Antigone
Sophocles' Antigone is a story that has several strong characters, each set up cleverly in order to demonstrate the role that personality traits and the strength of conviction in ideals plays in determining individual decisions. Thus, if Creon's son Haemon serves as a contrast of wisdom to his own display of pride and arrogance, Antigone's sister Ismene acts as a foil in defining Antigone's character and strength of conviction in her ideals.
One of the best ways to demonstrate the sharp contrast in personalities is to place two people; both with equal interests, in an identical situation where life challenges must be faced. Sophocles does exactly this in the opening scene of Antigone when he shows the different reactions of the sisters Antigone and Ismene to Creon's proclamation that their brother, Polynices' body should be left unburied for the birds and dogs to devour.
Antigone's reaction is one where her love for her dead brother and belief in the heavenly decree that the dead must receive all the rites due, irrespective of whether they had lived a virtuous life or not, leads to her determination to disobey the law and bury her brother. Thus, right from the start it is apparent that Antigone is a strong, idealistic woman who has the courage to live up to her convictions.
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Antigone and Oedipus Rex are both tragic plays by Sophocles. In many ways, these plays are similar to one another as tragedies. For one, they are part of the same set of texts by Sophocles. Antigone is the first installment in the series of three plays. Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) is the second of the trilogy. Second, the title characters in the plays are related, as Antigone is the
As a character, Creon is almost and inverse of Antigone, because his concern for his own authority trumps his love for his own family, as he all but disowns his son Haemon for the latter's support of Antigone. As these flaws are the most important elements of characterization in terms of the plot, they essentially define the characters even in spite of the interior emotional lives hinted at within
Thus, the nobility of Antigone's character lies in her reluctance to condemn her sister, whereas her tragic flaw lies in her fanatical devotion to the men in her family, to the point that she wishes to lie with her brother's corpse. Antigone's fall comes when she is caught burying Polyneices' corpse, and the fact that her subservience to patriarchy is the precise reason for this fall is revealed in Creon's
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
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
However, there are a number of similarities in the two writings, ranging from the dominance of men over women to the determination of women to do as they please, with no care whatsoever of the consequences that their actions have on themselves. "My Duchess" does not actually bring proof to support the concept that the duchess is actually dead, thus leading one to believe that she did not receive the
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