...Antigone (Quotes from 1 to page 22) "Not to give way when everything's against her." – Chorus (speaking about Antigone and is evidence of hubris) For Zeus…struck him down…..Mighty Ares…Bacchic Fury – Chorus (gods helped kill the enemies) What, would you bury him? Against the proclamation?.....When Creon has forbidden it – Ismene (to Antigone about burying Polynices) (shows her respect of kingly right) I shall not prove disloyal –Antigone (hubris, devotion to family, divine law) We travel the behest or power of Kings. We must remember we are women born. Unapt to cope with men…mightier than ourselves- Ismene (to Antigone. This shows her inaction, respect to the laws of state and men, position of women) Far longer is there need I satisfy those nether Powers, than powers on Earth. For there for ever must I lie – Antigone (divine laws over human laws) Your heart beats hotly. For chilling work – Ismene (Antigone is too rebellious and takes pride in her action against the state and for the gods) I know that those approve whim I most need to please - Antigone (gods) Right loyal ever to kingly power – Creon (addresses the Chorus, loyalty to kings not gods) Vilest of men. Him too, whoever sets a friend before his native land. I prize at nothing -Creon (law of the land is the most important) I will not sit in silence-Creon (proactive kind, protects his people “No man shall bury, none should wail for him…..Such is my will”-Creon (Right as King) Death is the penalty....
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...In France, women had long been fighting for equality to men by the time Anouilh’s “Antigone” was first performed. In 1971, the “Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen” was written by Olympe de Gouges as a retaliation against the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”, which excluded women (Halsall). When the Anouilh’s Antigone was first performed in 1944, women had formed a multitude of organizations such as XXX. Shortly after the play was had its first performance in France, women received the right to vote and stand for election (Reynolds 2). During a time of political revolution, the play Antigone emulated the discrimination women in France faced at the time; Antigone’s portrayal as an obstinate, strong-willed character shows her resistance against prejudice, such as many women were doing when the play was first performed. The play itself cannot directly achieve considerable change in societal viewpoints; it merely parallels the challenges women encountered. During a performance of Antigone at the Oxford Playhouse in 2010, both Antigone and Creon’s character illustrate the stereotypes of sexes at the time. As shown in a photo of the performance, Antigone sits in a chair, with a...
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...The play Antigone by Sophocles, still remains relevant today, even though it was written in 441 B.C. The issues that arise in the play are also seen now. This includes the conflict between faith and the law and sexism. This play is about a girl named Antigone who wants to bury her brother, because she felt that it was the right thing to do. Her belief of burial went against the law, causing conflict between Antigone and the king, Creon. Throughout the play, many remarks are made against Antigone about her gender. She was told various times that what she was doing was wrong because she was a woman, and that she couldn’t do bury her brother because she was a woman. Both issues are seen today because women are continuously being mistreated, and...
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...Professor Herron Literature 201 November 16, 2013 Antigone: A Rose Amongst Thorns In his fifth century play, Antigone, Sophocles invites the reader on a journey of power, heroism, and feminism. Oedipus’s sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in a battle over who will take over their father’s throne. Creon, the current King of Thebes, has now declared that Polyneices betrayed him and forbids him to have a proper burial. Antigone, sister of Polyneices, feels that her brother’s body needs to have full respect and decides she is going to bury her brother. She discusses this plan with her sister Ismene who sends her off with her disapproval to bury their beloved Polyneices. Antigone is caught red handed by Creon’s guards and they bring her in to the king. Antigone admits to the fact that she has gone against the law and has given her brother a proper burial, but defends her actions saying that the gods would have wanted this. As a consequence for her actions, Creon sentences Antigone to her death and banishes her to a cave. After much deliberation he regrets his decision. However, it is too late as Creon finds Antigone has taken her own life. Through her actions of bravery and defiance Antigone exemplifies true feminist ideals. She is a shining example of a woman who stands for what she believes. Antigone proves to be a hero in every generation, but especially in her time. In fifth century Greece women were seen as having no influence or voice. Only men were...
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...Many people believe that one of the strongest drives humans possess is their desire for power. Whether it’s power by wealth, power in a position at work, or even power in a relationship, humans strive to always be on top. Everyone wants it in one form or another, and they will sometimes resort to drastic measures to get it. In Antigone, power both corrupts and blinds some of the characters. The clearest example of power is by far King Creon of Thebes, who is arrogant, insensitive, and just plain cruel to the individuals around him. Another example of power, which is more of a struggle for power, is Antigone, the main character in the play. She is a young girl who rises up alone against the state power. In Sophocles great tragedy, Antigone, power is an eminent theme that fatally affects the lives of both Antigone and Creon, each with their own struggle to defy power. During the course of the play, Creon becomes so engulfed in his own power that he begins to rule with an iron fist. The central concern of the play is Antigone’s fateful struggle against Creon’s cruel edict. Creon holds absolute power in themes, which he abuses throughout the play. Creon made a decree that prohibited anyone from burying Polyneices’ body, and he was proud of it. When the decree was broken by Antigone, Creon felt a threat to his power, and therefore sentenced her to death. Creon’s son, Haimon, tried to persuade his father to take away Antigone’s death sentence, but Creon refused without saying why...
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... The societies encountered by the Theban woman Antigone is Sophocles' Antigone, and the 19th century Englishwoman Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, can be seen as highly unfavourable and disdainful of women. Both Antigone and Jane Eyre struggle and resist against a society which places men above them, and which sees expressions of female autonomy and liberty as unfavourable trends. Antigone and Jane Eyre both live in societies where a patriarchal culture dictates how these women should act within society, and what type of behaviour is acceptable, and which isn't. The control and subjugation of women – and the way they express themselves – can be seen as a consequence of discursive formations which aim to define the intrinsic qualities of men and women. It is in this context that the stories of Antigone and Jane Eyre can be seen as challenging conventional notions of gender and gender stereotypes, a highly pervasive discourse which affects a cluster of other ideas. This essay will argue that the characters Antigone in Sophocles' Antigone and Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre are characters who challenge gender discourses which were very prominent during their time, and subsequently, the ideational influences which structured leadership, the creation of identities, opinions regarding natural attributes, and cultural . While Antigone lives in a pre-modern society dominated by males who take the subservience and submission of women to be a given, Jane Eyre is a young woman within...
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...Final Paper on Antigone In “Antigone,” one can be able to come up with different interpretations of the meaning surrounding the Greek tragedy. From upon reading this play, my view about it was mainly on staying loyal and respecting your family no matter what the consequences. As I began to read the different scholarly interpretations, my view on “Antigone” had changed. The aspect of ‘hanging virgins’ all throughout the play and the Greek culture poses an interpretive problem. The lives of virgins and women in the play can be looked upon as hanging on to their superior male counterparts. The males dominated the society where their decision in religious, ritual and marriage was final. In this paper I will explain the choices Antigone was facing, family values and social status to further support my understanding. In Sarah Johnston’s, “Antigone’s Other Choice”, it is clear that male sexism was at the core of the Greek society. One clear example of this is when Creon responds to Haemon, confronting him with the reality of his bad deeds and mistreatment towards Antigone. “If you are a women; it is for you, in fact that I show familial concern” (Rehm 192-193). This interpretation of Antigone is centered on the conflict that existed between female autonomy and male authority. The excerpt revolves is about Antigone’s choice to hang her and the options she made. Antigone chose to die out of hanging other than starvation. The excerpt by Sarah Johnson, tries to explore the entire theme...
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...Makai Montague Ms. Novak English 10CP Per. 2 15 January 2016 Antigone “It is no weakness for the wisest man to learn when he is wrong, know when to yield” (Sc. 3.608-609). King Creon certainly did not yield to anyone’s opinion except his own. In the Greek play Antigone, Sophocles uses King Creon as an example of a leader who is prideful and sexist, resulting in failure and tragedy. King Creon allows his pride and stubbornness to stand in the way of listening to others. When he learns that Antigone buried the body of Polyneices, he is angered that someone dared disobey his decree. He disregards Antigone when she tells him that some believes her action of burying Polyneices is honorable. Similarly, he obstinately disregarded his son Haemon when he suggested the same: “But I hear whispers spoken in the dark; on every side I hear voices of pity for this poor girl, doomed to the cruelest death, and most unjust, that ever women suffered for an honorable action-burying a brother who was killed in battle” (Sc. 3.590-596). King Creon’s prideful response was that as a king, he was only responsible for himself: “Indeed! Am I to take lessons at my time of life from a fellow of his age?”(Sc. 3.624-625). A good statesman takes into consideration what the people around them have to say, not push advice away because they feel too proud to take it from someone younger. Furthermore, King Creon later gets a visit from Teiresias, a blind prophet who foretells the future. The prophecy says that...
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...defeat.” Though Creon at points can fill the role of a tragic hero in Antigone, Antigone is the only character to truly play the part of one. Sophocles writes tragedies, which are named after the tragic hero in each specific play. As in Oedipus Rex, the piece of theatre is named after the tragic hero, Oedipus. Thus only clarifying why Sophocles named one of his plays Antigone, the title being based off of the main tragic hero role. Antigone is a more appropriate title for the play Antigone because of Antigone’s immense bravery and individuality in behalf of her late brother, creating the plot in the play due...
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...Women are constantly taunted in the workplace today. A man demonstrating the same qualities could be deemed a promotion, while a women with those same qualities will get called “bossy”. With woman always being deemed “emotion” and “less than men”, it’s almost unavoidable in today’s society. Though the root of it dates back to the Hellenistic Society, which is Greek tragical times. In Euripides's Medea, an irate woman feeling betrayed by her husband plans to annihilate anything of his. Similarly, in Sophocles’s Antigone, a young woman's emotions is what drives her to commit a crime and become sentenced to death. In both of Sophocles’ and Euripides’ plays, Medea & Antigone, the rash decision making of both protagonists, Medea & Antigone...
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...Depiction of Women Women are depicted as subordinate creatures in both the Tanakh and Antigone, yet throughout history, they continue to fight this hierarchy in one way or another. Within this paper, there will be examples of the ways women are treated and how they react to this treatment. It will also discuss various situations that strengthen this argument. In the Tanakh, when God created man, God took a look at man and decided that he needed someone to help him. God did not create woman to be his equal, but God created her to be his helper. In Genesis 2, the Tanakh somewhat puts women in the same category with the animals, but one step higher due to the fact that she was made from man. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they had free reign to go where they wanted, eat what they chose, do what they wished… anything except eat from the tree of knowledge. It was Eve who initially bent the rules and ate from the tree of life. She showed reckless abandon for the rules that were set by the ruling power (just happens to be God in this case) and chose to do what she wanted because she “felt” like doing it. The general feeling in both the Tanakh and Antigone is that women act more on their feelings and do whatever they do and face the consequences later. They realize that they have the same set of rules that men have, yet they can’t control their emotions enough not to break them. They are not above the law, but merely that they act more on emotion than men do. When...
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...Antigone is credited as one of the best works of Sophocles, ranked by most modern critics above Oedipus the King. There are many aspects of Antigone that make it the play critics love to ramble about. “Antigone must be received as the canon of ancient tragedy: no tragedy of antiquity that we possess approaches it in pure idealism, or in harmony of artistic development” says one critic named Berhardy. Tragedy is usually concerned with a person of great stature, a king or nobleman, who falls because of hubris, or extreme pride and Antigone is no exception. Pride and its effects are a central part of Antigone’s plot and theme. Pride, being part of their character and morality, overran in to their literature and was a complex and multifaceted concept in Greek tragedy, exemplified by Sophocles’ Antigone. In the play both Creon and Antigone were incredibly proud and unwilling to back down once they took their stands. Creon had made a decision and was unwilling to compromise. Antigone was to die for her violation of the law,the sin of burying her brother. Antigone’s gender had a profound affect on the meaning of her actions. Creon had disliked for her disrespectful and rebelling nature. His need to defeat her was all the more pressing because she was a woman. “The ideal of the female character in Antigone is boldly and severely outlined. The freedom of Greek women was extremely limited and restrictive. Antigone’s rebellion is threatening because it upset the gender roles and hierarchy...
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...Indranie Sharma QMHS Antigone by Sophocles 7/3/14 In this story the theme loyalty is portrayed through Antigone when she defies her uncle to bury her brother Polynices. Apparently Antigone couldn't bear for one brother to be buried with honor and the other left to rot in the sun. Since she felt that it was her duty to give Polynices a burial because he was her brother and was deceived by Eteocles when it was his turn to rule the kingdom. Unfortunately Antigone was caught and she believed that her Uncle Creon's order was an act of betrayal to their family. 7/7/14 The setting of the play takes place in Thebes which is located in Ancient Greece. The setting is important because in Ancient Greece two rulers were allowed to rule a kingdom. Also wars took place between family members on who had the right to rule. Apparently this was the reason on why Eteocles and Polynices fought and killed each other in battle. This leads to influence Antigone's decision and have a major impact on her life as well because of the ruling from Creon. 7/8/14...
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...The roles of women in ancient Greek tragedies . The ancient Greek society was a society dominated by men, even the plays and proses mostly constituted of heroics of men, like Hercules, Achilles and many other. In such societies , women were considered to be frail and were expected to be submissive to men, a prize of war for victors, and their main role was to support their husbands. However, in many tragedies, women were often depicted as major characters, inkling that women may not have been the weak the submissive characters as they were thought to be. Many well-known Greek plays contained several well-written, complex, and heroic female characters. Each female character took upon herself, the role of villain, the role of victim, and the role of heroine. The tragedies also revealed the problems women encountered in this era within marriage, inheritance and social life when they attempted to break out of their traditional gender roles. Clytemnestra, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, was probably one of the most recognizable female villains in history due to her partaking in the murder of her husband Agamemnon and his female consort, Cassandra. . in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, she was depicted as brutal, treacherous, and cunning woman. Her speeches made the citizens and the audiences to be well-aware of how she would welcome her husband home. “Let there spring up into the house he never hoped To see, where justice leads him in, a crimson path. In all things...
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...Intelligence” (Clouse 1, line 54-55). We usually reach this stage between the ages of 12-18. The play “Antigone” by Sophocles focuses on a girl named Antigone, who is currently going through this stage and the ordeal she goes through accomplish what she believes is the honorable act to uphold. By the end of the play, you start picturing Antigone as this naïve girl that just wanted to do the right thing but none one supported her. The reality is, Antigone was a person’s whose personality was similar to the system of a ticking time bomb waiting...
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