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Character analysis antigone essay
Antigone Character Analysis Essay
Character of Antigone
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Antigone
When reading anything it is usually to the benefit of the reader if the author leaves the ending of the story at the end. So when I started to read Antigone and figured out right away that she would die I wondered what purpose it served to read the rest of the play. Had I not finished the play, however, I would not have ever known how Antigone was to die. Nor would I have know if Ismene would also die or if Polyneices would ever get a proper burial. Needless to say I finished the play.
Following the story line I was extremely impressed by what I thought was courage and family loyalty on the part of Antigone to risk death just to bury her deceased brother. I wondered if I, faced with the same situation, would choose the same. I tend to think that I would be more like the timid Ismene who did everything she could think of to dissuade Antigone from what she was destined to do. I can't be sure though because I don't believe in or worship the same gods Antigone did.
Continuing on I started to glean more of Creon's personality. I learned that he was not the humble and merciful person I thought he was but rather he was a prideful and maybe even a tyrant king. I say this because why else would you leave someone that has already been defeated and is dead, left unburied and then threaten death to anyone who tries to bury him? To mean this personifies cruelty and yet I can see that maybe he had a hidden agenda in doing this. This act, instead of being used as an unjust punishment, might be seen as a tool of deterrence. I certainly wouldn't want to be killed just to bury someone else.
Further on in the play, through Teiresias, I started to realize that Creon's ruling would backfire on him in a most fitting way. I don't wish death on anybody but isn't it justice served that Haemon should die because of Creon's killing Antigone. No one can say that Creon wasn't warned, both by Haemon and Teiresias. However, the deaths didn't stop there because after learning of Haemon's death Eurydice kills herself and so Creon is hurt twice over. After a while all this death gets depressing and I started to wonder if anyone would be left alive by the end of the story.
basically serves as a building block to her being admirable. Certain examples through out the play
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.
From the Greek point of view, both Creon's and Antigone's positions are flawed, because both oversimplify ethical life by recognizing only one kind of good or duty. By oversimplifying, each ignores the fact that a conflict exists at all, or that deliberation is necessary. Moreover, both Creon and Antigone display the dangerous flaw of pride in the way they justify and carry out their decisions. Antigone admits right from the beginning that she wants to carry out the burial because the action is glorious. Antigone has a savage spirit; she has spent most of her life burying her family members.
Jackie Robinson played an important role in helping break the color barrier for all African Americans who had a dream to play major league baseball. Segregation was very high in the mid-1900s and there were separate areas for African Americans to eat, drink, and even use the bathroom. There was a separate baseball league that blacks had to play in and there were absolutely NO blacks in Major League Baseball. That all changed in 1947 when Jackie Robinson was signed to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. By signing this contract it gave Jackie the opportunity to do what he loved and help change the major leagues as well.
Creon first abused his power when he decided to go against the God’s law that every human deserved to be buried after death not depending on what that certain per...
As the tragedy concludes, the chorus issues its final words: "Pray for no more at all. For what is destined for us, men mortal, there is no escape," demonstrating how justice remains impartial to the prejudice of men; those who make imprudent judgments will ultimately suffer from the consequences of their actions. In Sophocles' Antigone, these prejudices notably surface in the form of paternalism as demonstrated through Creon's government, highlighting the importance of gender roles throughout the play. Therefore, analyzing the motif of gender roles and its effect on the definition of justice through the perspectives of Ismene, Antigone, and Creon enables the audience to understand how Sophocles' macroscopic analogy to humanity's prejudiced judgments as well (and ambiguity of justice)
Justice is a word we hear today all the time. Left and right we hear of judges and citizens demanding justice. Is justice always the right way? It seems that justice is not always the correct solution to a problem, but a solution that is the easiest to make. The classic play Antigone is a perfect example of this. Antigone is classic tragedy at its finest. A simple civilized and humane right of burying a loved one is turned into a great loss. Creon’s inapt decision to hold his power and sentence Antigone to death causes him to lose the people he loves most. The “justice” of the play is simply Creon’s punishment for his cruelty to Antigone.
Having already been through public disgrace, when her own father, Oedipus found out that he was to fulfill a prophecy; he would kill his father and marry his mother, and this caused Antigone to be full of resentment toward her city. Both of her brothers die in a battle and, Creon, the king of Thebes forbids the burial of one of her brothers, Polynices. This must have driven Antigone to follow her moral law. Considering the love she had for her family as well as her God, she felt that you react upon morals not upon the laws of man. That morale law was to honor her brother and give him the respectful and proper burial that he deserved just as her other brother was given. The love she had for her family was the only thing she had left to honor. Ismene, Antigone’s sister was more fearful of the king’s law then the way her heart was leading her. Her values were slightly distorted.
The Antigone is widely thought of as the tragic heroine of the play bearing her name. She would seem to fit the part in light of the fact that she dies doing what is right. Antigone buries her brother Polynices, but Creon does not like her doing that one bit. Creon says to Antigone, "Why did you try to bury your brother? I had forbidden it. You heard my edict. It was proclaimed throughout Thebes. You read my edict. It was posted up on the city walls." (Pg. 44) Antigone buries her brother without worrying about what might happen to her. By doing this, she takes into consideration death and other consequences for burying her brother. Antigone follows what she thinks is right according to the gods. She is the supporter of her actions in the burial of Polynices.
Thebes was invaded by Oedipus’ son, Polynices, and his followers. As Oedipus predicted in the previous play, Polynices and his brother, Eteocles, killed each other during battle. Creon, the king of Thebes, ruled that Eteocles should have a proper burial with honors and Polynices, the invader, be left unburied to rot.
Antigone welcomed death at the time of burying her brother; she was not concerned with the consequences. She saw her actions as being true to the gods and religion. “I myself will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me; I shall be a criminal but – a religious one.” (Antigone, lines 81-85) To Antigone, the honor of her brother, and her family was all that was important. She may be going against Creon, but if her actions were true in her heart then the gods would see her in a good light.
Last but not least, the Italian-American’s contributed greatly to America’s past and left quite an imprint on our ‘melting pot’ culture. The Italian-Americans came to America following a dream; whether it be temporarily ‘escaping’ South Italy or a lifelong aspirations toward music. There perseverance and bravery left an impact stronger than words can express which assisted our future successes. Slowly yet steadily, Italians rose up the social ladder, opening up like a blossoming flower to their fellow Americans. Establishing their roots, then blossoming into a beautiful flower, revealing all beyond everyone’s expectations. Today, Italians have surpassed all the other ethnic groups in average job income and job prestigious, a true example of hard work paying off. As for, “Chi la dura la vince,”-He who perseveres wins at last...
“There it is, And now you can prove what you are: A true sister, or a traitor to your family.” (Sophocles, et ai. 190) Instead of playing towards emotions such as sadness in order to get Ismene to feel the injustice of the situation Antigone instead uses guilt giving Ismene the information that if she doesn't join in on this life threatening task she is a snake to members of her own family which is an emotional weight that would be quite hard on her to carry. Ethics is used as while pointing out to Ismene that she is family to Antigone and Polynices and she is with them and on their side family sticks together through life and death regardless of law it’s Ismene’s duty, unless she herself is a traitor to the family. “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love.”(Sophocles, et ai. 192) Antigone’s argument against Ismene consists of many
Antigone if she is caught. As the play moves on there is a building of this fear and pity that is felt for many of the characters that finally is resolved at the catastrophe. At that point the reader learns that Creon, the king, has lost his wife, his son, and his niece Antigone, all because he was too stubborn to give in as well as to afraid that if he did give in that he would be judged as an easy king. In a way this ending brings the two emotions together. The reader feels pity for Creon because of his great loss, but at the same time he feels a bit of fear because he wouldn’t want this type of tragedy to ever occur in his life.
Throughout his professional career, Jackie Robinson, received criticism for being the first “black” player to play the game. Not only did Jackie Robinson manage to live up to the criticism, he also changed the face of America’s greatest past time forever. With his entrance into the MLB he opened the path for great black players like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Ozzie Smith just to name a few. In crossing the color-barrier in baseball Robinson not only strived as a great player on the field, but also a inspiration to the black community of the field with his humility, and willingness to move forward in a time where blacks were not considered “equal”.