Compare Antigone And Death Of A Salesman

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Recommended: Creon character development in Antigone

In the plays Antigone by Sophocles and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller both protagonists Creon and Willy,are self righteous men who while saying they are doing what is best for others they are really looking out for themselves. In Antigone, Creon tries to get people to hate Antigone's brother and is scaring everyone with threats to not bury him. Antigone defies Creon’s wishes and he sentences her to death. Everyone tries to reason with Creon even bringing in Tiresias to give him a prophecy. Antigone kills herself, Haimon dies and his wife kills herself as well. Creon is a tyrannical ruler who does not have people respect him they only fear him. Willy on the other hand is a poor man whose sons don't support him and is having a lot of mental …show more content…

They both want to coast through life as best as they can. Willy does have a lot of hardships in his life but he still wants people to bend to his will. Creon believes that if not his people at least his family will be on his side. He believes that his familial bond with his son will be stronger than his son’s love of Antigone. “Good. That is the way to behave; subordinate everything else, my son, to your father's will. This is what a man prays for, that he may get Sons attentive and dutiful in his house”(Sophocles 217). Haimon is trying to appeal to his father and Creon thinks he is looking up to him and agreeing. He believes that he can make his father see reason or at least feel sorry for him and spare her, in the end Creon just feels even more betrayed. Willy is trying to get Howard to give him a job in New York so he can stop traveling. He is old and tired and due to his deteriorating mental health it is not safe for him or others either. “WILLY: God knows, Howard. I never asked a favor of any man. But I was with the firm when your father used to carry you in here in his …show more content…

I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!
BIFF: I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them”(Miller 132). Someone is finally telling Willy how people see him and that he needs to get his head out of the clouds. He has to be told that he lives a humble life and will never be a big name. What pushes him over the edge is that he is being told this by his own son. Willy knows Biff loves him because he tells him the truth about who he is. That is when Willy is finally at peace and makes the decision to kill himself, for his family.
Creon and Willy have always held themselves in high regards, and thought that other people did as well. In reality they knew how they came off but chose to ignore it and pretend that they were loved. Due to them being blind to their true nature, when they needed support they expected people to rush to their side instead of turning their backs on them and betraying them. Creon did not listen to others, he only believed in his own opinions. When people finally started to defy him his bubble popped and he realized no one was ever on his side, unfortunately he did not learn his lesson early enough. Willy was left all alone, he had no one that could help him, and if they could they did not want to. People finally let Creon and Willy know that they are not gods and that not everything can go their way or how they

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    In the struggle between Creon and Antigone, Sophocles' audience would have recognized a genuine conflict of duties and values. From the Greek point of view, both Creon's and Antigone's positions are flawed, because both oversimplify ethical life by recognizing only one kind of good or duty. By oversimplifying, each ignores the fact that a conflict exists at all, or that deliberation is necessary. Moreover, both Creon and Antigone display the dangerous flaw of pride in the way they justify and carry out their decisions. Antigone admits right from the beginning that she wants to carry out the burial because the action is glorious. Antigone has a savage spirit; she has spent most of her life burying her family members.

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  • Creon's Role in Antigone

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    Creon in the play Antigone by Sophocles plays a major role within the play. Antigone also plays an important role, as these two character’s conflicting views led to utter disaster, which highlights Creon as a tragic figure. Within the play Creon attempted to establish decisions for the common good; however, his decisions resulted in tragedy. Creon highlighted as the tragic figure, initially created decisions he thought were for the welfare and well-being of Thebes. However, Antigone, who rebelled against Creon’s decisions, caused Creon’s rage to cloud his rational way of thinking.

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  • Antigone

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    The views of Antigone and Creon are opposed, and they both possess the same stubborn belief in their own righteousness. This ultimately brings them both to their tragic fate. At first we believe that Creon acts from sincere, patriotic and unselfish motives, and that he is acting out of a sincere belief that his decision is best for the state. This is shown in the first episode (lines 163 - 331), where Creon hopes to be a wise and good ruler. Later on we learn that he is too inflexible and narrow to heed criticism or admit fault, and that this causes all the misery in his life. The same is true of Antigone. She appears to be a very compassionate individual in the prologue; however, later on we learn that she is also stubborn and unwilling to bend in her beliefs, which ultimately leads her to her tragic fate.

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    Creon's insecurity blinds his ability to direct order in his country properly. After Antigone buried Polyneices Creon felt he needed to take a strong stand or people would think he would always be lenient toward criminals. However, to achieve this Creon felt he needed to take drastic action against Antigone.  He once even said to his son, Haimon, who was about to marry Antigone, "The woman dies. I suppose she'll plead family ties. Well, let her. If I permit my own family to rebel, how shall I earn the world's obedience?" (19)  This quote shows that Creon feels that to prove himself to the country he needs to earn the "world's obedience".

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  • Differences And Similarities Between Antigone And Creon

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    Family is a symbol of heart and in life, as seen by Creon, deciding to value one's authoritative power over family ties and morals leads to devastation and ultimate loss of what matters the most. In daily life choosing to follow intellect versus compassion in one's judgement is often preferred- especially when it comes to remaining powerful and respected as a king. Creon is approached by his son, Haimon- who is one to follow his heart- and in response to his pleads to not kill Antigone Creon answers: “if I permit my own family to rebel, how shall I earn the world’s obedience?” (PAGE NUMBER) Acting with no sympathy and compassion towards his son and niece- Antigone- he ends up losing both. When power is valued over the heart then usually loss follows because no longer does the person with authority make decisions based on morals and becomes rigid- even heartless. In the case of Creon, and many other people, being rational and he believes that if he listens to his heart than he will be looked at as a weak ruler. As Creon’s fate is revealed and there is a threat for how his actions will impact Thebes in the future, out of selfish doubt he chooses to change his mind and “deny the heart!” in order to “not fight with destiny” (PG NUMBER). Creon appears to have changed his stubborn mind out of sympathy to his family, but truly, it is for his reputation and the

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  • Comparing and Contrasting Sophocles' Antigone and Shakespeare's Othello

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    First, the major characters in both of the plays are suffering through great pain and end up with death. The drama Antigone which is written by Sophocles, tells the story of Antigone. Antigone is a tragic heroine who doesn’t have the power to challenge the authority of the king; she has to obey the rules. However, she shows her strong will and voices her opinions and she is willing to challenge the authorities and the rules. She not only fights for her brother, she also challenges her rights to speak out her thoughts. Yet, her sister Ismene is satisfied to recognize herself as a woman in a male dominated society. Ismene argues, “I, for one, I’ll beg the dead to forgive me- I’m forced, I have no choice- I must obey the ones who stand in power” (832: 80). Ismene's words clearly state her weak and helpless character. Antigone is not happy with her sister’s response, says, “Set your own life in order"(833: 97). Antigone is telling her sister to do her own life, and that she will do what she wants to bury her brother. Antigone preferring the god's laws to man's, disobeys Creon, to bury her brother Polyneices. After her uncle found out what Antigone did, he punished her with death. However, when Creon discovered that what he did was wrong; it was too late. Antigone is already dead, and Creon is punished by Heaven with the suicide of his own wife and son.

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