Ismene In Antigone

At the end of their fight, the decision is made; Antigone will bury Polynices. Ismene’s disapproving attitude does not sit well with Antigone. “Oh, I shall hate you if you talk like that! And he will hate you, rightly. Leave me alone with my own madness. There is no punishment that can rob me of my honorable death.” (508) Ismene proved not to take after her sister’s hot-headed attitude when she replied to Antigone. “Go then, if you are determined, to your folly. But remember that those who love you… love you still.” (508) Ismene’s patience is more honorable in the face of Antigone’s angers and

Antigone’s disregard of the law displays her nonconformity. She is stubborn about her decision to bury Polyneices. When Ismene

The relationship between Antigone and Ismene is close because they are both sisters but at the same time their relationship isn’t that strong. One of reasons they are foils to each other is because of their disagreement about burying the body of their brother Polyneices. Antigone already knows that she is willing to die to let her brother rest in peace but Ismene on the other isn’t on her side, instead she doesn’t want to help Antigone because she want to face the consequences that come with burying Polyneices. Antigone and Ismene are foils to each other because on one hand Antigone is willing to defy the orders of the king who has power over her, while her

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

Furthermore, Antigone condemns Ismene for not participating alongside her in the burial of their brother by exclaiming, “Are you true to your birth? Or a coward?” (Ant. 38). Antigone makes it evident that she regards her own actions to be brave, and her

She was committed to honoring her family and that is why she felt Polyneices deserved proper burial rites along with Eteocles. She took the idea to bury him to Ismene. Since it was against the law, she did not agree. Antigone responds to her by saying “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love” (65). She argues that Creon is not enough to stand in her way (35) and Polyneices has the right to be buried being that he fought as bravely as Eteocles. So, Antigone took it upon herself to bury Polyneices. A sentry brings the news to Creon and soon Antigone follows. When taken to Creon, she fights that he is disobeying the laws of heaven. She argues, “Your edict, King, was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God" (360-363). She stressed to Creon that even though he holds a powerful position of authority, divine law will always come before civil law. Along with her upholding of the laws of heaven, Antigone expresses how her love for a brother is stronger than any other. She gives one last plea: she would not have defied Creon if the unburied body were her husband’s or her child’s. Both of those could be replaced, but a sibling whose parents are dead is suitable to accept such punishment. She would rather die with honor than live with the guilt of her brother’s soul left to wander the earth. With Polyneices left unburied, she feels she would have

Antigone is talking to Ismene and telling her all she has heard about the injustice that she has heard that Creon has created. She is very frustrated and wants only to bury her brother so he may have a peaceful afterlife and not go to the underworld or be stuck in purgatory. Creon’s edict stating Polynices cannot be buried under any circumstances is harsh because Creon most likely would have revolted against his brother if he was banish from Thebes just so he wouldn’t have to share the throne. After Antigone gathers up

If you will not, I will; I shall not prove disloyal.” (A. 2). All along, Antigone very well understood that if she opposed the rules of Creon, she would most definitely be killed yet she was determined enough to bury Polyneicies’s body.

Many believe that the divine word holds more power than man, Antigone is one of these people and hold the divines laws higher than man's laws. On the other hand, Creon believes that holding power is the way of life and tries to uphold his laws over the deity laws. Creon does this when the brothers Polyneices and Eteocles kill each other and Polyneices is designated as a traitor. Creon decides to prohibit the people from burying Polyneices properly and follow the god's law to prevent more rebellions. Antigone on the other hand believes that a Creon's law holds no power over her from giving a proper burial. As Antigone is talking to Ismene she states "No one shall say I failed him! I will bury my brother -- and yours too, if you will not"( Sophocles ). This statement shows

(1.85-87). She goes and gives Polyneices a somewhat proper burial, but she gets caught. When Creon finds out it was Antigone that had buried Polyneices. “And yet you dared defy the law.” (2.56).

Antigone believes that females have just as much power to defy the state as men do. When she talks to Ismene about providing a burial for Polyneices, Ismene says she is afraid of what Creon will do to them because they would be women defying him. Antigone resents this notion and disowns Ismene for not

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone, one of two daughters of Oedipus, is stubborn and selfish. Antigone stops caring about her sister, Ismene, when her sister did not help her with burying Polynices. These traits of stubbornness and selfishness are most prominent at the beginning of the play when Antigone asks her sister to help her bury one of her brothers, Polynices. Ismene rejects the request and tries to convince Antigone to stop. Antigone continues to want to commit the crime, so Ismene says that she will keep it a secret from the others.

Antigone is the so called protagonist of this play, though her actions are viewed, to some, as being morally in the right place, and being an act of selflessness, even despite the word of the law of Thebes. However, some could call her motives a bit extreme as well, seeing as she’d defy a law that could result in her death if caught, all for the love of her dear brother, and even call

In contrary Ismene is docile and someone who follow the laws at all costs. She said, “we are women” stating a woman’s position in society and obligated to obey by the law. She doesn’t agree with her sister Antigone, since is prohibiting for women to have a voice during those times. Ismene believe that women should never violate the laws of man who were guide by the gods. Antigone will carry out the forbidden burial alone, nevertheless she seeks futilely the complicity of her sister Ismene. Ismene without endorsing the established power by King Creon, discreetly folds to it, became a passive collaborator of the system implemented by him.

The human struggle to defy what is intrinsically wrong but established as permissible is openly apparent in the initial scenes of the play – strong-willed and brave-hearted Antigone reveals her plan to unlawfully bury her brother, only to be rejected and dismantled by cautious and law-abiding Ismene. Although Ismene is saddened by her brother's fate, nomos renders her helpless; social constructs have influenced her belief that their standings as women and individual citizens are no match for state law. Consequently, she is appalled that Antigone would even think of defying Creon, believing their brother's fate is out of their hands. She even warns her sister, "tis witless to be over busy."1 Her chance to rightfully bury Polyneices, and more importantly, to realize her innate responsibility to her kin, is temporarily barred by human-allotted law and practice.