Is there ever an appropriate time to break the law? With the proper cause, then yes, the law should be broken. Certain unjust laws should be challenged and broken. If a law is unjust and wrong, it is our right as human beings is to stand up for what is right and rebel against such law. If there weren’t people in history who rebelled and fought for what they believed in, the world would have stayed the same as it was when it first began. Whether it is characters or historical people, the world has been changed and shaped by those who challenged the laws that are wrong and unjust.
Antigone was a rebel because she broke a law for the honor of her family. She knew the consequences to her actions and she did it anyway. She knew that the law preventing her from giving her brother a proper burial was wrong and this caused her to break this unjust law. She wanted Ismene to scream from the rooftops about her burying her brother because she knew what she was doing was the right action to be made. Antigone was brave in her bold act and took her chances with how it would turn out for her. Altho...
..., this sense of arrogance angers Creon to a point beyond belief. Antigone’s refusal to cooperate causes Creon to go mad with irritation and frustration. Wanting to show his sense of power, he refuses to back down in fear of losing his position. His stubbornness grows stronger as Antigone continues to disobey his commands. Antigone’s strong and steady foundation helps her show defiance. She is able to overcome the opinions of the people and commit to helping her brother regardless of the after effects. She ignores what everyone says and does only as she wants. She is powerful, both physically and mentally, and is successful in her tasks. Antigone matures into a commendable and respectable character in which she depicts her rebelliousness and bravery, pride and tolerance, and sense of moral righteousness to demonstrate fundamental character development in the play.
Antigone sought to do what she perceived to be right and just, and had no fear of consequences nor no desire to try to negotiate or protest. Antigone simply did her part of doing what she in her mind felt was right even though it was against what she was strictly forbidden to do. Antigone used these tactics differently from Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Antigone says to her sister Ismene “To me it’s fine to die performing such a deed” (Antigone 22). The “deed” Antigone is discussing is the deed that was forbidden by Kreon. Antigone truly believes in civil disobedience of directly disobeying in order to fight for justice for her dead brother. Antigone also exclaims “What I shall suffer will be far less dire than dying from an ignoble death” (Antigone 24). To Antigone, honoring the Greek gods, her brother, and her family is more important than following an unjust rule. Antigone believes that dying from the consequences of civil disobedience is far more worth dying for than dying without having ever fought for a cause. When addressing Kreon, Antigone discusses that she in face knew of his proclamation but felt that honoring her brother, and the laws of the Greek gods was more important than standing idle to her brother being unjustly forgotten and watching his life not be honored after his death. She says that death for her punishment was a profit because she was doing
Antigone is a young woman whose moral background leads her to go against the wishes of the king to bury her brother, Polyneices. Sophocles uses Antigone as a character who undergoes an irreversible change in judgment and as a result, ends up dying. Antigone is hero, and she stands for honor, and divinity. Because Antigone's parents were Oedipus and Iacaste, she was born into a family of power; something that she could not change. At times, Sophocles leads the reader into thinking Antigone wishes she was not who she was. Ismene, Antigone's sister, refuses to help Antigone because (as she states) "I have no strength to break laws that wer...
In the play, Sophocles examines the nature of Antigone and Creon who have two different views about life, and use those views against one another. Antigone who is depicted as the hero represents the value of family. According to Richard Braun, translator of Sophocles Antigone, Antigone’s public heroism is domestically motivated: “never does [Antigone] give a political explanation of her deed; on the contrary, from the start [Antigone] assumes it is her hereditary duty to bury Polynices, and it is from inherited courage that [Antigone] expects to gain the strength required for the task” (8). Essentially, it is Antigone’s strong perception of family values that drive the instinct to disobey Creon’s orders and to willingly challenge the King’s authority to dictate her role in society.
King, being calm and using negotiation and logic, and Antigone being demanding and defiant. Antigone has some flaws about her, but she also has some good traits about her. One is being willing to do anything for her family. She represents a strong woman in a male dominant society as King represented a determined man in a society full of racists. She was willing to risk her life to give her brother a proper burial because that is what she believed in. In the same, King was willing to go to jail to stand up for what he believed in. However, if Antigone had followed King's steps of civil disobedience, there might not have been so much
Ultimately, Antigone can be viewed as evil due to the fact that she went against King Creon’s rules by burying her brother without permission. For example, in the play Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone says, “Will you help these hands take up Polyneices’ corpse and bury it?” and Ismene responds, “What? You’re going to bury Polyneices, when that’s been made a crime for all in Thebes?” and Antigone replies, “Yes. I’ll do my duty to my brother— and yours as well…” (Lines 55-60). This shows that Antigone is going
Antigone is almost hailed to a god like status, as Oedipus was before her. She is extremely strong and unbelievably willing to sacrifice everything in the name of honor and pride. She so easily makes her decisions and chooses to die willingly without a second thought. The minute Creon questions her on breaking the law, she states: “Die I must, -I knew that well (how should I not?)-even without thy edicts.” What is even more is that Antigone was a woman, a woman in a time of extreme male domination. This makes her even stronger of a person in the play and shows the growing strength of the gender that we know of today.
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.
This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be in conflict with everyone, in his mind he has to stand alone in his views in order to set himself apart as king. Before he took to the throne Creon took advice from the prophet Tiresias who had so often had been his spiritual and moral compass, and yet in this matter concerning Antigone he will take advice from no one, not from the elders of Thebes, or even his own son Haemon.
Antigone is the stubborn, free-willed sister who wants to do what’s right and not think about the consequences that will come to play in the future. “This female character takes on a rebellious role quite different from that of the other more docile woman of the time,” (Ashley Bouque). The quote talks about Antigone being different, while Ismene is more docile and does what she is told. Take the Woman rights movement, even though its thousands of years later. Before the Woman rights movement happened, woman did what they were told and followed the rules, like Ismene. After the movement, woman did what they thought were right to them and didn’t care about the rules, like Antigone.
While there are many similarities between the two character’s Lady Macbeth and Antigone, the morals of each of these characters are very different. Antigone, as shown in her actions, wants to do what is right, and has very good morals. She says quotes like “But I am doing only what I must”, and “but if I had left my brother lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. Now I do not.”, showing the readers that her actions have a purpose, and that they come from the heart. Antigone shows throughout the play that she is always thinking that she must do what is best for other’s and not just herself. She is willing to do what is needed to follow the law of the gods, even if it is breaking the...
The tragic hero, Antigone, is the tragic hero because she displays both good and bad throughout the greek tragedy Antigone. A quote that reveals she is good is “ This death of mine is of no importance; but If I had left my brother lying in death unburied, I should have suffered” ( 2. 69-71). This quote shows that Antigone is doing good because she is honoring her family by not leaving her brother unburied. Antigone is also seen as bad because King Creon talks to Antigone and says “ This girl is guilty of a double insolence, breaking the given laws and boasting about it” ( 2. 80-81). That quote shows Antigone is bad because she broke the law and was telling everyone about what she did , which also showed that she had hubris about her actions. Antigone is the tragic hero because
One major theme in Antigone is the abuse of power. Creon and Antigone cause doom to their lives as they display resistance to power. The two characters attempt to override divine law with the law of the states, which leads to ruin. Creon, displaying a resistance to moral law, denies Antigone the opportunity and rightfulness to bury her brother, Polynices. This is due to Polynices’ rebellion against Creon, the King of Thebes. Antigone serves as a threat to the status quo. She gives up her life out of her commitment to principles above human law—moral law. Creon believes that the laws created by the King must be obeyed no matter how big or small they are. Creon argues that the law created by the King is the platform for justice. On the other hand, Antigone feels that there are unjust laws, despite who made them. She believes she has a moral obligation t...
Antigone had good reasons for her actions. She did obey the rules of her gods, which were that any dead body must be given a proper burial, with libatations. This would prevent the soul from being lost between worlds forever, along with wine as an offering to the gods (page 518- side note). Nor could Antigone let Creon's edicts go against her morals (lines 392-394). She chooses to share her love, not her hate (line 443). She couldn't bare to see one family member be chosen over the other because of what a king had decided was right, which she contravened. Why condemn somebody who stood up for what they believed in and is now dead for it anyway? Bringing homage to the family was very important to Antigone (line 422-423).
The sexist stereotypes presented in this tragedy address many perspectives of men at this time. Creon the arrogant and tyrant leader is, the very character that exemplifies this viewpoint. Antigone's spirit is filled with bravery, passion and fury; which allow her to symbolize the very essence of women. She is strong enough to do what her conscious tells her despite the laws of the land. Many examples in the play prove that Antigone's character is very capable of making her own decisions in the name of justice. First, Antigone opposes Creon's law and buries her slain brother; because in her mind it was immoral not to. She does this because she is compassionate and loves her brother very much. Creon, however, believes that his laws must be upheld and would do anything to prevent any type rebelling. He is even more infuriated when he learns that a woman has broken his laws. He tries to show Antigone who's in charge by sentencing her to a life of imprisonment. Secondly, Antigone shows how determined she is by accepting her consequences with pride. She does not try to hide that she is responsible for breaking Creon's laws, moreover, she takes all the credit. All the while she maintains her strength because she truly believes in her actions. These sorts of actions ultimately prove that Antigone is courageous and willing to stand up to men, which was completely against the norm at this time. Her spirit refuses to submit to the role of a helpless woman like her sister Ismene's character does.