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Horrible Warnings Of The Good Life Analysis

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Horrible Warnings – Oppositions of the Good Life Terrible examples sometimes possess greater value than good ones. Not only do these horrible warnings display clear distinctions as compared to the proper examples, but people can also obtain better understanding through negative demonstrations. In Antigone and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. both define the good life as the courage of self-sacrifice for the betterment of others. While they provide the proper definition of the good life, there are also some characters or people in both texts illustrating the horrible warnings of what is not the good life. More specifically, Creon fails to acknowledge the unwritten human rights given by God, Ismene does not challenge the constricting stereotypes of gender, and the White Moderates were lacking the moral responsibility to address injustice on African Americans. Creon, Ismene, and the White Moderates represent the horrible warnings because they are unable to value …show more content…

Ismene adheres to the social identity as an obedient woman and is unwilling to battle the authority when confronting injustice. After Antigone shares her bold plan of burying Polyneices, Ismene pleads with Antigone not to violate the decree: “We must remember, first, that we two are by nature women and not fit to fight with men; second, that we are ruled by others stronger than ourselves” (Blondell 22). Ismene is completely convinced by the social custom of that time, and she also tries to persuade Antigone to believe that women should be submissive to powerful and stronger men. As a consequence, Ismene fails to carry out her primary obligation to perform the funeral rites for Polynecies. Because of the cultural stereotypes of gender, Ismene is intimidated by the power of man that also prevents her from defending the natural rights of

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Similarities Between Ismene And Antigone

53 Words | 1 Pages

Antigone and Ismene both have different personalities. Antigone is a brave and rebellious individual. Ismene on the other hand is a loyal and honest to all. The sisters felt their brother, Polyneices, deserved a proper burial yet only Antigone was willing to go against the law of gods and the law of creon.

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Compare And Contrast Creon's Response To Antigone

589 Words | 3 Pages

Dylan Madden Word Count: 508 Sophocles’ Antigone Response 6 September 2017 Before her story, Antigone’s brother Polynices, who led the armies of Argos to an unsuccessful attack which killed him and her other brother Eteocles, was considered a traitor by the new king of Thebes, Creon. Because of his actions, Creon didn’t want to bury his body however, Polynices sister Antigone saw his unburied corpse to be an offense not only to the gods but the fact that her brother to not be buried led her into doing what was right to her by burying her brother herself. Unlike Antigone, her sister Ismene was a woman who tried to be safe, to talk Antigone out of her plan.

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How Does Antigone You D Bury Him When A Law Forbids The City

75 Words | 1 Pages

To begin with, Ismene could be eliminated from “Antigone” because she does not affect the story a lot. In line 53, Ismene says to Antigone “You’d bury him when a law forbids the city?”. She only tries to convince Antigone to not bury Polynices, but she does it anyways. Without Ismene, Antigone would have still buried Polynices. Ismene is a character in the story that would not affect the story if he were to disappear.

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Theme Of Loyalty In Antigone

754 Words | 4 Pages

Loyalty was probably the most important value of ancient Greek civilization. It was embedded in everything the Ancient Greeks did. They believed in loyalty to the family, to the community and obedience to the will of gods. In Antigone, we see many situations where loyalty to family is shown, especially by Antigone herself. However, there is another form of loyalty shown in the play, loyalty to the law or state which we can see in Creon. .

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Offstage Behavior In Sophocles Antigone

623 Words | 3 Pages

Ismene tries to take responsibility for her actions but Antigone prevents her from doing so. Antigone is not responsible for burying Polyneices the first time because of the extreme differences between the burials and Ismene trying to take her share of the

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Martin Luther King Antigone Analysis

1411 Words | 6 Pages

Ismene believes a woman shouldn’t fight authority, especially if death is the penalty. When she was first asked to participate in the plan she said, “What? You’d bury him when the law forbids the city?” (Antigone 61).

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Ethos, Pathos and Logos in 'Antigone' by Sophocles

1197 Words | 5 Pages

“I shall be hating you soon,” (193). Antigone then transitions into a more emotional form of persuasion, by threatening the relationship between them if she is to not join in on her plan. This targets the guilty conscience of Ismene which is normally what tends to push people to agree with the arguer, although it can be seen as a slightly manipulative tactic. Despite Antigone’s passive aggressive argument with Ismene, she fails to convince her to join the burial and carries out her mission on her own. However, the sentry Creon sent to spy on the grave spots her and brings her to Creon as the guilty

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Antigone Rhetorical Analysis

932 Words | 4 Pages

Antigone uses both logical and emotional appeals to persuade her sister Ismene that their brother Polyneices should be honored and have a proper burial. During an argument between Antigone and Ismene, Ismene believes that the law should be obeyed therefore she will not help Antigone. Antigone states, “Polyneices, who fought as bravely and died as miserably…no one shall bury him, no one mourn for him… his body must lie in the fields (Sophocles et al.190).” Antigone is trying to communicate to Ismene through the use of an emotional and logical appeal by explaining that he was, left to be decomposed by the birds. In the Greek culture, having a burial is a civic and religious duty which is necessary to proceed to the afterlife unaffected.

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Creon's Mistakes In Antigone

686 Words | 3 Pages

The burial of Polyneices is viewed nobly, yet Antigone is not faultless in that act. One of Antigone’s largest mistakes is that she burns bridges with those that care about her. Pleading with Antigone, Ismene laments “why would I care to live when you are gone?” (548). Antigone dismisses this heartfelt plea by deferring Ismene to Creon, thus isolating herself from her only kin.

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Antigone Conscience Vs Society

710 Words | 3 Pages

“How could I live on alone, without my sister.” (Sophocles, page 32) She tries to take credit for the burial with Antigone. Ismene is distraught when Antigone rejects her and so she tries to appeal to Creon, asking him how he could kill his son’s bride-to-be. When Creon brushes off her pleas, he sentences her to be sent to the dungeons with Antigone.

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Ismene's Changes In Sophocles Antigone

198 Words | 1 Pages

When Ismene tries to convince Antigone not to bury Polynices, she says, "We 're underlings, ruled by much stronger hands" (76). In saying that they are "ruled by much stronger hands" , Ismene implies that men are stronger than and have authority over women. She fails to take action because she is fearful of man 's authority. However, she later contradicts this view when she says "I 'm not ashamed / to sail through trouble with you" (607-608). Ismene is willing to endure this ordeal with Antigone.

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Gender Roles In Antigone

483 Words | 2 Pages

Ismene trembles in feat because her life could also be in danger for being the sister of Antigone. Throughout all the family drama if Antigone dies Ismene will be the only descendant from Oedipus alive. Ismene is worried and says, “Antigone I am so afraid for you” (3) because she knows Antigone will die soon. Ismene tells Antigone to be intelligent about her actions and not eager to respond to situations.

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Internal Conflict In Antigone

759 Words | 4 Pages

Ismene has an internal conflict for not trying to help her sister when first asked, which is the reason for her trying to take some blame in the acts Antigone had done. Antigone and Ismene are both to be put to death but Creon relents on the executing off Ismene. Before Creon did so, Ismene is scorned by Antigone for her late attempt for trying to be righteous. Ismene has always believed in loyalty and has always been loyal to her family. Even though she made a late decision and it is rejected by Antigone she is still loyal to her family by offering her help after she denied it to Antigone the first

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Similarities Between Antigone And Ismene

239 Words | 1 Pages

Antigone and Ismene are two major characters with two different personalities. One sister is very strong-willed and the other is compliant to whatever higher power there is. Antigone and Ismene both care for their family. Antigone is a strong-willed.

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Theme Of Power In Antigone

984 Words | 4 Pages

He considered that Polynice did not deserve to be interred and he would punish who tried to do it. Making reference to the play, the first act describes with clarity what each of the two sisters, Antigone and Ismene, understand about power and justice. The discussion that they have is about to bury their brother Polynice or not. The position of Ismene (the oldest sister) is noticeably submissive, and obedient, even if she think the same as her sister, she believe that the correct thing is to do what her uncle is told because is the man, the leader, the king, he is who have the power, and the role of women is just to be married, be quiet and loyal. She argues that because she and Antigone are women, they lack the power to defy the state.

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