Analysis of Antigone by Sophodes and Jean Anouilh

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Context undoubtedly plays a major role in both the creation and the interpretation of literary works, as it dictates how the author and the audience relate the entities within the literary work with those in reality. Two versions of Antigone, each written by Sophocles and Jean Anouilh, exemplify the influence of context on the literary works; although both depict Antigone’s struggle to bury her brother Polynices against Creon’s edict, each version revolves around slightly different topics and is perceived differently.
Sophocles’ Antigone presents the play with Antigone as the evident protagonist. Fulfilling the Chorus’ last words of the play that “reverence toward the gods must be safeguarded” (Sophocles 128), Antigone respects the rules of the divine over those of the city until her death and is thus portrayed as a righteous heroine. From the same perspective, Creon is labeled as a reckless tyrant who oppresses Antigone with his earthly power. He is seen damned by the Chorus’ last remarks that “the words of the proud are paid in full / with mighty blows of fate” (Sophocles 128); hi...

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