The Punishment For Overstepping Creon 's Authority Essay

In the play Antigone, men view women as a threat to their masculinity and do whatever they have to in order to silence them. However, the women find ways to speak out anyway. Gender has profound affects on the meaning of Antigone's actions. Creon feels the need to defeat Antigone more so because she is a woman. Antigone's rebellion is especially threatening because it upsets gender roles and hierarchy. By refusing to be passive, she overturns one of the fundamental rules of her culture.

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 stratification expresses the prominent issue of gender and its link to authority. In Ancient Greece a man’s role in society was looked upon as superior to a woman's role; however Sophocles challenges Gender role attachment, the beliefs of what is appropriate behavior for gender, in his play Antigone. The root of problems in Antigone is the unjust gender expectations. The Characters in the play attempt to break the intrinsic tensions between masculinity and femininity in Thebes and the extreme authority of men. Antigone’s defiance against Creon sets off a domino effect of outbreaks against gender role attachment. The constant tug of war against breaking gender stratification is evident through the action of Antigone and husband to be

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.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, gender roles are a major conflicting theme throughout the entire play. The setting of the play was written during the Greek mythological days, around 442 B.C. During these days, men were dominant and held all of the power, so women were automatically treated as less. Antigone and Creon portray the conflicting sides between male and female, and Ismene and Haemon portray opposing sides to Antigone and Creon’s actions. Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haemon each show differences in behavior due to their sex versus the actions each character chooses to take. Antigone tells Ismene about her plans to bury their brother, Polynices, which is going against Creon’s orders. Antigone and Ismene, have contrasting perspectives on

Throughout Sophocles’ play, Antigone, Antigone and Creon engage in multiple disputes revolving around Antigone's infraction of Creon’s decree; do not bury Polynices, the traitor, and Antigone’s brother. Creon is outraged. Not only is his law broken, but by a family member, and worse, a woman. This, combined with his post civil war paranoia, makes Creon unreasonable and egotistical, resulting in his inability to take advice. Taking into account Creon’s unstable temperament, Antigone should not be so brash, in her criticism and actions.

The female characters portrayed in Aeschylus and Sophocles’ works have considerably different personalities and roles, yet those females all have the common weaknesses of being short-sighted and stubborn. They intensify the conflicts within their families while being inconsiderate of the impacts that they may bring to their nations and societies, which leads to consequences that they are incapable of taking responsibilities for. Clytemnestra and Antigone, two major characters in their respective author’s works, possess different motivations for their deeds in the stories. While Clytemnestra is driven by the desire of revenge to murder her husband Agamemnon, Antigone acts against Creon’s will and strives to properly bury her brother. Despite having different motivations and personalities, Clytemnestra and Antigone both commit

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.

In Sophocles’s Antigone, we can see that the deeply misogynistic society of ancient Greece has manifested itself into Creon, a despotic ruler, despising dissidents, traitors, and especially women. His hatred of women manifested into several examples of misogyny throughout the play: He assumed that the criminal who buried Polyneices was a man, he looks down on Antigone’s defiance as improper defiance of a mans order by a woman, and he virtually disowns his son Haemon for disagreeing with him and listening to a woman.

Antigone, however, decides she would rather please the gods than man and buries her brother against King Creon’s orders. She is fully aware of the consequences should she get caught, yet she openly disobeys, even against her sister’s warnings. She gives Creon no additional respect either as a male in a patriarchal society or as a king and ultimate authority figure. In fact, she calls him a fool! Antigone boldly states to Creon himself, “If my present actions strike you as foolish, let’s just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool,” (Sophocles p.657). The strong will and defiance she exhibits are very characteristic of modern feminism.

Even though Antigone exhibits a blamable pride and a hunger for glory, her disobedience is less serious than those of Creon. It is evident that Antigone’s actions are driven by a love for her brother, and a desire to please the gods. While Creon’s actions are

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 past and in current day society, specific rights, roles, and behaviors for men and women have always been debated. From gender associated names and colors to wage differences and holding leadership positions, people continue to fight against gender stereotyped social norms and injustices to push ideas of equality into the spotlight. Although not all people are willing to sacrifice themselves to fight for a cause, the ones that do, tend to have an extensive effect on the people and culture around them. In the ancient Greek play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, both images of women, strong willed and passive, are represented in the play through the beliefs and actions of two sisters. Antigone, a young woman with a passionate heart, resists Creon, an authoritative king, and strives to go against this powerful, male force.

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.

“No woman shall seduce us. If we must lose, Let's lose to a man, at least. Is a woman stronger than we?” (Sophocles.II.3.539-540) says Creon, King of Thebes and uncle to the disobeying but brave Antigone in Antigone by Sophocles. A patriarchal society is a community in which male domination over women, Sophocles explains the journey of Antigone in getting her brother buried and yielding against the laws of Thebes in a man dominated city. Antigone portrayed in the play is loyal and stubborn, she would do anything that feels ethical and honest to her even if that disregarding the laws created by men. She responds to the standards of King Creon by going against her own blood, not believing that women should subjected to the rule that they