Antigone is the last play in the Oedipus cycle written by Sophocles. In the play, Antigone, the Oedipus's sister-daughter challenges her uncle, Creon, who has ascended the Theban throne after he brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, are killed in battle. In the play, Antigone defies Creon's mandate that Polyneices should not be granted a proper burial because he is an traitor and an enemy of the state. Because of her opposing views, Antigone can be considered to be a social and political outcast. While Antigone can trace her roots back several generations, her opposition to Creon's mandate causes her to be considered a traitor by her uncle and those that follow him. Furthermore, because she is her father's daughter, as the chorus comments "Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield. She has much to learn," she cannot allow herself to defy divine law in favor of man's law (Sophocles 375). Antigone is living proof of what happens when a person attempts to defy divine law and thus she understands how important it is to give Polyneices the same burial rights as her brother Eteocles. Antigone defends her position by telling Creon, "It was not God's proclamation. That final Justice/That rules the world below makes no such laws./Your edict, King, was strong,/But all your strength is weakness itself against / The immortal unrecorded laws of God" (357-361). Antigone's belief that divine laws have a greater and eternal impact on people also helps to influence her...
She is proud of her loyalty to her family and her beliefs and does not feel that she should apologize for what she has done. Antigone contends that she felt, "There is no guilt in reverence for the dead" (406). Additionally, she argues that regardless of what a person has or has not done in their lives, "there are honors due all the dead" (413). The more that Antigone defies Creon, the more distant the two become.
Antigone Literature has the ability to reflect the society in which the piece was created and the cultural beliefs of that community. This cultural perspective also has to do with the religion of the community in which the piece of literature was written. The discrepancy between religious belief and the demands and order of the governmental system is a particularly common theme in literature. Perhaps one of the best examples of
Antigone Sophocles' Antigone has been widely interpreted as a play about a young woman's admirable courage of conviction. This rather straightforward interpretation is largely the result of a plot that revolves around Antigone's determination to honor her dead brother by giving him a proper burial, in spite of the King's edict that his corpse should be left to rot. Thus, Antigone's tragic fate is seen as the result of her laudable
Sophocles' "Antigone" Antigone is motivated to disobey Creon's edict and give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial because she believes both Eteocles and Polyneices deserve the same honor, to be reunited with their deceased parents to live in death in Hades. Antigone says, (lines 21-22) "Yea, hath not Creon, of our two brothers slain, honored with burial one, disdained the other?" This line shows Antigone's disagreement with Creon's decision to not
Doll's House and Antigone Sophocles and Henrik Ibsen explore the philosophical discussion of judgment in Antigone and A Doll's House, respectively. In Antigone, the title character questions the right of leaders to judge strictly when she commits treason after burying her brother. The deciding factor in determining Ibsen's characters' fates in A Doll's House is a moral dilemma of the intent behind an act of fraud. Both Sophocles and Ibsen
Hamlet, however, is full of hesitation. He does not experience the type of confidence Antigone does and suffers because of it. These characters are not abnormal; they are exaggerated or comical in a way audiences cannot relate to them. They are uniquely human and that is why they are still popular today -- because they are real enough that audience members feel as though they have known these types
Trifles In Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles," a main theme is that of gender's roles in society. The women had to take care of the household, while the men's role was as public figure. The canary is one of the most important symbols in the play, because it represents the freedom of Mrs. Minnie Wright, before and after the marriage. The author describes her as being full of life "She used to wear
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