Examples Of Tragic Flaws In Antigone

Being that Antigone is the protagonist, her character is important in the play. She made the decision to bury her brother knowing that it was against Creon’s law. Ismene refused to help Antigone, which left her angry, yet still determined to bury her brother. She knew that burying her brother could lead to her own death, but she continued to show courage, strength, and determination throughout her role. In the beginning, Antigone says, “Dear god, shout it from the rooftops. I’ll hate you all the more for silence/ tell the world!”(17,100-101). This was said to Ismene, when they were discussing burial plans and Ismene was telling Antigone that she was against the plan. Antigone’s dialogue shows that she is not worried about being punished or worried about who knows what she has done. It is clear that Antigone is sincere about honoring the gods, her actions show that she feels that she is pleasing the gods and that is all that matters to her. “These laws/ I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods.”(30, 509-511). This demonstrates how she feels about man’s law vs. divine law. In the plot, there was not one time where Antigone denied

Antigone 's tragic flaw does not lead to her downfall, because of this Antigone does not meet the characteristic of reversal in fate otherwise known as a downfall. Creon’s pride is what causes Antigone 's death. For example when Teiresias tells Creon to let Antigone go and to give Polyneices a proper burial because the gods are upset he does not listen. Instead he says to Teiresias, "doddering fortune tellers...if your birds-if the great eagles of God himself- should carry him bit by bit to heaven, I would not yield"( 44- 47). Creon is insulting Teiresias, a respected prophet, and says that he wouldn 't do as Teiresias says even if the birds carried Polyneices body bit by bit to heaven. It is obvious that Creon is prideful because he has a high opinion of his superiority. This is shown when he refers to Teiresias, a highly respected prophet who has never been wrong, as

Tragic heroes have a fatal flaw that causes the hero’s own downfall. Antigone has a hamartia of being too passionate, but this fatal flaw is not the only factor that goes into her suffering throughout the play and it does not cause an accidental downfall of her character. The main reasons for her downfall are because of the laws that Creon put in place and her family background. If not entirely necessary in her eyes, Antigone would not have buried her brother and broken the law, but she broke the law to remain loyal and passionate to her family. Antigone believes that her brother deserves a proper burial with all rights included and expresses this belief to her sister Ismene: “He is my brother and –deny it as you will– your brother too.

Moreover, Antigone’s ability to follow her own beliefs results into the heroicness and tragic death of Antigone. Antigone is from a royal family and has the power to do what she believes in. She believes in following traditions and exercises that power when she says, “I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that the crime is holy: I shall lie down With him in death, and I shall be as dear To him as he to me” (694). Antigone follows her beliefs in following tradition and by doing what she feels is best. Antigone does this because she knows she is doing the right thing and knows that she will be repaid in some way. Furthermore, Antigone justifies her actions by telling the reasons that motivated her to do it to King Creon. She refuses to give in to the beliefs of King Creon and continues to think her own separate way. Antigone takes a stand to Creon when she says, “ Think Death less than a friend? This death of mine Is of no importance, but if I had left my brother Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. Now I do not. You smile at me. Ah Creon , Think me a fool, if you like, but it may well be That a fool convicts me of folly” (709). Antigone believes what she is doing is correct and proves that to Creon , but he is still not convinced. It is important for Antigone to do what she believes is so that she will be pleased and satisfied with the outcome. Antigone’s ability to pursue her goals and to what she wants

On the flip side of Creon, Antigone’s “flaw” that contributes to her fate is quite the opposite of Creon. She refuses to conform and is very stubborn. She believes that she knows stuff for herself and is confident in her decisions. She takes it so far as to if she does not see what she thinks needs to be done and things are not what she believes, then there is of point in living and she should just kill herself, that is her view. This flaw leads to her tragic fate because unlike everyone else, she is destined for a different life because she chooses to be stubborn and stand out for what she thinks is right. This alone is enough to change her fate from everyone else around her.

Antigone was also born into nobility, as she was the daughter of Oedipus, but Creon was still in a higher position than she was. As addressing his servants, “Unfortunately, as you know, his two sons, the princes Eteocles and Polyneices have killed each other in battle; and I, as the next in blood, have succeeded to the full power of the throne.” (Sophocles 1. 15-19) The quote provided expresses the exact nobility Creon is related to. Although Creon’s nobility made him a very greedy and ungenerous person, his character fits a part of the perfect definition of a tragic hero.

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

Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, defines a tragic figure as one who represents goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and a realization of their tragic flaw and inevitability. A tragic figure is normally someone of royalty, or importance, and also experiences a great devastation. A big flaw of a tragic hero is usually their pride. The figure will experience an ironic plot twist, where they realize things are not what they expected, and then are to face the reality of their fate. In, The Theban Plays, by Sophocles (translated by E. F. Watling), the characters Creon and Antigone represent tragic figures. In the play “Antigone,” Sophocles depicts the character Creon as a tragic hero. Creon portrays many characteristics of a tragic figure. His tragic story begins when makes the decision of becoming a hubris. A hubris is one who ignores the gods, and follows their own path. When Creon does this, his decisions greatly affect the fate of his loved ones; his son, wife and Antigone. Along with Creon, Antigone portrays a tragic hero in as well. Antigone’s tragic fate comes from her loyalty to her family and the gods. She chooses to stick to her own beliefs, rather than having obedience towards the king, and this was the cause of her downfall.

One of Creon’s tragic flaws is hubris. Creon's tragic flaw is his hubris which is exhibited in his refusal to listen to anyone's advice regarding the punishment he puts on Antigone. Creon's tragic flaw is best seen in his interaction

Antigone brings to stage these topics, and shows characters who either live according to them, and exit with a good life, and others who deny these, and end the play living in a bad life. Therefore the play shows through example, that Stoic values will lead to a positive way of living, and living against the values will lead to you not getting everything out of life. The two main characters in this tragedy are Creon, the king of Thebes, and uncle of the other character Antigone, the daughter of the last king of the same city Thebes. Creon does not live according to the values of

Antigone's strong beliefs eventually led her to her death by the hand of Creon. Never, though, did she stop defending what she thought was right. As Creon ordered her to her death, Antigone exclaimed, "I go, his prisoner, because I honored those things in which honor truly belongs" (Sophocles page #).  She is directly humiliating Creon by calling his opinions and decisions weak and unjust. She also emphasizes "his prisoner," which tells us that Creon's decision to capture Antigone was his own, and was not backed up by the majority of the people. She feels that Creon is abusing his power as king and dealing with her task to a personal level.

She chooses her own path to her death because she wants to prove a point that some things are worth dying for. Antigone is stubborn in this line when she is talking about her sister and it shows that she wants to die but not anyone else. She chooses to be the person who dies for what she believes in rather than Creon who is forced to do what is right for Thebes. This shows up again at the beginning of the play in lines 72-77, “…To me it’s fine to die performing such a deed…” (Blondell 22).

A tragic hero according to Aristotle is someone who is of high nobility, and has a major internal character flaw. That flaw will eventually by the characters ultimate demise which is most likely death. If their demise doesn’t end in a death the tragic hero usually goes through a catharsis. The most common flaws of a tragic hero are hubris, pride, and stubbornness. Tragic heroes can be found throughout most tragedy themed plays and they can help the audience relate or feel for the character has they go through there ups and downs throughout majority of the play. An example of play that has a definite tragic hero is the play Antigone by Sophocles. Antigone and Creon are both the main characters in this play but only one is the true tragic hero of this play. Creon perfectly fits majority of a tragic hero definition according to Aristotle. Antigone barely meets a few of the aspects of a tragic hero, which is why tragic hero of the play Antigone by Sophocles is Creon the King of Thebes.

A tragic hero is defined as a literary character who makes a judgement error that leads to their downfall (Cobb). Throughout history there have been many tragic heros, for instance Oedipus. Many tragic heros experience a reversal or a tragic ending. Tragic heros are an important part of literature because they help to show the moral or express themes of literature. Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero due to the fact he brings upon his own downfall and posses tragic flaws.

Antigone is often perceived as the tragic character as the play is named after her and she is the protagonist. She does possess some of the qualities of a tragic character, but not all of them. Her hamartia, or tragic flaw is her loyalty to her family which causes her to rebel against authority. But if you were to somehow ask Antigone if she would have been less loyal to her family if the result would have been different, I almost guarantee that she wouldn’t have changed a thing. Her change in fortune could be when Creon decides to put her to death because of her actions. This isn’t really a change in fortune because she knew this would happen if she buried her brother. I do not think Antigone ever went through the last stage of a tragic character. She never had a realization of her mistake that led to her downfall. She was fine with taking the consequences of her actions, and found no fault in her personality or decision. She might have ended the story with suicide, but there was not a moment that she regret making the decisions that she did. Because of this, I do not think Antigone is the tragic character in the play as one might argue.