Antigone Research Paper
Claire Manguerra Phil 140-02 April 27, 2015 Professor Eisenman Final Paper The Choices We Make Should Make Us Happy In life, we have choices, good and bad. Sometimes the choices we make are very dangerous, but in our mind and heart, we know it is correct. We do not have much time in our life to be sad and regret things we do. Therefore we need to make choices that make us happy and satisfied. People should live their life how they want to because it will make them a happier person. In the books that we have read in class, I have noticed a constant force each character had of having a choice that would make them happier. In the book Apology, Socrates taught individuals his belief because he wanted too. In the book Antigone, Antigone goes against …show more content…
Antigone challenges Creon himself, who is the male ruler of Thebes. “And if you think my acts are foolishness the foolishness may be in a fool’s eye” (Antigone 470). In this line, Antigone shows her opinion by calling Creon a fool. This represents that she does not have respect for Creon for being king or for being a male in a patriarchal society. Women are known to never disobey males because they did not have as much power as the men did. Creon knows that she cannot do it because he is king and everyone will listen to the ruler of his or her town. But Antigone goes against this and buries her brother anyway. Antigone also goes against the government’s laws, which are run by a male. She tells Creon the reason she buried her brother was because he loves him and that they are family. “It’s not for him to keep me from my own” (Antigone 48). Antigone rebels against the norm of being a women and saying what she believes in because in this society, women had no say in their opinion. Ismene tells her sister “…since we are subject to stronger power we must hear these orders, or any that may be worse” (Antigone 63). Ismene knows that women have no power in their society because of their gender. But Antigone is not afraid of what Creon is going to do to her so she buries her brother anyway. She knows that what she did could put the consequence of her to death, but her attitude shows incredible
Similarities Between Antigone And A Raisin In The Sun
1116 Words | 5 PagesAs Ismene gives her advice to Antigone on whether or not she should bury their brother, Antigone disagrees with her sister's opinion and replies, “[h]e is my brother still, and yours;/ though you would have it otherwise,/ but I shall not abandon him” (Sophocles 345). Antigone decides to ignore her sisters advice, which she later reflects on when she is being sentenced by Creon, as she let her pride get the better of her by not listening to her sister. Due to her decisions, Antigone can be represented as a character who does not want to be proven wrong and doesn’t want to face the reality of others’ opinions.
Pride In Antigone
667 Words | 3 PagesMen have a lot of pride in Antigone, they believe that women are secondary in society. With men talking down to women; for example, Creon says to Antigone “Pride? In a slave?... Who is the man here…”
Essay On Life Is Made Of Choice
1180 Words | 5 PagesOne can either choose to be positive about situations in their life or negative. They can either choose the good leaves or the bad
Antigone Character Of Creon
552 Words | 3 PagesIn the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"
Antigone Compare And Contrast
121 Words | 1 PagesAntigone looks at herself as equal to men or if anything higher than men, while Ismene thinks women are inferior to men. In the Greek tragedy “Antigone”, Antigone learns that King Creon refuses to give a proper burial for Polynecies, brother of Ismene and Antigone. Antigone shares this with Ismene, she refuses to help Antigone bury her brother and thinks the decree that Creon has implemented are for everyone’s safety and well-being.
Family In Sophocles Antigone
636 Words | 3 PagesThe Importance of family and cultural values is proved in the Greek playwright written by Sophocles. Sophocles helped us understand each character as we meet them in the first scene. Antigone, we learn that she is the antagonist as she rebels against her uncle, Creon, and her love for her own blood, and that she is not one to stand down for any man. Antigone, Ismene and Creon are characters that are of discussion in the play of gender roles. Antigone identifies the love for family, and what others should have with one another, by trying to convince her sister Ismene to help her bury her brother, Polyneices.
Antigone Tragic Hero Essay
866 Words | 4 PagesSince Antigone is very loyal to the gods and does not want to upset them. She is determined to bury her brother’s rotting corpse even though getting caught means death. After Antigone is caught burying Polyneices, she explains to Creon why she buried him and expresses why her loyalty to the gods is
Similarities Between Oedipus The King And Antigone
1222 Words | 5 PagesShe is not afraid of the most powerful man in her community, and even when faced with the punishment of death, she continues to battle against the idea of men being more capable and possessing more power. Antigone highlights how the expectations of ancient Greeks were that a woman was to silently obey the male figures in her life. Antigone confronts the false ideals of her time, and demonstrates that a rebel and a hero should have no gender associated with it and that a woman’s power and abilities has no bounds. Antigone not only is able to show Creon and every other man in Thebes that she is just as strong as they are, she displays piety while doing so. She fights against the law of man, and obeys the law of the gods.
Oedipus Is The Tragic Hero In Antigone
700 Words | 3 PagesAlthough Antigone is a woman and is not allowed to say much this never stops her from anything important to her. In the beginning of the play Antigone is conversing with her sister, Ismene about going to bury their brother Polynices, whose been killed in battle even though it was against the law. Creon, the new king has forbid anyone to bestow the honor of being buried to Polynices because he died fighting another citizen of Thebes, therefore Creon decrees anyone who disobeys him shall be punished and killed. Antigone disobeys his orders and does it anyway because that is her beloved brother who deserves to be properly laid to rest despite what he has done, although she’s aware of the repercussions that will follow her actions. Now, Ismene is a bit more fearful of what could happen so she tells Antigone that one they are women so they should not even be thinking about an action as crazy as this, and two Creon has forbidden doing so or else
Conflict In Antigone
889 Words | 4 PagesWhen a distraught and angry Antigone first brings her plans to Ismene, the only response she receives is a simple question: “What good am I to you?” (47). Ismene seems to betray her sister’s principles, passively standing by rather than taking action against injustice. Twice more during their conversation, Ismene gives off an aura of weakness that contradicts Antigone’s determinedness. Ismene first appeals to the social norms of the time, insisting that she “must obey the ones who stand in power/Why rush to extremes?/
How Does Antigone Change Society
1452 Words | 6 PagesHer place in a society, run primarily by men, is to listen and obey but only if there’s not another option. In the beginning of the play, Ismene is questioning Antigone’s foretold actions of the burial of Polyneices. Ismene responds to Antigone in the pure intent of following the decree of Creon, “We cannot fight with men, Antigone! / The law is strong, we must give in to the law / In this thing, and in worse.”
Creon's Tragic Flaw In Antigone
1226 Words | 5 PagesHis free choice is represented by a quote from the guard surveying Polyneices body, “We saw this girl giving that dead man's corpse full burial rites—an act you’d made illegal” (337). Although Creon's own niece turns out to be the one that went against his word, he still chooses to follow through with the punishment even though the deed Antigone did was morally right. The punishment that he lays upon Antigone is excessive and unjust considering the crime. While in an argument with her, he calls to his guards proclaiming, “Take her and shut her up, as I have ordered, in her tomb’s embrace [...]
Theme Of Gender Inequality In Antigone
489 Words | 2 PagesIsmene says to Antigone that the “law is strong, we must give into law”(Sophocles 192). Ismene’s words seem to signify rationality, but in fact, it’s her way of submitting; she also informs Antigone of their reality, they as women “cannot fight with men”(Sophocles 191) and must yield to “those in authority”(Sophocles 192). Her words clearly present her acceptance of patriarchy, believing she truly is powerless to change her circumstances leading her to automatically give up the fight for equality. Ismene, like many other women today, abandons all hopes of removing the negative portrayal placed on her as a woman and lives a life of
Sophocles Antigone: Polynices Character Analysis
1014 Words | 5 PagesIsmene is stuck in between choosing what is right and what is dishonoring/wrong; the right choice would be to follow the divine law, their gods law, or follow Creon’s law that goes against the gods’. Creon’s man law also proves that his tragic flaw was hubris; his excessive pride and belief that his power was unlimited caused a series of events that led to his tragic downfall. The theme of gender roles, especially the “place” of women, is very limited. “Burying and mourning their dead relatives gave women an opportunity to do something important for their families. It brought women to the fore and gave them a role to play” (67), this quote is proving that a Creon is limiting one of the few things women were allowed to at the time of their society, which was for Antigone to bury Polynices.
The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost
711 Words | 3 PagesLife is full of hard choices. Everyone makes hundred thousand decisions every day. It may be a small thing or a big thing. Every day, we choose what to wear, which road to take, what to eat or drink, and when to go to bed. We decide what to be our jobs, should we marry or not, and will we have a baby.
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