Protection In Antigone By Sophocles

Antigone feels because she and Ismene are sisters and thy feel remorse towards the death of their brother, she should want to help Antigone. Antigone telling Ismene her plans causes feelings that a women should have never had in that time period. Ismene tells Antigone, “We are only women, /we cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong, we must give in to the law” (1.47-49). Antigone is angry for what her sister has said.

Antigone demonstrates her strength as both a character and a female heroine throughout the entire play. In the beginning of the play, Antigone and her sister, Ismene, are arguing about whether or not to defy Creon’s law. Antigone believes in the god’s law, which requires a proper burial, however, Ismene fears Creon so she wants to follow his law. Creon’s law requires no one to touch or bury Polyneices, if someone does, they will be killed. Ismene is trying to convince Antigone that they should just follow Creon’s law because she is scared and Ismene does not want them to get executed.

Antigone’s inhibitions grow stronger and she risks losing her only other family member, and never being able to see her again. Despite Antigone’s love for her sister, her love for her brother is stronger because she is respectful towards the dead and believes they expect special treatment, despite the fact they are dead. If this weren’t true, Antigone would have given up after she had seen the guards and Creon had warned her of the consequence.

Through their actions throughout the play Ismene and Antigone are loyal to their family yet in very different ways. Throughout the play Antigone is portrayed as a heroine for responding to her duty to bury Polynices. If she did not bury him his legacy would be tarnished. However, on the opposing side by not obeying Creon her uncle people may begin to question his authority if his own niece does not obey him. In the end Antigone chooses to obey the gods and “loving and loved [she] will lie by [Polynices’s] side,” (Sophocles 3).

Dedé primarily speaks of the good times and what made each sister so unique, but later in the story she gets caught in the bad times. She speaks of her regret in not following in her sisters’ footsteps by asking herself “Why? Why didn’t she go along with her sisters. She could have started a new life” but goes on to remind herself that she “had been ready to risk her life” but not her marriage (177). She also justifies this reasoning earlier by stating “we women followed our husbands… I followed my husband” however her regret for not following her sisters comes back as she questions her actions from decades ago.

Gender has an impact on Antigone and her actions. Antigone does not stress her own gender openly, but Creon does, refusing to take back Antigone's punishment because she, a woman, has broken his law. One can view Antigone as being fed up with restrictions and obsessed with death and martyrdom. Clearly, she is motivated by love for her brother and by her strong belief that the divine law has been violated. However, becoming a martyr makes the consequences of her action an additional advantage, rather than an obstacle.

However, against her sister’s will and advice Antigone decides to continue forward with her brother’s illegal burial stating, “Even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory”(Sophocles, 18). Antigone’s determination and strength as a woman shines through in this scene, simply due to to the fact that she did what was right when nobody else had the courage to do it their self. On the other hand, Nora not only goes against society’s beliefs, but also her family and friends. Undoubtedly, Nora’s decision saved her husbands life, but if the truth were to come out all that she did would be looked over due to the fact that she didn’t inform her husband. At this time, women weren’t generall... ... middle of paper ... ..., and that they say so in the books.

In fact, I have noted a significant one, which comes to show that in the end, they’re just human. This is the two women’s love for their children. In Alcestis’ case, even though she has agreed to take her husband’s place as the one who is supposed to die, her last thoughts are for her children. It is evident that she wants to be assured of her children’s well-being when she implores Admetus to “[not] remarry [and to] spare them a stepmother, and inferior replacement, filled with spite and anger, who would raise her hand against [his] children and [her’s]” (Alcestis 324-7). This way, Alcestis wants to make sure that a potential stepmother doesn’t “ruin utterly [her] hopes of marriage (Alcestis 337)” speaking about her daughter, while she has no fear for her male child because he “has his father, a great tower of st... ... middle of paper ... ... know, and does not cause commotion outside of her home.

Because when Ismene tries to council Antigone, Antigone’s response was to say, “If you will talk like this I will loathe you...” (1568). Second, the scene where Ismene stands by her sister, is an example of Ismene willing to forfeit her life for her only living family. Initially, Ismene may have refused to stand by her sister; however, at the threat of losing her, in order to stay with her sister, Ismene is willing to take partial blame. As Ismene confesses, “I did it, yes—if she will say I did it I bear my share in it, bear the guilt, too”

We pretend to feel things that seem acceptable to others so that others will approve of us. The protagonist was saying things that she knows her husband, her step sister wanted to hear because she didn’t want them to believe that she was going insane. She would pretend to... ... middle of paper ... ...ique and different in our own way. Only we can define ourselves be who want to be. One might believe that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is easily about a woman pushed to insanity by post-partum depression and continually isolation, but it is so much more than that.