Antigone Conformity Essay

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In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the theme of the play is conformity. “Conformity soothes” is said in the article “You Are a Conformist (That Is,You Are Human)” by Noam Shpancer. The statement made by Noam basically says that conformity is normal. It’s perfectly normal for a human being to conform, and it’s practically impossible to not conform. The characters Antigone, Ismene, and Creon all conform and non-conform.
Antigone shows that she doesn’t want to conform to Creon’s law very early in the play. It’s shown more specifically when Antigone says “Ismene, I am going to bury him. Will you come?” (Sophocles 774). When she says this she shows that she’s willing to break Creon’s law to give her brother a proper burial, so she’s not conforming to Creon’s law. However, it could be said that while …show more content…

In the beginning Ismene shows that she will conform to Creon’s law when she says “They mean a great deal to me; but I have no strength/ To break laws that were made for the public good” (Sophocles 774). She loves her family, but she doesn’t want to break Creon’s law that she thinks is made for the good of the people, and thus, she is conforming. Ismene then decides to not conform to Creon’s law when she says “Yes if she will let me say so. I am guilty” (Sophocles 785). While she didn’t really break Creon’s law, she wanted to take the blame with Antigone. That brings up a different point of view on Ismene conforming/non-conforming. If she decides to take her share of the blame of breaking Creon’s law, then Ismene is technically conforming to the Gods like Antigone. Ismene does show that she’s conforming with Antigone when she says “ But now I know what you meant; and I am here/To join you, to take my share of the punishment” (Sophocles 785). So, while she isn’t conforming to Creon’s law, she is conforming to the Gods, like

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