A Woman Who Believes In The Power of Women Scene I: The Trial Introduction At the law firm of Theban Associates, one of the lead partners is Antigone, she is a hard worker whose intentions usually consist of reaching a compromise between the government and her client. As a defense attorney, her line of work is quite demanding and difficult since she is a female working in a male dominated world. While being placed in this position, Antigone is able to appreciate how difficult things are for a woman in society, even in today's world. She realizes that regardless of the anti-gender bias laws that have been passed, society still views women as baby-machines and they are constantly degraded and viewed as inferior to man. Antigone's new client, Medea, is responsible for the brutal murder of her two children and of her husband's new bride to be. Although Antigone disagrees with Medea's actions, she takes the case because she feels that it is a way to show the world that even today, in the new millennium, women's actions are still measured harsher than those of men. In other words, Medea claims that she took drastic measures in order to retaliate against her husband for leaving her alone in the world, but it was the only way that she could truly finish him and make everyone think about they way the world is run today. When the case is taken to trial Antigone takes an excessive amount of criticism and beating from her friends and colleagues as well as the media. She is said to be inhuman and her prerogative to why she has chosen to defend this demand woman, Medea is questioned. In addition, her place in society as a prominent "female" attorney is disregarded because her moral and ethical values are questioned. Yet, despite these terrible things, Antigone holds her head up high and walks into the courtroom determined to defend her client as best she could. In this courtroom it is inexplicable to anyone how somebody could murder her own children to teach her husband a lesson, every individual has forgotten their oath and placed their own personal opinion into their work, including Judge Good. Before starting, Antigone turns to the Chorus for moral support. In reply they tell her to do her job as she has in the past, and to remember what is the true reason why she has decided to take this case.
To support my thesis that the conflict between the heads of the Montague and Capulet families are responsible for Romeo and Juliet's death, I quote from Romeo and Juliet (V, iii, 291-293) Prince: "... Capulet! Montague! See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! What the Prince is saying is that, see what dreadful punishment has been laid upon your hatred. Heaven finds a reason to kill your joys with their love!"
It is Antigone's morals, which drive her to betray the laws of man, in order to honor the laws of God. Knowing and comprehending the consequences of defying Creon's ruling do not restrain the intensity of Antigone's self will, yet it feeds her hunger to achieve her principles. Losing sight of her future, Antigone allows her stubbornness to consume her life, taking with it, the prospect of marriage, motherhood and friendship. As the story continues, we find that Antigone focuses more on the need to establish her human ethics in spite of Creon, rather than proving the incorrectness of man defying god's laws.
Medea is often very demanding in getting what it is that she wants; Antigone, will do what she need to do in order to get what she wants. With Antigone she is defies the law of a king to uphold the law of her spiritual belief. In the middle of the night she lives the house and sneaks into a field to bury her dead brother. Medea killed many people, including her own sons and a princess, in order to only spite her unlawful and cheating husband. The two women are like alligators, waiting motionless for the right time to strike. In the case of Medea, swift, violent strikes. And with Antigone, a cool collected precise one. These women are always determined to get what they want.
The texts Antigone and Wicked challenge conventional ideas about gender. Both Elphaba and Antigone demonstrate strong will and are figures of rebellion as they challenge the status quo in their patriarchal societies. The main characters in these books reject feminine constructs of leadership, challenge democracy, and deconstruct ideologies of maternity and male dependency through embracing the label as “the other” courageously.
Shakespeare’s play is about two families that hate each other for no obvious reason. This fight has dragged on for a long time in Verona, Italy where the play is set. In Verona there are public disturbances between the two families, Capulets and Montagues. It became such a problem that the prince announces “I have an interest in your hate’s proceeding, / My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a bleeding;” (Romeo and Juliet 3:1: 186-87). The families’ feud creates a creepy and dismal atmosphere in Verona, and this leads the Prince to promulgate the rule with both families. Public disturbances will not happen again and if it does then they will take any fighter’s lives in front of those both families. As the reader may notice, the Capulets and the Montagues’ hatred and indignation grew as the feuds escalated. At the Capulet’s party, Tybalt does not accept Romeo being a part of the party saying “I will not endure him” (Romeo and Juliet, 1: 5: 76) and convinces Capulet to drive Romeo out of the room. Although, Capulet accepts Romeo to enjoy the party, “He shall be endured./ What, goodman boy! I say he shall. Go to!”(Romeo and Juliet, 1: 5: 77-78). However, at the end of the play both families finally realize that they have done something wr...
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?
On the second Monday of October, Columbus Day is a holiday that is celebrated in the United States, Spain, etc. This holiday signifies the discovery of the new world; however, this may not be the case. Since the day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced Columbus day to be an official federal holiday, there has been a lot of controversy whether people should or should not celebrate the holiday. Many people do not believe that this holiday is significant enough to be celebrated. So the question is, should Columbus day be celebrated? The answer is no. Columbus day is a holiday that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the new world.1 It glorifies Columbus being the first European to discover North America. This is all not entirely true and that is one of the many
Antigone remains a static character at stage five throughout the story. Faced with people who do not agree with her decision, Antigone stands tall with what is morally right to her. Kohlberg’s Theory is not only universal but also helps readers understand a character morally. Choosing whether or not to bury her brother, Polyneices, or to follow the law given by Creon, does not derail her moral
An expression commonly used by high school students around the age of fourteen to seventeen is “JESSICA! I AM HUNGRY, MAKE ME A SANDWICH.” This can be related to other countries in the present day as well as in the past. The play Antigone written by Sophocles, a young girl decides to follow the rules of the Gods rather than the rules of man, especially when it came to the proper burial of her brother Polynices. Antigone decides to bury her brother even though it was against the civil laws to even mourn him. This action is pertinent to the feminists of the day because Creon treats Antigone with absolutely no respect and acts as if she is ignorant. Likewise in the play A Dolls House written by Ibsen, Nora, the main character, takes out a loan in defiance of laws that denied women the right to borrow money or even the right to work outside of the home. Nora shows her true strengths when her husband is dying and she needs the money, but as the play progresses one can see more and more of her strengths as far as her willingness to work like men. Nora and Antigone show great strength and are active in the sense that they work hard to get what they want. Lastly, both Nora and Antigone appear to change through the plots.
Antigone points out many things , however one of the main things that it points out is how bad gender inequality is back in the old day. It shows many examples of how many societies were run back then. It proves to me how women and men were portrayed in the Greece society, are the equal or different, what gender expectations do they follow or fight against?
Antigone utilizes her moral foundations, her religious roots, and the events of her past to form a sophisticated argument. Despite being unable to convince Creon to reverse her punishment, Antigone is able to convince the people of Thebes that she was right in her actions. After Antigone’s death, and the deaths of several others, Creon reflects on this monologue and realizes the honest truth behind Antigone’s actions and words.
Although Antigone has a bad reputation with Creon, and possibly Ismene, for being insubordinate, she stays true to her values throughout the entire play by following the law of gods, not so that she could appease them, but because she admired its value of honor and respect to loved ones that have passed away. This devotion and determination to give her brother a proper burial shows the true essence of her being: that loyalty to family is in fact hold above all else.
In every history course, you are taught that Columbus was the one who founded the Americas, the hero. Now that you have researched more about Columbus through the years, is he really the superb person they characterize him as? Columbus could be either portrayed as a hero by replenishing culture or as a villain by killing many innocent lives. It is quite obvious that his evil actions outweigh his few accomplishments. It is “politically correct” that there is no cause for celebration. Citizens argue that this holiday preserves the Western Civilization. The correct view is that Columbus did not discover America because people have been settling there for thousands of years before. The only thing brought back from his expedition was the new understanding
...e had been forced to baby-sit her ailing nephews, but was not able to inform my father of this problem. That Sunday, when my mother was finally able to continue on her way, my father was leaving. They crossed paths on a road outside the town, and my mother spotted him while driving by, but my father did not notice her. Later that spring, my mother ran into my father again, in a fate preordained meeting, so they could pick up where they had left off in the winter. My father jokingly compares himself to Romeo as they were both, “…fortune’s fool.” (III. i.119) In this example, Fate manipulates time as my mother happened to see my father while he was left unaware. Although it may not be strictly based on fact, Romeo and Juliet does have an air of reality about it, found with the inclusion of fate and free will; which is still an ever-present topic in modern society.
In the play Antigone, Sophocles writing can be very controversial. He explains different perspectives of justice through the fates of the characters in the play. Creon and Antigone both would claim to have the law and Gods on their sides. They bring acceptable evidence for their reasoning to be true for their thought of the right way to carry out justice. Creon is certain that his ability to be king will justify leaving Polynices unburied. On the other hand Antigone sees justice as the ability to bury her brother. Conflict explodes with their inability to compromise over what is the definition of justice. Justice has a different role to play in any individual’s life because gender differs from man to women and society sometimes looks down upon women. Justice should be served and women should have the same divine rights that men do.