Gender Issues in Antigone
One of the most devastating problems for the Classical Greeks was the
women's issue. Women in Classical Greece were not citizens, held no
property, and indeed were not even allowed out of the house except
under guard. Their status differed from that of the slaves of Greece
only in name. This alone, however was not a problem -- the problem was
that the Greeks knew, in their hearts, that this was wrong. Indeed,
their playwrights harangued them about it from the stage of Athens
continually. All of the great Grecian playwrights -- Sophocles,
Euripedes, Aristophenes -- dealt with the women's issue. All of them
argued, in their various ways, that the women of Greece were not nearly
as incapable and weak as the culture believed them to be. All of them
created female characters of strength and intelligence. But in
"Antigone," the discussion reached its peak. Antigone herself, as she
stands upon the Grecian stage, represents the highest ideals of human
life -- courage and resp! ect for the gods. A woman, she is
nevertheless the exemplum for her society. But how are we to know
this? Does the author let the audience know that it is Antigone
herself, not Creon, the "noble-eyed imperator" (453), who is to be
believed? It is almost inconceivable that the audience would be meant
to ignore Creon's apparently skillful arguments, for he appears to
represent all that the Athenian should strive for. He stands for
obedience to the State. Surely it is his voice we should obey.
Sophocles does let us know where the truth lies, and he does this,
amazingly, partly through his characterization of Creon. Though Creon
seemingly says intelligent things, there are clues that he is not to be
trusted. One would be his discussion of incest with Ismene. Torn
between her duty to God and her duty to the State, Ismene, in the third
act, has run to Creon, planning to tell him of Antigone's actions in
the graveyard: "O, not for me the dusty hair of youth, / But let us now
unto the palace go" (465), she cries. But Creon, ignoring the
supposedly important information she has to tell -- he has, after all,
emptied the Theban coffers, spending money on his advanced spy network
in search of the miscreant -- asks her, instead, to come home with
him. "How long, O Princess, O! How long!" he states, suggesting a
time for their next meeting: "Upon the hour of noon, or / Not upon the
hour of six." To such a pass has the doomed line of Oedipus come.
in her view, the task of returning the church to the state it had been
Before Aristotle’s tragic hero model, tragic figures were open to interpretation. The play Antigone by Sophokles, written in 441 BC, existed during this period of ambiguity of what a tragic figure exactly meant. Antigone involves two principal characters that could potentially be the tragic figure, Kreon and Antigone. Kreon is the arrogant king who declares it illegal to give Polyneices, a soldier who had betrayed Thebes during war, a proper burial. Antigone is the sister of Polyneices who is determined to give him the proper burial that she, as his family, is obliged to carry out. Although misfortune falls upon both Antigone and Kreon, Kreon is the true tragic figure of Sophokles’ Antigone because he experiences a profound enlightenment and
One of the conflicts in Antigone, is the struggle between men and women. Ismene tells Antigone that since birth, women “were not born to contend with men,” (75) displaying women’s obedience and passivity. In the same passage, Ismene says: “we’re underlings, ruled by stronger hands,” (76) a representation of men’s aggressive and “stronger hands” that dominate women and treats them as second-class citizens. The only woman in Thebes who desires to break free from these chains is Antigone, who stands up against Ismene’s passivity urging her to “submit to this,” (77) and defy Creon by burying Polynices. By breaking Creon’s edict, Antigone challenges the traditional gender roles women and men play. In what ways does the theme of gender in Antigone, demonstrate the passion and choices behind Antigone and Ismene’s decisions?
high reverence. She feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed above all others,
Antigone was a selfless person with pride as a strong characteristic of her personality. She possibly had feelings of loneliness and anger from the way society has looked upon her family from their past. It took a strong willed person who has no fear of the repercussions to stand up to a king as she did. To make everything all the worst she stood up to a king who was her Uncle and she being a female back in those time, standing up and speaking out for herself was not heard of.
In contemporary times, the rise of capitalism as a dominant economic trend and its ravenous demand to accumulate sources from new markets, has led to the idea of merging political and economic power into one, which is democratic capitalism or otherwise illustrated as “a system where markets allocate income according to efficiency while governments redistribute income according to political demand."(Iversen, 2006). The advancements mentioned earlier, have given ground for questions concerning the possible compatibility of the political ideology which is democracy and the economic ideology capitalism and how would they affect one another. This mergence could be examined in recent times, whereas in the past around the start of the nineteenth century it was considered as inappropriate and unlikely to happen. This paper aims to demonstrate to what degree are democracy and capitalism compatible, by examining the various areas of conflict of the two ideologies, how has capitalism affected the democratic system in the United States and does actually global capitalism have an impact on the developing countries democracies.
Communism is an economic system where, in theory, ownership of everything (e.g. goods, industrial products, businesses, farm produce, etc.) is collectively by the Government and the payment of income is only based one’s need. In communism, individuals have little say or on say at all on what to produce, not even owning anything since ownership is only by the Government. Communism is a socio-economic structure based on classless, stateless society where the means of production are on common ownership. Therefore, communism is the idea of free society where there is no divisions, humanity is not oppressed, no need for Government or countries. A citizen earns according to their needs and gives according to their abilities to do so.
Deborah Hastings of The Associated Press wrote “Turns out, it is cheaper to imprison killers for life than to execute them, according to series of recent surveys.” (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-07-exepensive-to-execute_N.htm). In an article Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director said “The high price of the death penalty is often most keenly felt in those counties responsible for both the prosecution and defense of capital defendants. A single trial can mean near bankruptcy, tax increases, and the laying off of vital personnel. Trials costing a small county $100,000 from unbudgeted funds are common and some officials have even gone to jail in resisting payment.”(http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/millions-misspent 19940). Capital punishment doesn’t fix any problems, all it does is cost the government more money. If the death penalty was abolished completely our government would save more money just by sentencing life in prison without
When you hear the name Karl Marx (1818-1883), it is tempting to wonder and question why you should be studying him, considering that he’s been dead for over a hundred years already. This German philosopher had become one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Marx’s ideas all come together and holds that human societies develop through class struggles, a conflict between the ruling classes (known as the bourgeoisie) that dominates over the working class (known as the proletariat). He was well known for studying the disputes that occur between different classes in society, also refer to as the ‘conflict theory.’ Through his theories of alienation, Marx argued that capitalism promoted the idea of inequality, commodification, and the exploitation of labor. The purpose of this paper is to view Marx’s concept of capitalism and alienation along with how it affects the workers.
Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals, which is inevitable with cases involving death as the sentence, incurs an extreme cost and is very time consuming. The cost of a capital trial and execution can be two to six times greater than the amount of money needed to house and feed a prisoner for life. "Studies show incarceration costs roughly $20,000 per inmate per year ($800,000 if a person lives 40 years in prison). Research also shows a death-penalty ease costs roughly $2 million per execution," (Kaplan 2). Capital punishment is extremely expensive and depletes state governments of money that could be used for a wide range of programs that are beneficial. As Belolyn Wiliams-Harold, an author for the journal Black Enterprise, writes that county governments are typically responsible for the costs of prosecution and the costs of the criminal trial, including attorney's fees, and salaries for the members of the courtroom. All this money is spent at the expense of the corrections department and crime prevention programs, which are already is strapped for cash (Williams-Harlod 1). These "financial constraints," such as capital punishment, do not promote a healthy, commercial society, but actually cost and harm the public.
In the video Karl Marx on Alienation Karl Marx has a very strong opposition to capitalism, “an economic system in which owners of private property compete in the marketplace in pursuit of profit” (Witt, 2016, p. 202). He believed that life chances, “the likelihood that our success is shaped by our access to valued material, social, and cultural resources” (Witt, 2016, p. 222) alienated these workers from the products of their labor. Because these labors were born without access to success they were forced to work long hours for a small profit that was often not even enough to afford them the fruits of their labor. From this alienation we start to see Marx’s idea of an elite model, “a view of society as being ruled by a small group of individuals
Many people, including some higher educated people, tend to believe that executing someone is a lot cheaper than the alternative, which is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Indeed, this thought seems like common sense. However, extensive research has been conducted that contradicts that belief. For instance, a study conducted in Maryland, in 2008, found that the state spends roughly 1.9 million dollars more per capital case, compared to non-capital cases (Warden, 2009). But how can this be some may ask. Well, the reason capital punishment costs more than life without the possibility of parole, is because death penalty cases are longer and more expensive. Because the capital punishment is an irreversible sentence, the state, or government, is required to heighten the defendant’s due process in order to decrease the chance of the defendant being innocent (DPIC). Furthermore, not only is it more expensive for the trial phase, it is also a higher price for a state to imprison death row inmates compared to other
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
Although ancient Greece was a male-dominate society, Sophocles' work Antigone, portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. In this famous tragedy, Sophocles uses the characters Ismene and Antigone to show the different characteristics and roles that woman are typical of interpreting. Traditionally women are characterized as weak and subordinate and Ismene is portrayed in this way. Through the character of Antigone, women finally get to present realistic viewpoints about their character.
The synopsis of Marx’s Theory of Alienation is the belief that in a contemporary industrial society driven by capitalism, the working class will eventually lose jurisdiction over their lives by relinquishing control over their work. Prior to capitalism, tradesmen would be the proprietors of their own workplace, be able to set and keep their own hours of operation, be the driving force behind developing and producing the product, have the ability to create and maintain their working conditions, as well as have input on how the commodity is bartered or sold, and the associations and rapport with the people whom he worked with and had dealings with had a more intimate character to them.