The Feminist Movement In SophoclesAntigone

Throughout history, scholars, poets, and socialites cite and argue multiple aspects within Sophocles’ plays, which all contain a deluge of sentiments that permeate global society and culture. Riddled with disparate interpretations and theories, Antigone sparks acrimonious debate regarding a plethora of its details, such as characterization, theme, and undertone. Antigone, written by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, recounts the events of Oedipus’ daughter, Antigone, following her brothers’ deaths. Sophocles manipulates Antigone’s character to model the loyal, dutiful individual the Greeks idolized in their religion and culture rather than formulating a realistic character who serves herself.

As the tragedy concludes, the chorus issues its final words: "Pray for no more at all. For what is destined for us, men mortal, there is no escape," demonstrating how justice remains impartial to the prejudice of men; those who make imprudent judgments will ultimately suffer from the consequences of their actions. In Sophocles' Antigone, these prejudices notably surface in the form of paternalism as demonstrated through Creon's government, highlighting the importance of gender roles throughout the play. Therefore, analyzing the motif of gender roles and its effect on the definition of justice through the perspectives of Ismene, Antigone, and Creon enables the audience to understand how Sophocles' macroscopic analogy to humanity's

Gender and its roles are exposed in the story of Antigone as the central themes. Roles and rules are set and followed by several people in this era, this is appreciated in this text. Ideas of contradiction to these rules were not explored. In Greek mythology, several women held positions of power, but none of these women were human, making the idea of a powerful woman godlike and unattainable, as if to keep woman in their place, which of course, was always under the rule of the superior gender, the male. To challenge a patriarchy with feminism was dangerous, for both sexes were equally protective of it, leaving the challenger desolate in the battle against it. To rely on women to help other women rebel against this social norm was not probable, in the contrary, women held each other accountable for complying to these rules and punished those who didn’t. Women were their gender’s prevalent critics and suppressors, not only because they feared the repercussions, but since they didn’t have the means to rebel against it.

Throughout the play, Antigone is presented as an audacious and unorthodox female character, whose actions

The universal theme of feminism is represented throughout the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and the play Antigone by Sophocles. The main character in Persepolis Marji and Antigone in Antigone both test the social standings and roles of women in their country and make sacrifices of their well-being to do what is right. Marji tested the social standings of women by wearing her veil incorrectly, putting herself at risk. Antigone defied her uncle, Creon the king, testing the social limitations of women in Thebes. Then Marji put her health at risk to find the truth. Next, Antigone put her life on the line to bury her brother Polyneices even though the punishment was death. Through quote analyzation from Persepolis and Antigone modern feminism is thoroughly displayed.

In the Greek play Antigone writer Sophocles illustrates the clash between the story’s main character Antigone and her powerful uncle, Creon. King Creon of Thebes is an ignorant and oppressive ruler. In the text, there is a prevailing theme of rules and order in which Antigone’s standards of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as the king. Antigone was not wrong in disobeying Creon, because he was evil and tyrannical. The authors of “Antigone: Kinship, Justice, and the Polis,” and “Assumptions and the Creation of Meaning: Reading Sophocles’ Antigone.” agree with the notion that Antigone performs the role of woman and warrior at once. She does not only what a kinswoman would, but also what a warrior would do.

An essential characteristic of feminists, especially if they are to change the status quo, is the need for widespread popular support. Antigone shows a feminist mentality in her search for popularity among others. She first asks that her crime be made public because she knows that if the public is unaware of it, she cannot gather their sympathies or support. Additionally, she tries to win approval from Creon. Antigone claims, “These citizens here would all agree, they’d praise

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

Throughout Sophocles’ Antigone and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the use of women within the tragedies displays and enforces the omniscient patriarchal society characterized in the plays. In Antigone the main character is a headstrong and courageous teenager who is always at the forefront of the conflict, whereas In Julius Caesar, women play no significant role throughout the tragedy, though ultimately all women in both works are subjected to and ignored by the more “dominant” sex.

In the tragedy of Antigone, by Sophocles, many themes are presented. The themes of civil disobedience and the role of women are heavily presented. The theme of civil disobedience is the refusal to believe in or follow certain rules set by the leaders. In Antigone, Antigone defies the rules and chooses to not follow them. The theme of the role of women is the role that women are supposed to follow. Although, Antigone yet again defies the traditional women role. These two themes mainly relate to the main characters of the story such as Antigone, Creon, Haemon, and Ismene.

The two sisters, Antigone and Ismene are demonstrated as polar opposites. With Antigone as the rule breaker, and Ismene as the rule follower. With their differences, Antigone’s pre-feminism can be seen. She is an original in her time.

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

We determined that the play "Antigone" could definitely be modernized because of the universal theme of women empowerment displayed by Antigone. Antigone acts as a foil for how women were expected to conduct themselves during that time period. For example, when Creon made the decision to bury Antigone's brother without a formal burial, she was suppose to comply. Antigone not only acts against Creon's word when she tries to recover her brother's body, but also acts against the conventional role of a woman. In our directorial vision, we created a parallel between Antigone and the historical figure, Alice Paul. Alice Paul was a suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist in the 1910s and 1920s. She also created the National Women's Party

Society has always idolized the rebel, the outcast, the person with the moral compass directed away from the norm, who, despite direct opposition from those in power, is ultimately proven to be right. Heroes aren’t strictly aligned with authority, they veer off in a direction more suited to what they believe is right. Not all in that position, however, have shown utter selflessness and true leadership, as demonstrated by the title character and ‘heroine’ of one of Sophocles’ most famous plays: the daughter of Oedipus, Antigone. Though her life had been a pathetic one due to her convoluted family history, her attempt at realizing her own beliefs resulted not in reform, but the deaths of two innocents, along with the loss of her own life.

In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, the role of women in society is challenged as Antigone reluctantly disobeys the “natural laws” that place women below men. Antigone’s two brothers, “...slew each other,” (Sophocles 57) but only one was buried as an honor, and the other “...unlamented, unburied, a sweet find for birds to feast upon” (30-31). Antigone disobeys the laws as she decides to bury her brother, with or without the help of her sister Ismene. As Ismene refuses to aid Antigone, she points out the duty of women in society. Ismene states, “...very horribly we will die if we go against the king’s decree,” (60-61) and “Rather, consider that we were born women, proving we should not fight with men, and that we are ruled by more powerful people and must obey them, even in more painful things...yield to those who walk with authority” (64-68).