The Guard Vs Creon Analysis

perspectives. Creon 's pride causes him to be afraid to admit that he has made a

Creon frequently made decisions out of arrogance and pride, such as deciding to not bury Polyneices because it was what he thought was right. Never did he ask or listen to other’s advice or critism because he thought because he has a high status, that other’s opinions were irrelevant. By not thinking through his choices, he ultimately caused the death of everyone he loved and lost the respect of the city he cared so much for. When making decisions, one must fully think through if the sacrifice is one they are willing to take. This lesson repeats itself through every human’s life. As a child learning to not eat too much or they will be sick, teenagers face many temptations, leading to addiction and reckless accidents, adults learn that if they do not work to their maximum potential, the bills will not be paid. Thinking of the future should motivate others to make the best decision for themselves and everyone else around them. By not thinking about the consequences, one could have everything stripped from them in a blink of an eye, like Creon in the tragedy,

Due to his unwavering pride and refusal to see through the eyes of others, Creon falls from his position of immense power and wealth which in the end doesn’t matter because all his loved ones and family are now dead.

Creon orders the guards to take Antigone away not caring for his son's feelings, since she is his fiancée. Creon feels the law should stand despite the fact that Antigone was his niece or how moral her act was. "Bring her [Antigone] out! Let her die before his eyes..." (Scene 3, 130). This quotes shows that Creon took his position as king seriously to the point where in he was willing to sacrifice the feelings of his own son. He was willing to be the cause of son's destruction just to prove that he is the king and always right. "I will go... I buried her, I will set her free" (scene 5, 102,104). Not only does this quote show leadership but also stubbornness he was risking his relationship with his son to prove that he was the leader of Thebes. Creon says another quote which shows his loyalty to his kingdom, "I call to God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to speak out plainly," (Sophocles, scene 1,24-26). It shows his strong sense of leadership which catches up with him in the end causing destruction.

Creon is a man who has just become the king of Thebes and has a flaw of having too much pride. He can’t control the power of being over other people and he lets the power go to his head. “ I now possess the throne and all its powers. No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs

“A man who thinks that he is only wise, that he can speak and think like no one else, when such men are exposed, then all can see their emptiness inside.” (Lines 802-805) Haemon says this to his father meaning a man of his kind is only going to be seen as a failure from words when their true self is exposed. Haemon’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having conflicting motivations. These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of disrespect, careless, & selfishness to be highlighted within Creon’s character. In the end, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by Haemon’s choice of word to his father and the character interactions advance the plot and develops the theme by

Creon states “am I to rule this land for others, or myself”? (Sophocles, 441 BC, line 823). This statement shows how Creon has little consideration for others around him. He does not care that

Soon enough however, a guard comes running in to tell him that Polynices has indeed been buried. Creon is furious. He immediately accuses the guard of burying him. “You are a born nuisance” (75), he says, “You squandered your life for money” (75). The guard summarizes Creon’s transformation from patient ruler to brash king when he says “Oh it’s terrible when the one who does the judging judges things all wrong” (75). Creon, just like Oedipus, accused the guard of something he didn’t do. He lacked proof and he had little evidence, but he proclaimed him to death anyway.

Creon accepts his mistakes when he knows he losing everything that he has been telling the people he will protect. On page 64, He ask the priest what he must do and the priest says “Go quickly: free Antigone from her vault and build a tomb for the body of Polyneices.”. Then on page 65, Creon says that “It is hard to deny the heart! But i will do it: I will not fight with destiny”. This shows that Creon is finally accepting his mistake because it is hurting the way of his ruling for the country. Not many people accept their mistakes of their actions but for Creon he had to because he was fearing the end of his ruling. On page 67 All of Creon’s actions that he had caused are going downhill and he says that “Nothing you say can touch me anymore. My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness. Here you see the father murdering, the murdered son--And all my civic wisdom!”. This is showing that he has no other option but accept his mistakes and move on. The mistakes he had done only left him with one option which was accepting the things that had done wrong. On page 68 Creon goes on to say “It is right that it should be. I alone am guilty. I know it, and I say it.”. This where he accepts his mistakes because he knows that he could have prevented everything by just letting one thing go. All the Mistake that Creon had done were only leaving him with less and less options for escaping the problem. With letting that one thing go Creon could have gone to be a great

Creon becomes so prideful to the point where he will not listen to anyone, and will not acknowledge he is wrong. During a conversation with Haemon, Creon tells him, “No. I am king, and only

These lines show Creon mourning the deaths that he brought about. He even directly says that this is more than he can bear! He pities himself, as shown in in the first statement. No one deserves everyone they love to die. Many people could argue that having loved ones die is worse than dying yourself. It is a fate greater than deserved, and a characteristic of a tragic hero like Creon.

Pride acts as another major theme; it is what got Creon in this situation in the first place. Creon has too much pride to admit to anyone that maybe he was wrong. Even when he has Antigone he has too much pride to let her go. Creon's own son questions him and he replies, "Am I to stand here and be lectured to by a kid? A man of my experience"(1063)!Creon shows that here he is too proud to change his decision for his own son even if he made the wrong choice. The king's friend the Leader tries to convince Creon to change his mind by telling him "My king, ever since he began I've been debuting in my mind, could this possibly be the work of the gods"(1050). The Leader was trying to tell

In this quote Creon is making himself look like he is taking charge and punishing Antigone harshly. He is trying to amplify what he plans to do to Antigone. He is being too proud. In reality, though, he did not do these things to the degree he boasts about to Antigone. Creon makes it seem that he is cruel, but he really is not as cruel as he appears. Another time, the prophet is calling Creon out.

Creon was close-minded and unreceptive of anything Haemon had to say, despite the fact that he presented such a strong argument, displaying both a wise and well thought-out case. Creon overlooked Haemon’s advice and chose to focus on the insignificant detail that he was simply too young lacking life experience, rather than concentrating on what he was actually saying. Truth

Creon has no toleration for people who place personal beliefs over the common good. He believes that government and law is the supreme authority, and civil disobedience is worst form of sin. The problem with Creon’s argument is he approaches He approaches every dilemma that requires judgement through descriptive generalizations. In contrast to the morality defined by Aristotle in his Nicomachaean Ethics, Creon shows that he is deaf to the knowledge of particulars--of place, time, manner, and persons, which is essential for moral reasoning. In short, he does not effectively bring together general principles and specific situations Creon does not acknowledge that emotion, and perception are as critical to proper moral consideration as reason. This explains why he does not respond accordingly with the reasoning of the guard, Tiresias the prophet, Antigone, her sister Ismene, or even his own son Haemon. Throughout the whole play, Creon emphasizes the importance of practical judgement over a sick, illogical mind, when in fact it is him who has the sick, illogical mind. He too exhibits pride in his argument. To Antigone and most of the Athenians, possessing a wise and logical mind means acknowledging human limitations and behaving piously towards the gods. Humans must take a humble attitude towards fate and the power of the gods, yet Creon mocks death throughout the play. He doest not learn his lesson until the end of the play when he speaks respectfully of