One way to interpret the trait of loyalty is a feeling of devoted attachments and affection towards another. This particular interpretation of loyalty is the cause of many different and controversial situations within the two versions of Antigone.
What is loyalty? Loyalty can be interpreted in different ways by different people; one way to look at it is allegiance which is the feeling of devoted attachment and affection. This can be related to the fact that in both books Antigone has the feeling of attachment and affection towards her brother Polynices, and thinks that he deserves the proper burial. Both versions are very different and are each meant to engage the audience and make them think about how the character develops/ changes throughout the stories. These plays can be interpreted in various ways by looking at the themes, conflicts
Throughout both stories she goes against the law by burying her brother, but she also has no feelings for others around her. She does not think how her mistakes affect the rest of her family. For example in the Sophocles account Ismene does not want to lose her last family member. “Now we two left; and what will be the end of us” (Sophocles, 128). In the Anouilh version when Creon finds out that it was Antigone who buried her brother, he was willing to do all in his power to make sure that no one knew that it was she. He was prepared to kill the guards that were assigned to watch over the graves and the ones that brought her to the king. “Now listen to me…you will go straight to your room. When you get there, you will go to bed. You will say that you are not well and you have not been out since yesterday… And I will dispose of those three men” (Anouilh, 42). Creon does not want to see another person that he loves die, and shows Antigone how much she means to him and she still would rather die than
She protects her dead brothers’ honor as she disobeys the laws of King Creon. She feels that the gods are the only ones who have a say on the burial of a person as stated, “I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God’s ordinances” (Sophocles 497-500). She is brave, passionate, and full of fury; she is strong and determined enough to do what she feels despite the laws of the land. Ismene, who is Antigone’s sister is more of the conservative, law-abiding, bow down to men type of woman, as shown by her comments to Antigone “you ought to realize we are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men” (Sophocles 70-71). Ancient Greece is a male dominated society, and Antigone knows all too well the punishment she will receive to breaking this law, when she states, “for whoever breaks the edict death is prescribed, and death by stoning publicly” (Sophocles 40-41). After being caught burying her brother, she showed her true bravery and dedication to this cause by saying to Creon “Yes, I confess; I will not deny my deed” (Sophocles 487). It infuriated Creon that a woman broke his law. Creon tells Haemon, his son and Antigones’ fiancé, “I caught her openly in disobedience alone out of all this city and I shall not make myself a liar in the city’s sight. No, I will kill her” (Sophocles 706-709). Creon wanted to put her to
“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army is in its loyalty to each other.” This quote is by Mario puzo, the family. I think the meaning of this quote is “that you can never break up a family. The family is so strong like an army so it will be hard to break them up. This quote can be supported by “Antigone” because Antigone knew both of her brothers died and only one was able to be buried and honored just because he was in the military. Antigone wanted her other brother to be buried to so she did it herself. She did not want her family to be broken up like that. So she was fixing it.
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.
The characters in Antigone begin the play by having a one-dimensional view of loyalty. They don't seem to have any regard for
Although undenialably couragous, determined, and brave. She has an achilles heel that makes her arrogant. She is unwilling to back off her quest, in burying her beloved brother. No matter if she must work alone and alienate herself in order to do so. To ensure she buries her kin with honor. “I will not press you any more. I would not want you as a partner if you asked. Go to what you please. I go to bury him. How beautiful to die in such pursuit! To rest loved by him whom I have loved, sinner of a holy sin, With longer time to charm the dead than those who live, for I shall abide forever there. So go. And please your fantasy and call it wicked what the gods call good”(Antigone 194). /she goes as far as breaking the law, presenting herself as a uncompromising person, similar to that of King Creon. Sadly her achilles heel is not from her doing. Other characters have influenced her into rushed decisions. For example Creon’s cruel punishments and brutality causes Antigone to want to bury her brother. Ismene’s refusal to help bury their beloved brother makes Antigone more determined and persistent to bury him. Eventually leading to Antigone’s suicide. She had hung herself, when Haemon (her love) saw her he stabbed himself and lied next to her in her pool of blood. Then when Eurydice(Haemon’s mother) found out she cut her throat in her bedroom. Creon was now alone. The chorus notes that if it were not
Although both sisters have lost their brothers, Antigone is the only one who will go against her king to do what she knows is right. When Antigone asks her sister if she will help her bury their brother Polyneices, Ismene responds with, “We are only women; we cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong; we must give into the law…” (Ismene 774). Naturally, Ismene should be afraid for herself, as well for the safety of her sister because what Antigone is asking of her will mostly likely cause them both to be killed. However, she should be braver like Antigone, and realize that she must do what is morally right for their family, and give her brother the proper burial that he deserves. Afterward, when Antigone has already been captured, Ismene then comes forth to try and share the punishment that has been given to Antigone, but Antigone tells King Creon that she has done nothing. In addition, when Creon asks Ismene if she had anything to do with the crime, and Antigone denies it, Ismene then replies, “But now I know what you meant; and I am here to join you, to take my share of punishment” (Ismene 785). Although now Ismene feels like she needs to stand up to the King and do what is right for her
You shall leave him without burial...” (222). Opposing the king, she neglects the decree and is now to die at the orders of the law for being disobedient; yet Antigone proudly states her crime. There is no sign of remorse shown by Creon as he states: “No; though she were my sister’s child or closer in blood than all that my hearth god acknowledges as mine, neither she nor her sister should escape the utmost sentence-death” (530-33). Bobrick, explains that Creon values the love for his land more than he values family and this becomes a struggle for Antigone as it becomes a fight between obeying the laws of man and the laws of the god’s. The second struggle Antigone faces comes when she realizes she is alone. Antigone confides in her sister Ismene with her plans to disobey Creon; but Ismene, a clear example of how a lady was obliged to be in this time, urges Antigone not to commit the act. Antigone rejects her advice and declares that Ismene is an enemy to her now (41): “If you talk like this I will loathe you, and you will be adjudged an enemy…” (109-10). Antigone must fight on her own. Thirdly, per Bobrick, Antigone
Antigone is loyal to her family readers can see that when she says “ Their it is, and now you can prove what you are: A true sister , or a traitor to your family” ( PR. 26-27). This quote shows that Antigone is loyal to her family because she wants her sister to be a true sister like her because she is going the break the law for her brother. Antigone is also seen as loyal to the gods when she says “ That final justice, that rules the world below makes no such laws” ( 2. 57-58). Antigone is seen as loyal because she says the final justice of her being killed doesn’t matter because she did something good for the gods, so they will be loyal back to her. In the greek tragedy Antigone, Antigone has the tragic flaw of loyalty to her family and to the gods, which leads to her
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.
Her brother is her own flesh and blood, a part of her family that has the absolute right to be properly buried. Antigone’s conscience would not allow her to leave Polynices as Creon’s law bid, which she reveals when she tells Creon, “But if I had allowed my own mother's son to rot, an unburied corpse — that would have been an agony.” According to her moral compass, to respect and honor her brother in his death transcends the fact that she is breaking the law as well as the fact that she is a woman. She is willing to break gender norms by stepping out of her way to be resistant and do what she believes is right. This shows that this issue of burying her brother is so important to her that she defies such immense barriers. Ismene, on the other hand, believes that these barriers are exactly the reason why they should not defy Creon, even if she does not agree with him. To Ismene, her own brother is to be condemned to an afterlife of sorrow and suffering just because a man’s word made it
Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE
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.
The Tragic Play Antigone by Sophocles has a Conflict between religious morals and loyalty to the state and its laws. This struggle is displayed through the characters Antigone and Creon. Antigone’s life meets a tragic end in the play, but her death makes her a martyr leading to the citizens to follow her view of religion.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
At the beginning of the play, Antigone is upset about a decree Creon, the king, made (190). The decree states that her brother, Polyneices, was not allowed to be buried, because Creon believes that Polyneices was a “traitor who made war on his country” (211). Antigone has a very strong love for her brother and the gods, therefore she believes Polyneices deserves a proper burial according to the laws of the gods (192). Antigone says to Ismene that she [Antigone] will go against Creon’s decree-which states that if anyone buries Polyneices they will be killed (190). Antigone is extremely angry with Creon for creating the decree, to the point where she decides to make a big deal about the burial, instead of lying low and doing it in secret (192). Antigone even tells Ismene to “Tell everyone!” that she [Antigone] buried Polyneices when everyone finds out, and not keep it a secret-although Ismene doesn’t listen (193). Antigone’s decision not to do the bur...