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The role of women in greek literature
The role of women in greek literature
Ancient Greek Gender roles
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“Gender,” throughout the years has been defined and redefined by societies, and individuals. “Gender roles,” have, and still do contribute to these definitions. Literature contains prime examples of how gender roles were perceived in different time periods, showing readers the views of an author through the characters and their traits. Sophocles’ Antigone is a Greek tragedy, that heavily depicts the gender roles found in ancient Greek society, also providing insight into what would be seen as “normal” and “abnormal” behavior in relation to gender in Greece. In the play, Antigone, a daughter of the late King of Thebes, Oedipus, becomes distraught when she learns that her two brothers have killed each other, and furthermore, that her uncle and newfound king, Creon has forbidden the burial of one of her brothers. …show more content…
Stereotypically masculine traits are seen in Antigone throughout the work, such as confidence, resilience, and integrity. These traits, according to Creon, are unsuitable for her, a woman, and this may very well be Sophocles himself potentially creating awareness of gender issues using this play and its characters. Antigone herself is quite the character, her confidence is indubitable, and coupled with her righteousness, she stands as a key tool for Sophocles’ use in addressing gender roles. In an act of virtue, Antigone decides to bury her brother's body, and to perform all of the necessary rites associated with doing so, all while knowing that what she hopes to attempt is forbidden by royal decree. Confronting her sister, Ismene, with her idea, she is reminded that women have a certain place in society, being told, “[W]e were born / Women, and so not meant to fight with men” (Sophocles 63-4). Antigone takes this statement offensively, learning that her sister has a different understanding of what is important, and what is not. Ismene believes her own life has more
“Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men” (Sophocles, 18). The popular literary works, Antigone and A Doll’s House, written by Sophocles and Ibsen, are two famous tragedies that have been performed and read throughout the decades. Although countless audiences have been entertained by these well written plays, few would care to guess that many lessons and several unfortunate truths can be found with a less than tedious inspection of the characters and the reactions they give to their circumstances. The two main characters in these stories, Antigone and Nora, face adversities and problems that are amplified by their society’s views on the rights and abilities of women. The two main male characters in these plays, Creon and Helmer, cause the greater part of the struggle that the female protagonists face. The difficulties that Helmer and Creon create during the plot of these stories are the cause of three major characteristics of what one would consider typical to a headstrong man in a leadership position. The three features of Creon and Helmer that lead to the eventual downfall of Antigone and Nora, are pride, arrogance, and ignorance.
Captivatingly, both women act daringly, regardless of the culturally constructed labels as women, products of incest and wickedness. They use their “otherness” as a power mechanism, rather than an excuse to passivity. In conclusion, Elphaba and Antigone challenge conventional roles of gender, as they are strong, courageous figures of rebellion and exemplify a lack of traditional gender normativity.
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?
sense of loyalty leads to her simultaneous violation and observance to the duty of women
In Antigone, Sophocles illustrates Antigone to rise above her gender stereotype and do what is forbidden. Antigone is expected to sit in her room and wait for a man to tell her what move to make next throughout her life. After her brothers battle to the death, one is buried and one is not. Antigone does not stand for this at all and expects both of her brothers to be buried. When she is forbidden to leave her room and bury her brother, she does not agree. Antigone sneaks out of her room during the night to bury her brother. The next morning, Creon, who is the King of Thebes,
Antigone isolates herself from others, a quality common among tragic heros. Ismene offers to share the crime of burying their brother but, Antigone denies the re...
In Sophocles' most famous Theban play consisting of two parts, "Oedipus the King" and "Antigone", both parts are necessary in understanding some of the things that happened around them, and what type of man had raised Antigone. She is the main character in the play of “Antigone”.
The significance of Antigone’s action are deeply under the influence of her sexuality. In fact, Creon admits that one of the main reasons that motivates him to overthrow Antigone is simply due to the fact that she is a female. Even if someone considers the freedom of females with ancient standards he will realize that women in Greek was under a severe restrictions and limitations. Having this in mind, Antigone's disobedience was considered as a potential danger because it was aiming to change female’s character in the Greek society. Antigone chose to be active and this changes one of the vital laws of the Greek culture. Antigone is the Protagonist because at the very opening of the play she disagrees with her sister who is considered to be a ‘good girl’ based on the Greek conception of being good because she unquestionably obeys the laws of the society. In the opposing point, Antigone is an anarchists and refuses to be like her sister. So in a sense, Ismene is Antigone's foil due to the fact t...
When discussing Antigone’s burial of Polyneices with Haimon, King Creon illuminates that he believes he, as a man, is stronger than Antigone: “If we must lose, / Let’s lose to a man, at least! Is a woman stronger than / we?” (1.3.46-48). Creon demonstrates that he doesn’t believe that women are stronger than men when he was outraged because Antigone, the woman he is referring to, might be stronger than him. Antigone was able to create change in Thebes by burying Polyneices, which Creon couldn’t control. Additionally, through Creon’s speech, Sophocles displays that Creon would prefer to lose to a man over a women because in Creon’s eyes, other men are on a similar level to him. When King Creon finally realizes that Antigone had been just in burying Polyneices and that he had been blinded by his pride, all of his views including those about women are degraded in the audience’s eyes. Because Creon’s views are degraded through his admission of arrogance, Sophocles begins to illuminate that women are not weak but
In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, it is greatly apparent just within the first few exchanges between Ismene and Antigone that there are various social issues surrounding the women in ancient Greece. The play raises many gender and socially related issues especially when looking at the contextual background of the playwright and the representation of the women within the play. When the characters of the first scene begin their analog, it is important to note what they are actually saying about each other and what their knowledge of their own social status is. The audience is first introduced to Antigone who we later learn is the antagonist of the play as she rebels against the protagonist, Creon. Her sister, Ismene, is the second character the audience is introduced to, hears of Antigone's plan to bury their brother's body in the first scene. Ismene’s actions and words give the reader the hint that her sister’s behavior is not usual, "so fiery" and "so desperate" are the words used to describe Antigone's frame of mind. At this very early point in the play the reader discovers that Antigone is determined to carry out her mission to bury her beloved brother. However, she is in no position that gives her the rights as a woman, sister, or even future queen to make her own decisions and rebel. Instead, her decision to bury her brother demonstrates her loyalty to her family, the gods, and to all women. Her motivation for those decisions will end up driving her far more than that of what the laws set by Creon have implemented. She shows no fear over disobeying the king and later says about the punishment of death "I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(Sophocles, 2). Throughout the play the reader can see the viewpoint of an obedient woman, a rebellious woman, and the social norms required for both of them.
In Sophocles’ drama Antigone, he develops his characters to convey that who they are influences what they do. Sophocles slowly reveals Creon’s misogynistic attitude. Creon disagrees with Antigone’s decision to bury her traitorous brother and has difficulty accepting her willingness to defy the state as well as his authority. In his mind, her actions are disgrace and he believes she is challenging his sovereignty and trying to challenge the gods’ wishes by refusing to submit to male authority. At the heart of Sophocles’ play is an argument about questioning authority and Creon would rather die than be bested by a woman. Creon’s sexist attitude towards women leads to his downfall and the end of his reign as king.
Feminism has been one of the most important forces in shaping our modern-day society. Thanks to the women's rights movement, females today enjoy rights and freedoms that are unprecedented in the history of Western civilization. However, it was not always this way. Whereas modern literature that contains feminist messages barely gets a second thought, readers in our time are intrigued and impressed by feminist works coming from a decidedly male-biased past. Two of the greatest works of Western literature, Antigone and Othello, written by the two great dramatists Sophocles and Shakespeare, have been said to illustrate feminist ideals in the "distant" past. Antigone, which embodies these ideals throughout and is primarily concerned with the inequity of gender roles, is such a play. Othello, while it contains occasional feminist sentiment, still keeps its women in conventional female roles and thus is not a feminist work.
& #65279;In the play Antigone there are many references that link to the oppression of women. Creon made many convictions insulting womenkind. His convictions seemed true to a large population of men.
The fact that Antigone commits her own death at the end shows her unwillingness to accept male conquer. Creon loses his right of authority in Thebes after she commits suicide because the citizens see that she was trying to do what was right in the eyes of the gods while Creon opposed her. All of her beliefs, actions, and all of the things that she is subjected to make the play a strong piece of feminist literature.
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.