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Introduction and thesis for antigone
Portrayal of women in literature
Portrayal of women in literature
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Roles of Women in the Greek Tragedy Antigone Despite the male dominant society of Ancient Greece, the women in Sophocles’ play Antigone all express capabilities of powerful influence and each individually possess unique characteristics, showing both similarities and contrasts. The women in the play are a pivotal aspect that keeps the plot moving and ultimately leads to the catharsis of this tragedy. Beginning from the argument between Antigone and Ismene to Eurydice’s suicide, a male takes his own life and another loses everything he had all as a result of the acts these women part take in. The women all put their own family members above all else, but the way they go about showing that cherishment separates them amongst many other things. In one of the opening scenes, the fluctuating emotions of the heated dialogue between Ismene and Antigone takes place. The two sisters take turns evoking passion and subjectiveness on their role as people in this world, but more specifically as civilians of Greece. Antigone has the mentality that she owes her duty of being an obedient family member (Johnson 370). Likewise, Ismene fears for her sister’s life and tries to persuade her that her allegiance may lay too strongly in the wrong place. Both women ultimately value family, however, they are split between whom they are most considerate to and immediately cause the audience to take sides. Antigone, the protagonist of the play, has what is seemingly the most powerful female role. From the very beginning of the plot she foreshadows her demise but expresses it through her stubbornness and inability to realize the great power of man. It is possible that she was aware of Creon’s capabilities as a leader, but nonetheless, she fights back by going t... ... middle of paper ... ... on the Plays of Sophocles. SIU Press, 1991. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Johnson, Patricia J. "Woman's Third Face: A Psycho/Social Reconsideration of Sophocles' Antigone." Arethusa 30.3 (1997): 369-398. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Kirkpatrick, Jennet. "The Prudent Dissident: Unheroic Resistance in Sophocles’ Antigone." The Review of Politics 73.03 (2011): 401-424. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Lyberaki, Antigone. "The Crisis And Women's Economic Independence: Some Warnings From Greece." Journal Of Critical Studies In Business & Society 3.1 (2012): 12-39. Business Source Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Rosenfield, Kathrin H. "Getting Inside Sophocles' Mind Through Holderlin's Antigone." New Literary History 30.1 (1999): 107-127. Project MUSE. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Peter Bagg. The Norton Anthology World Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. A. N.p.: W.W. Norton &, 2012. 747-83. Print.
In the play Antigone written by Sophacles, Antigone did not really have a role to play in society. She explored a contrast between the behaviour expected by women and the way she really acted in society. Women were considered as slaves being servants in homes, weaving all the time. During those days women did not have any rights and only had to obey the King’s orders.
The consequences of acts of rebellion against their patriarchal systems by Antigone and Lady Macbeth result in their premature deaths. Two women who exist in society as property of men, yet gather the courage to speak up in order to get what they want. Each of these characters uses her dainty hands in deliberate actions against their male counterparts in wild disregard for traditional rules. An inner spirit empowers them with silent force against the men of influence in their lives. Antigone claims her superiority over Creon in confession to Ismene, the chorus, and to the King himself. She undermines his power by going against the decreed law, and instead honors her brother Polyneices by the act of burial. Similar to Lady Macbeth, our heroine Antigone applies the make-up of a man’s abilities as a formidable force against the patriarchy. Near the end of her life, she fears nothing, nor regrets the rebellious acts against the king that bring to her the solace of death. Antigone’s lips gush bold words as bright as burning stars, and from her soft, supple throat, she spews at Creon, “If this hurries me to death before my time/ Such a death is gain.” (210). (However, while doing so she writes off the only female remaining in her line.) (honor her male family member), The menacing defiance of Antigone lingers like a wet sliver of wood under a parched nail when she refuses to acknowledge his public shaming of her actions. The burial now serves as a public forum for Antigone to proudly claim Creon’s lack of power over her as a ruler and as a man.
In the plays Antigone and A Doll's House, the playwrights discuss gender roles and how they relate to the characters in each individual play. Antigone, by Sophocles, follows a young girl who defies a law issued by King Creon against burying her brother, who fought against their town in the recent war. Creon orders her to be executed, but she ends up committing suicide. In A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, a wife named Nora takes out a loan by herself, unacceptable for a woman during that time period, and tries to appease the lender who threatens to reveal her loan. In the end, Nora's husband, Torvald, finds out about the loan and Nora ends up leaving him. In each of these plays, Sophocles and Ibsen offer insight into the problems faced by women who are independent, stubborn, and brave.
In the playwright, Antigone, by Sophocles Ismene’s main goal throughout the story is to prevent further tragedy and sorrow by reasoning with Antigone, her sister, with her rash decisions. For instance, Antigone and Ismene’s brother died fighting bravely without a proper funeral; so Antigone with her noble heart wanted to jeopardize her life for a dead loved one against their merciless king. However, Ismene did not want to see her beloved sister wind up dead over her brother so she said, “ But think of the danger! Think of what Creon will do.” Ismene wanted to keep the remainder of her family alive, so she knew that she had to make the “truth” clear to her sister. Therefore, she desperately tried to put things in perspective by making Antigone
The play Antigone is usually thought of as either the tragedy of Creon or the tragedy of Antigone, but it is just as much the tragedy of Antigone's sister Ismene. In the play, Antigone and Creon hold on to two different ideals, Antigone to the ideal of sororal duty and holy rights, while Creon holds on to the rules of his kingdom, dominated by the laws of men and of reason. Ismene is obsessed by her role as a woman, choosing to ignore her feelings of obligation towards her family, and remaining completely indecisive and inactive, as she believes a woman should. By the end of the play she is left in the same position as Creon, without any family in the world and feeling partially responsible for the outcome. If Ismene had stood up and done something either to stop Creon from sentencing Antigone to death, or to help Antigone in burying Polyneices, she would in the end be with her family in life or in death, and be better of than being left alone on earth alive. Also the actions of the characters in the play are very comparable to the ideas and strategies of the Greeks and Spartans in Thucydides, written shortly afterwards.
Antigone is almost hailed to a god like status, as Oedipus was before her. She is extremely strong and unbelievably willing to sacrifice everything in the name of honor and pride. She so easily makes her decisions and chooses to die willingly without a second thought. The minute Creon questions her on breaking the law, she states: “Die I must, -I knew that well (how should I not?)-even without thy edicts.” What is even more is that Antigone was a woman, a woman in a time of extreme male domination. This makes her even stronger of a person in the play and shows the growing strength of the gender that we know of today.
One of the conflicts in Antigone, is the struggle between men and women. Ismene tells Antigone that since birth, women “were not born to contend with men,” (75) displaying women’s obedience and passivity. In the same passage, Ismene says: “we’re underlings, ruled by stronger hands,” (76) a representation of men’s aggressive and “stronger hands” that dominate women and treats them as second-class citizens. The only woman in Thebes who desires to break free from these chains is Antigone, who stands up against Ismene’s passivity urging her to “submit to this,” (77) and defy Creon by burying Polynices. By breaking Creon’s edict, Antigone challenges the traditional gender roles women and men play. In what ways does the theme of gender in Antigone, demonstrate the passion and choices behind Antigone and Ismene’s decisions?
Do women participate more in more often in today 's workforce rather than they did in earlier times? How do the dynamics of the participation, in respect to the times, compare or contrast? In Sophocles ' Antigone and Dreiser’s Sister Carrie, the women must both overcome gender barriers throughout their struggles. Throughout their lives they each displayed strong and pioneering actions. Even when they were looked down upon by men, they persevered. While the number of women who participate in the workforce has increased dramatically since the 1930’s, to what extent they are participating, and the aspects of their participation, still faces gender bias.
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
Antigone, a resolute and heroic female protagonist, pits her individual free will against the intractable forces of fate and against the irrational and unjust laws of tyrannical man like Creon.
Antigone’s own excessive pride drives her to her defeat. Her arrogance and strive for self-importance blinds her to the consequences of her actions. Ismene, Antigone’s sister, rejects to take part in the crime leaving Antigone all on her own. Ismeme declares “why rush to extremes? Its madness, madness” (Sophocles 80). Ismene fails to comprehend the logic behind her siste...
In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, it is greatly apparent just within the first few exchanges between Ismene and Antigone that there are various social issues surrounding the women in ancient Greece. The play raises many gender and socially related issues especially when looking at the contextual background of the playwright and the representation of the women within the play. When the characters of the first scene begin their analog, it is important to note what they are actually saying about each other and what their knowledge of their own social status is. The audience is first introduced to Antigone who we later learn is the antagonist of the play as she rebels against the protagonist, Creon. Her sister, Ismene, is the second character the audience is introduced to, hears of Antigone's plan to bury their brother's body in the first scene. Ismene’s actions and words give the reader the hint that her sister’s behavior is not usual, "so fiery" and "so desperate" are the words used to describe Antigone's frame of mind. At this very early point in the play the reader discovers that Antigone is determined to carry out her mission to bury her beloved brother. However, she is in no position that gives her the rights as a woman, sister, or even future queen to make her own decisions and rebel. Instead, her decision to bury her brother demonstrates her loyalty to her family, the gods, and to all women. Her motivation for those decisions will end up driving her far more than that of what the laws set by Creon have implemented. She shows no fear over disobeying the king and later says about the punishment of death "I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(Sophocles, 2). Throughout the play the reader can see the viewpoint of an obedient woman, a rebellious woman, and the social norms required for both of them.
Antigone is the figure who identifies with feminist thoughts, while her sister Ismene, believes woman should only follow what men want. Antigone held a meeting with her sister Ismene to discuss burying the body of Polyneices. According to Arlene Saxonhouse, “Antigone’s explanation to Ismene for the need to disobey the speech of Creon depends on affirming the sanctity of the bonds of family, the commonality of their mother’s womb and their great suffering, and the great love for her brother” (474). This quote represents how Antigone feels about the situation. Antigone feels because she and Ismene are sisters and thy feel remorse towards the death of their brother, she should want to help Antigone. Antigone telling Ismene her plans causes feelings that a women should have never had in that time period. Ismene tells Antigone, “We are only women, /we cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong, we must give in to the law” (1.47-49). Antigone is angry for what her sister has said. She claimed, “If that is what you think, /I should not want you, even if you asked to come” (1. 54-56). Even when Ismene was ready to take part of the blame of the crime that was committed, Antigone, being as noble as she is, would not allow her sister to take any of the punishment. Because she protected her sister shows the reader that Antigone is truly a strong
Feminism is a large issue in present day while it was not such an important idea throughout history. Man was historically stronger, smarter, and more useful than woman. As it turns out, that idea is incorrect although at the time that “Antigone” by Jean Anouilh was written, this idea was widely accepted by both man and woman. The play itself is about breaking what is law to do what is right, but under all of that lies the true theme of man vs. woman. Antigone is set out to see how far a woman can push a man before a war is started.
Although ancient Greece was a male-dominate society, Sophocles' work Antigone, portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. In this famous tragedy, Sophocles uses the characters Ismene and Antigone to show the different characteristics and roles that woman are typical of interpreting. Traditionally women are characterized as weak and subordinate and Ismene is portrayed in this way. Through the character of Antigone, women finally get to present realistic viewpoints about their character.