An analysis of Polyeucte by Pierre Corneille reveals that the presence of God’s grace is evidently alive and can be seen in the character’s actions and choices throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, the main character Polyeucte is immediately thrown into a dilemma, to be baptized or not to be baptized. On one hand he fears his wife, who is a non-Christian will become angry with him for going through with the baptism. On the other hand, his friend Nearchus urges him to become a Christian as soon as possible. The question then becomes how the role of grace affects not only Polyeucte’s actions but all the main characters in the play. Grace is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, as “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification”. This leads us to trying to figure out where grace is present in the play.
A very brief summary of Polyeucte, begins in Act I, where Paulina, the wife of Polyeucte confesses she was in love with a man named Severus before she married Polyeucte. Paulina has since been convinced that Severus died in battle; however her father, Felix is introduced into the play and announces that Severus is alive and is frightful that he has come to seek revenge against him because he rejected Severus Paulina’s hand in marriage. Polyeucte and his friend Nearchus get baptized and become Christians and when Felix learns of this he immediately puts Nearchus to death in order to strike fear into Polyeucte and make him to recant. Paulina begs her father to not put Polyeucte to death but her father is scared that Severus is plotting something against him and executes Polyeucte. Right after the moment that Polyeucte becomes a martyr, Paulina converts to Christianity and Felix f...
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...mans did not need grace and that humans were predestined to be saved or not to be saved. They had no choice in what their fate was to become so grace did not play any role in their lives. The nonexistent of grace is seen in Corneille’s counterpart at this time period in French Theater, Jean Racine. Comparing both of their famous works, Polyeucte to Jean Racine’s Phaedra, differences are clearly evident in both playwright’s beliefs and ideals. A result of this was from both playwrights upbringings and culture of society surrounding them growing up. The role of Racine’s Jansenism beliefs comes directly from him studying at Port Royal which was ruled by Jansenists. On the contrary Corneille grew up surrounded by Jesuit beliefs so this tells us the major difference between the two. The absence of grace in Racine’s Phaedra in comparison to Corneille’s Polyeucte is huge.
Oedipus accidentally killed his father and married his mother. Because of that act, Oedipus ended up cursing his family and died a horrible death. After his death, his sons inherited his kingdom and in a power struggle ended up killing each other. One of the sons, Polynices attacked the city to try and claim power from his brother. But since both of the brothers died and the city was not taken Polynices was labeled as a traitor whereas the other brother who died defending the city was celebrated as a hero. Creon decreed at the beginning of the play Antigone that no one was to bury the body of traitorous Polynices. Antigone felt that it was here responsibility to bury the body because he was still a member of her family. This led to a huge argument with Creon who felt he shouldn’t be crossed because he was the leader of the state. Eventually both Creon and Antigone are destroyed by the gods (and by each other) through their own actions.
At the very beginning of the play (Act 1 Scene1) it is clear that the
The beginning of the play starts in darkness, which immediately gives off a dark and eerie mood. The introduction of the characters and the scene of Antigone burying her brother gave off a mood of intense sadness. Only Antigone is the one that actually cared and give her brother the proper respect and send off to the afterlife. This created a sense of isolation on the stage, as Antigone was the only one participating in the burial even though all the actors were clearly on stage and in eyesight of her act. My mood changed to confusion in the middle of the play as the characters seemingly broke into dance flawlessly at what seemed to be a randome point in the play. My mood finally changed to pity and understanding after Kreon realizes what his actions resulted in. Kreon was unable to see how not burying Polyneikes would affect his family and those he
Antigone believes that a woman should be intrepid and strong, even at the risk of challenging men’s authority. When she proposes to bury Polynices, Ismene answers, “we’re not born to contend with men”. (75) Antigone’s response, “that death will be a glory” (86), does not directly address gender issues, but it expresses her fury at Ismene’s passivity. After the burial of Polynices, Antigone defiantly states, “I did it. I don’t deny a thing,” while being interrogated by Creon (492) and later comments that she was “not ashamed for a moment, not to honor my brother”. (572-3) Antigone’s gallant speech and defiance toward traditional gender identities audaciously shows her revolutionary desire for gender equality.
Thurston, BB, JM Ryan, and DJ Harrington. Philippians and Philemon. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009.
Antigone is the protagonist and namesake of the play Antigone by Sophocles; she is a courageous and ambitious woman for committing dangerous crimes in the name of morality. Both of Antigone's brothers Eteocles and Polyneices kill each other in a civil
Sophocles’s play Antigone displays the development of the tragic hero, Creon, the king of thebes. Creon decides that Polyneices should not be buried because he betrayed his city, but an unknown felon has buried the body. The guard is assigned to watch the body, but he fails. Throughout the rising action, the guard reveals Creon's insecurities, motivations, and the interactions develop the plot of the play.
Greek tragedies, such as The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, often end with a loss, a lover's betrayal, or death. "Antigone", a Greek play, portrays series of events that follow the deaths of Antigone's brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, who died fighting for the throne of Thebes a few hours after the Trojan War. Sophocles' play discusses the effort and determination of Antigone's will to bury her brother and defend her rights. This play presents several themes that relate to historical issues during the Ancient Greek Era, such as standing up for one's belief, foolish pride, and gender discrimination. Gender discrimination was common throughout the play, because during the Greek period, women and girls couldn't attend school and had very minimum freedom.
In chapter four, Prashad talks about how capitalism operates in the United States and how immigrant merchants succeeded in a capitalistic society but black Americans did not. He explained in this chapter how polyculturism emerges as a class act and compared black Americans to the Jews and other immigrants and how they all strive to become successful in their new environment. Furthermore, this chapter talks about how capital and credit standings had an impact in a capitalistic society which prevented most black Americans from moving forward into the merchant trade. Polyculturalism then comes easier or is necessary for those who have the financial resources without the need to go through the processes of bank loans compare that to immigrant merchants
Some other conflicts in the tragedy is when Juliet is deciding to go on with the plan to fake her own death and run off with romeo. She is nervous
The true tragic hero of the play Antigone, by Sophocles, is Antigone’s uncle Creon, the king of Thebes. During a battle over the throne of Thebes, the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill each other in battle. Creon give Eteocles a proper burial, but forbids anyone from burying Polyneices’. However, his niece Antigone defies his orders and tries to bury her brother, which leads to a chain of reactions.
The actions of this play take place in mythical Athens, Greece and the neighboring woods. The events described in The Two Noble Kinsmen take place after the marriage ceremony of Theseus and Hippolyta. This explains why the atmosphere is one of happiness throughout the play. Theseus and his friend, Pirithous, depart to Thebes to face off against the tyrant Creon. The two kinsmen of the story are Palamon and Arcite who are captured by the enemy and imprisoned, where it is revealed that both men are in love with Emilia, Hippolyta’s sister. The plot of the play revolves around the events following Theseus’ victory at Thebes. The two kinsmen give Emilia the ultimatum to choose between the both of them; however, Emilia is unable to choose so the
To begin, the parallel world of Romeo and Juliet is almost a mirror reflection of reality through the similarities in the emotions and lifelike events. Many events throughout the drama imitate the experiences people encounter every day. Through the course of the play, the characters have clashing ideas about what is right and wrong. For example, the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues is fueled by the constant wrongdoings of one family to the other. In the first act, Capulet draws his sword toward the Montague family without knowledge of reason. The first brawl, started by both families, contributes to the mimesis of the tale. Young or old, strong or weak, people do not get along with one another. They are neighbors, classmates, or coworkers and each of them have unique views of each other. Capulet acts without thinking, making him a round, realistic character. Although some people act before...
In order for a play to be considered a tragedy, it must achieve the purgation of fear and pity. In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles does a great job of bringing out these two emotions in the reader. At the beginning of the play, there is a conversation between Antigone and her sister Ismene. During the conversation, the reader learns the two girls lost their father in battle and both of their brothers at the hands of one another. Then the reader learns that one of the brothers, Polynices, has been left to die without a proper burial.
The play Antigone is a Greek tragedy which results in a disastrous outcome where Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, commits suicide to make up for the improper burial/remembrance of one of her brothers, Polyneices, and to express a point in acting for what is right as a symbol of morality. The play ends as the king, Creon, realizes he is at fault for the results taken place and the chorus saying wisdom is gained upon the punishment.