Theme Of Feminism In Antigone

What is worth mentioning in Sophocles’ play is that he not only showed the weak side of women but also the strong ones. For example, Ismene is the traditional role of women in ancient Greek—coward, fear of men power and feeble. For Ismene, "we must remember we were born women, not meant to strive with men" (Antigone). She even chose to die with Antigone while hearing her sentence, for she was afraid that she would be alone, she could not be able to fight against Creon, this men-dominant society. In contrast, her sister Antigone presents the “women power”.

No one can really say how old feminism is for sure or the date feminism started, but most is credited to past centuries. Nevertheless, women have been feminists for much longer. In Sophocles’s Antigone, the heroine Antigone defies the authority of a patriarchal society and takes action on her own belief of what is right. Antigone goes directly against a man’s will and attempts to bury her brother, this gets her in trouble but sets her apart from the women at the time and defines her as a woman and not just a person, Sophocles argues that Antigone is a proto-feminist whose implementation in a mostly male dominated culture is inevitable to cause problems. Ismene, points out to Antigone, “Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men,” (Sophocles 646).

Although the word patriarchy is derived from Greek language which means ruler of a family. This unconscious practise is very powerful barrier to empowering women in various societies all over the world. The modern meaning of patriarchy can be easily as traditional system that subordinates women at work, home and other societal institutions (Lerner, 1986). Historically women struggles are the one that brought this issue to most people. Movies like whale rider also bring awareness to many people about patriarchal injustices that women struggle.

Even though Antigone by Sophocles existed before the word Feminism, that doesn't mean it couldn't show some of its primary fundamentals. Sophocles presents a female character in this play, who is a strong believer and who shows feminist logic. Antigone rejects the customary part of woman in Greece and she defies her ruler Creon, in various points of view making her be depicted as a feminist. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society, Sophocles’ Antigone depicts women as being solid and capable of making wise decisions. In the play we see Antigone meeting with her sister Ismene to talk about the announcement Creon made regarding their brother Polyneices.

There was no reason that the Seneca Falls event was unwomanly. This convention was empowering, and acted upon bravery, changing societal beliefs of women. The Worcester Telegram stated, “ a woman is nobody, a wife is everything” This perfectly showed how women were treated as items. For a man to say this was disgusting. Being a woman was something to be proud of, not ashamed.

Nevertheless, it shows a woman standing up to a powerful man in a time where that was not heard of which makes Antigone herself a feminist figure. At the very beginning of the play, it was shown the difference in personalities and viewpoints in Antigone and her sister, Ismene. After Antigone told her sister what she was going to do and asked for her help, Ismene replied like every other woman would in that era. “I shall do no dishonor. But to act against the citizens.

Antigone was not married but she was also conformed within most of these rules and regulations, although she was not like most of the other girls due to the fact that she told Ismene “From mine own He has no right to stay me”, referring to Creon. She was not bothered by risking her own life by going against her future uncle-in-laws orders, or by going against the norms of society. Antigone is seen in these plays as a self-righteous feminist, determined to do what she feels is right even if she is breaking the law. Antigone has major respect for the dead and believes they deserve special treatment. Her devotion to respecting her dead brother leads to her own death, and the death of Creon’s son and wife by the form of

Her works provide an incentive for women to take action in starting their own debates or joining a debate that can contribute to the quarrel. She also gave suitable advice to the women of the time about learning to live in that society despite all the misogyny because that’s how God intended it to be. Without Christine’s involvement, it’s very probable that women would have never had a way of joining the quarrel or t least would not have joined until after the Renaissance. The audacity that Christine had in speaking up about the Rose and challenging the work of such a revered piece of fiction, set her apart from any other female writer because she was willing to put her career and reputation on the line for the chance to participate in what would later became an important movement for women of the Middle Ages. Simply, without Christine there would be no querelle des femmes nor would the genre of misogynistic writing exasperate as it did in later

Its opponents have even suggested that feminist rhetoric condemns the opposite sex to the extent of gender antagonism (Young). In light of both the altruistic progressivism and the criticized status surrounding the contemporary women’s movement, the progress made through centuries of perseverance overall suggests that the movement intends to better and help the status of women in society. Now a movement based around securing the franchise of women, contemporary feminism initially spawned to uphold the rights of women before they were legally acknowledged. The spirit of the movement established itself at this initial point, a “gathering devoted to women’s rights” (“The Women 's Rights Movement, 1848-1920”). As such, in commitment to its original form, the contemporary movement reflects

Women’s Depiction in Shakespeare 's 'The Tempest ' William Shakespeare developed his work “The Tempest” in a time when a woman was the most powerful human in his society—the era of Queen Elizabeth. To rise to such a position in any culture, a woman is required to be very influential, respected and trusted in the community. In this regard, with Queen Elizabeth on the throne, any reader of the tempest would expect that a woman had a good reputation and important role in the society. However, in “The Tempest,” it is totally the opposite and one would even wonder seriously how Queen Elizabeth made it to the throne. The play seems to ‘deny the significance, and even, occasionally the presence of the female characters, however, basing vast power on their chastity and fertility while revealing a patriarchal society.