How Does Creon Create Tension 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

Later in the play, Antigone was captured for being caught in the act of burying her brother and is now conversing with King Creon about her decision made to revolt. On page 783, Creon is surprised when he says, “…you dared defy the law,” to Antigone due to boasting her rebellious actions. In this demonstration, Antigone does not deny her guilt, but declares all of the information, provided by the guards, true. Antigone does not care for the consequences, which is death; she knew what she would create for herself when she chose to bury her brother. A second example of this is on page 784 when Antigone states, “There is no guilt in reverence for the dead.” By what Antigone said, she believes it should not be against the law to have reverence or lamentation towards the dead, especially if the deceased is part

We read that Creon has issued a law that if anyone buries the body of Polyneices they will be sentenced to death. Antigone plans to bury her brother regardless of the law set into place. She is going to try and do it in secrecy and to avoid detection. She asks her sister, Ismene, to join her in the burial, but she refuses. At this point in the play the you realize the fear setting in. Ismene believes

Her blatant disrespect and sarcasm toward Creon shows how she really feels toward him. Antigone does not respect Creon as the king of Thebes. This gets further proved when Antigone says, “It wasn’t Zeus, not in the least, who made this proclamation–not to me” (Sophocles Antigone, 499-500). This is a very telling moment for the reader, Antigone is saying she did not listen to Creon’s decree not only because she does not respect him, but also she will only listen to the gods rules. This moment tells Creon that Antigone will never respect him as a ruler. Antigone is very stubborn, and when she is very passionate she will speak her mind, “And if my present actions strike you as foolish, let's just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool” (Sophocles Antigone, 523-5). In these few lines she is talking to Creon about how she does not regret burying her brother. She tells Creon, the person who holds her fate in his hands, that he is a fool. Antigone’s hubris finally comes back to ruin her, “We took his orders, went and searched, and there in the deepest, dark recesses of the tomb we found her… hanged by the neck in a fine linen noose” (Sophocles Antigone, 1344-7). The ‘her’ the messenger is speaking of is Antigone. Antigone is so prideful and spiteful her last act on Earth was a smug reminder to Creon that if she was going to die it would be on her own terms, by her own hand. Antigone is one character that perfectly showcases how hubris can lead to ultimate demise.

“Tell me briefly—not in some lengthy speech— were you aware there was a proclamation forbidding what you did?” (503-505). The actions, context of Antigone’s words, and also the ideas she proposed, very indepthly contrasted with Creon’s character. Thus resulting in there being a verbal confrontation between the two characters. The conflict between the two caused conflicting motivations such as stubbornness, disrespect, and anger to be projected with Creon’s character. Ultimately, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by portraying that he knew, the decisions he made were of error, and the character interactions advance the plot by causing conflict throughout the play. Creon had also begun to change throughout the play,

This part of the play where Antigone has been caught in the act of burying the body furthers our plot and development into the play because we now have Creon face to face with the one who has gone against his own laws and now makes suspense and makes us wonder what will he do now with Antigone. And it now relieves the Guards character of a lot of grief because he now no longer has to worry about being punished for the body being buried and he mentions about how it made him happy to find her but also painful to bring evil on one’s friends but that is less concern to him because his own life is more important to

She does what she thinks. The relationship between Creon and Antigone in the play written by Sophocles was that they were uncle and niece to each other. They both had some similarities and some differences. The similarities that they shared would be that they both were stubborn with what they thought and would not change anything they would like. Their beliefs and values are almost the same. Creon believes that he should obey only the king’s law but not the God’s law in some cases. But Antigone thinks that God’s Law comes first then King’s Law. This might have been a flaw that might have not should happened. Antigone and Creon’s character and personality traits are almost the same, but with some differences.

It is important to discuss Antigone’s point of view on the situation when considering the rhetorical strength of her argument. She stands by the belief that her decision to bury her brother was the right one. Her morals and past experiences have shaped this point of view. Antigone has a strong foundation of family loyalty. This is evident in almost all of her actions, the most obvious being the illegal burial of her brother. Antigone also has lingering discontent towards Creon due to the fact that he took the thrown after her father’s death. These past experience may have shaped attitudes towards Creon beyond the simple unjustness of his law.

Creon decides to punish Antigone for her actions affecting the circumstances of the story. “I will carry her far away Out there in the wilderness, and lock her As the custom is, to absolve the State of her death. And there let her pray to the gods of hell” (Scene 3, Lines 632-636). This quote expresses that Creon is a leader willing to put the law above family affecting the circumstances of the story. Creon states that he is punishing Antigone because her needs to pay for her uncivil actions the country.

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.

Antigone has a possible flaw in that she is too stubborn and persistent to obey Creon’s order; “I know my duty, where true duty lies” (Antigone, 128). Her punishment then encourages feelings of pity from the audience because her deed was honorable and respectful towards her brother Polynices. The chorus supports this view by bidding her a respectful farewell when she is taken away, “But glory and praise go with you lady” (Antigone, 148). Antigone is also very proud, and this may have contributed to her death. Even when she is caught she remains strong and defends herself by claiming that the chorus thinks that her act was honorable, “All these would say that what I did was honorable” (Antigone, 139). This causes Creon to remain angry with Antigone, “you are wrong, none of my subjects think as you do” (Antigone, 140). If she had been more patient and less defensive, Creon may not have been as harsh in the punishment he set for her.

Throughout the play, whenever these two characters are interacting with each other, it is like fire coming in contact with gasoline. Readers are able to sense the tension between them. It is apparent that one of the main issues these two have with each other are differences in views. From the beginning, readers can tell that family plays a significant role in Antigone’s life. Antigone’s brother had been killed in a war and due to the side he was fighting on; he was considered a traitor towards Thebes. Because of this, Creon has made the act of burying his body illegally. Antigone tells her sister hat she wants to defy the laws of her homeland and give her brother the proper burial that she feels he deserves. She even states, “I’ll bury him myself. And

Creon meant to clarify to his son that anyone who commits a crime should be punished - even if the criminal is a member of one's family. Creon's doctrine says that once the state decides something, the law applies to everybody. Therefore, he sees no alternative other than to leave the body unburied for the state. Creon would do anything for the sake of the community whereas Antigone is devoted to her family. The situations mentioned above create tensions in the play because Antigone and Creon are bi-polar in their beliefs.

The main difference between Antigone and Creon is their different stances on law. Antigone values moral and religious laws while Creon, values the laws of the state. In Scene II, Antigone is asked why she broke the law to bury her brother. She says, “It was not God’s proclamation. That final justice that rules the world below makes no such laws… [the laws of God] are not merely now, they were and shall be operative forever beyond man utterly.” Antigone’s disregard

Antigone's sister reminds her she has no power in the law and if she is to be caught burying Polynieces she will be put to death. Being bull headed she does anyway. She was so stubborn that not even her only sister could stop her. After their argument Antigone even asks her sister if she wants to come with because Antigone thinks burying Polynieces is a respectable thing to do, she can not take a hint. And when she goes to defend herself in front of Creon she is so stubborn that she wants everyone to know that she has committed this crime for the gods and does not even defend herself but says she is guilty. This makes Creon even more mad because she knew exactly what she was doing.