Throughout the play, Antigone is presented as an audacious and unorthodox female character, whose actions
Throughout the play Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone does not have one main motivation, but rather a blend of many. As Antigone’s three most evident motives are doing the right thing, flouting Creon’s authority, and expressing her overall anger at life, the first and the last are most important. In this play, the combination of Antigone’s emotions toward her grave past and her obligation to her brother, regarding the gods, fuses together to be the incentive for her actions, regardless of Creon. Challenging Creon is almost a side effect, a medium through which Antigone can achieve her goals.
Despite Antigone being written in an ancient patriarchal society that viewed women as the weaker sex, the character of Antigone defies what would have been her role as a female. Instead of quietly submitting to Creon after he gives his decree about burying Polynices, Antigone states, “he has no right to keep me from my own” (49). Even after Ismene warns Antigone about the consequences and reminds her of her status as a woman, she buries Polynices. Throughout the play, Antigone doesn’t show “womanly” characteristics; she demonstrates stubbornness, cheekiness, and pride. Therefore, she talks back and scoffs at Ismene and Creon, a male to whom she should be respectful and reverential. Because of her single-mindedness, she inadvertently destroys her life and the lives of the people around her.
To start, Antigone was written by Sophocles to make the people question their faith in both their religion and their government. Putting a young woman in a position in which she had to choose between staying loyal to her country and staying loyal to the gods, Sophocles showed the men of Athens in their comfortable lives that there wasn’t always a simple solution to all of life’s problems. It is important to note that it was only the men of Athens that were shown because they were the only ones that were able to see this remarkable play because of its depiction of women, specifically through Antigone. In a way, if women had been able to see this play, being
Antigone's tragedy was a story that is unbearable, and horrific when it is fully understood in the sense of the magnitude of all of the factors that came together to form a fragile, problematic situation. The joint murder of her brothers that was committed against each other, they turned against each other, driven by the lust for power and control. An opinion about how and why the conflict began, is that megalomania was an overwhelming aspect of the provocateur. Creon’s choice between honoring one brother and leaving the other to decompose shamefully with no honor at all. The way these enabling events led to the formation of a partially self-detrimental plan by Antigone, who was appalled that a decision such as that could've even been considered, much less imposed. For her to deal with the turn of events in such a quick succession can be seen as cruel and unbearable, which is one of the aspects
The play Antigone by Sophocles is a play like no other. There are three major themes or ideas which have a very important role in the play. The first major theme is fate, on how the play comes about and the turn of events that come about throughout it. Another main theme or idea is the pride the characters have and their unwillingness they have to change their minds once they are set on something. The last major theme is loyalty and the practical problem of conduct involving which is a higher law between the divine laws and those of the humans. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon and Antigone's acts are justifiable or not. The issues that Antigone and Creon have between them
Antigone is one of the two central characters of the play, along with Creon. Like Creon, she too has a claim to being the tragic hero of Antigone. Her first qualifying aspect is being introduced as a good, upstanding person. She is kind-hearted and caring, especially for her family as she was willing to defy her uncle’s royal edict forbidding the burial of her fallen brother Polyneices. She is also a person of high-esteem and stature. As the daughter of the late King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta, as well as the current King Creon’s niece, Antigone is well known throughout Thebes. She is also slated to marry Haemon, Creon’s son. Thus, she is essentially seen as a princess and is adored by the Theban people. The next qualifying aspect is her relatability
The rumble that had ensued between Creon and Antigone was a lot like a political discussion between two presidential candidates. Neither one was wrong, but yet people were almost required to decide whose idea was better than the other. This meant that many people would have to think more clearly about whose idea is better because in the case of Antigone, the decision would also affect your life. The problem was that neither one was ready to back down from what they thought was correct. Also, if one was willing to be more open minded than the other, then Antigone wouldn’t have martyred herself for what she believed was right. The play, “Antigone” makes readers realize that when two good ideas collide, there can only be one truly better idea
If we assume that Antigone’s action is absolutely just, her strategy to execute justice still lacks insight. She isolates herself by rejecting Ismene’s companionship. Nor does she mention her fiancé Haemon in the play. Her
To begin, Antigone demonstrates her head-strong and determined behaviour throughout the play; through her actions and many dialogues, Antigone proves to be inflexible and unshakable at times. In addition, A World Enclosed outlines that the hero in the tragedy is not admirable or heroic at all, but rather, they have a destructive flaw to their character that sparks tragedy to unfold. By the same token, Antigone's determination and stubbornness, and arguably many more flaws, ignite tragedy in this story as well. This is demonstrated when Antigone is
The major themes in Antigone are arrogance, how much an individual would do for his country, and a human being’s conscious versus the law. Pride or arrogance and its consequences are all a vital part of Antigone. It was a trait loathed by the gods, who brought misery to
This story is marked by tragedy after tragedy; Antigone and Ismene are presented with a father, that dare to killed his father to married his own mother. Two brother that followed the similar example, and consequently killed each other to for throne to have power. We don’t know what age they were when her parents died, but by inference we can argue that they were young. Although, Antigone and Ismene experience some life-hard moments together, their view on certain situation are shaped differently throughout the play. Antigone, see the situation with her brother Polynieces as outrageous offense to her and her family values, especially after being an active member of leadership in the city of Thebes. Antigone, experiences had made her a stronger than other women, she doesn’t fear man, and is
The play entitled Antigone was written by a man named Sophocles, a scholarly author of philosophy and logic. The play Antigone is probably one of the most prominent interpretations of a tragic drama. The two main characters of the play are Antigone and Creon. There is much conflict between Antigone and Creon throughout the play, both of them having their own ideas and opinions regarding divine law versus human law. The theme that I am going to analyze is the conflict of divine law vs. human law. The reason for this is because this theme seems to control the whole play. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon's and Antigone's acts were justifiable.<br><br>The play Antigone can be summarized by the following: King Creon
Unlike most Greek tragedies, Antigone is not essentially about the opposing powers of good and evil. Instead, the play demonstrates the conflict between one’s duty towards their family and their country and social expectations. “Antigone presents a conflict between family loyalty and loyalty to the state, between demands of the state and the will of the individual” (MacKay, 166). The king