How Did Jean Anouilh Use Creon To Represent Marshal Petain

1514 Words4 Pages

Vlad Slivkov
Why did, Jean Anouilh in his play Antigone chose Creon to represent Marshal Petain? Jean Anouilh, considered one of the greatest play writers and dramatists of the twentieth century is remembered greatly for his innovative tragedies, heartbreaking passions and charming poetry. His best-known play, Antigone, is a tragedy that derived from the Greek mythology and Sophocles’ “Antigone” all the way from fifth century B.C. Anouilh wrote this play at the heat of the World War II and it took only a couple of years for the play Antigone to be set on stage. Anouilh’s version of Antigone, begun a run of five hundred performances in Paris at the Theatre de l’Atelier on February 4, 1944 (xlvi). Even though the play was produced during the …show more content…

It is very essential to comprehend the settings of when the play was written and when it went to performance. As the Nazi forces invaded France in July 1940, “It took only six weeks for France to capitulate to the German invaders,” (According to Shirer, William L.) and the Nazi rule continued until August 1944. Under such conditions Germans had set up a puppet government in Southern France at Vichy under the direction of a Nazi collaborator, Marshal Petain. During this time period there were many individuals that opposed this regime, including Jean Anouilh, who encouraged the resistance. Through his play, Antigone, he was able to disguise a message for the French. As Ted Freeman said, “At first, certain of Anouilh’s compatriots hostile to collaboration with the Germans, French people interpreted Antigone as a play with meaning for a country suffering under alien rule” (xlvi). According to Anouilh’s play, Creon figures as the Nazi collaborationist ruler, resembling Marshal Petain and the French audience of the play perceived Antigone as the French Resistance. The tone of the author in Antigone criticizes Creon, which makes a parallel to Anouilh opposing the Vichy Government. When Marshal Petain came to power under a puppet government he tried doing “what is best for the country” by capitulating to Germany and compromising with Germans to keep the Nation from war, which is very alike to Creon who values compromises and tries doing what was best for the greater good for the city of Thebes. During the conversation with Antigone, Creon tries persuading her to go home but she refuses (33).Through the creation of the play Antigone, Jean Anouilh attempted to spark French Resistance against the Nazis and their collaborators. Anouilh was successful in this project since by 1944 there were 100,000

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