from [burying her brother]” (Antigone 55-59). Shocked that she would break the law, Ismene wonders why “[Antigone would] bury him...when a law forbids the city?” (Antigone 52-53) and reminds her that she “must obey the ones in power” (Antigone 79-80). Antigone justifies defying the law by stating that “even if [she] dies in the act, the death will be a glory” (Antigone 86). Here, Antigone displays nobility when she attempts to give praise to a loved one, despite the fact that her actions will get her in trouble. She believes that it is important to revere all members of her family and isn’t willing to let an unjust law intrude on

Antigone was set on burying her brother, but for Ismene, even though Polyneices was her blood brother, she still could not step outside her womanly role proclaiming, “Since force constrains me,/ that I shall yield in this to the authorities./ Extravagant action is not sensible” (76-78). Her fear of men kept her from giving her own family member a burial and leaving her only living relative out to dry as she ventured to what would be the start to her own death. When trying her best to tell her sister not to go she mentions, “I will not put dishonor on them, but/ to act in defiance of the citizenry,/ my nature does not give me means for that” (90-93). Not only did she not want to make strife with men, but also go against her city. Greeks were very much loyal to their individual city states, and everyone worked together to preserve their individual rights within that city state. Ismene knew that Antigone and her were no longer the royal family, and to keep both them safe they must obey the city. Their own brother went against the city, and he, now, laid naked in the sun for the birds to pick at. Ismene, finally, comes to her senses no longer acting in silence, but questioning Creon, “Will you kill your son’s wife to be?” (623). This was her last attempt at saving her sister’s life, yet it was too late Creon’s mind was made up. Her fear was in the right place, but it held her back from

Angered by this, Antigone speaks to her sister, telling her of her plans to bury their brother, regardless of the consequences. Ismene is against Antigone, and tries in vein to convince her not to throw away her life, despite also loving their brother. Antigone however, has already made up her mind, and finds Ismene’s cowardice disgraceful.