Humanity’s Fatal Flaw: Could humanity eventually conquer death? In both Sophocles' Antigone and Shakespeare's Hamlet, two tragic plays, they discuss the different aspects of humanity. In Antigone, the Chorus, a group of individuals who represent the general population of a story, eulogize humanity's accomplishments as they have overcome a multitude of adversities such as savage beasts. While the Chorus acknowledges that even humans cannot defy death, they still thrive and are superior to other life forms on Earth. However, in Hamlet, Hamlet emphasizes the flaws of humanity as despite their apparent superior intelligence, people still make injudicious decisions that jeopardize the lives of people. While Hamlet concedes to mankind's superiority, he …show more content…
This is evident as the Chorus highlights that "every human exigency" that humanity endures can be overcome (Antigone). This reveals that while humans may face extremely perilous challenges, they can utilize their intelligence in order to navigate through adversity. Conversely, Hamlet perceives mankind's actions as futile as the "quintessence of dust" (Hamlet). This metaphor encapsulates Hamlet's profound despair and disillusionment as he views humans' action as meaningless due to humanity’s inability to properly utilize their superior traits which contradicts the optimistic perspective of the Chorus. Ultimately, the juxtaposition of these two perspectives is particularly significant in modern society, where new inventions often bring new adversities that may seem insurmountable. Despite their differing perspectives on humanity, both the Chorus and Hamlet come to acknowledge the inevitability of death. For instance, the Chorus poignantly observes that "death stays dark," emphasizing that even in the face of humanity's attempts to conquer life, death remains an immutable reality
Additionally, Creon was certain that nobody would disobey him, as we see on page 10, and was shocked to hear that somebody buried Polynices, as he says; “What say you? What man dared to do it?” Creon truly believed that everyone would comply, which explains why the punishment is so harsh. However, when Antigone performed the unseen, how could he go back on his word and be looked at as dishonest and biased towards family members?
It is clear that Creon's tragic flaw was his pride, arrogance and beliefs of a leader that cause his downfall. His downfall began when he denied the burial of Polyneices and was firm when he condemned Antigone for her objection to his law. Creon represents the laws of the land and the divine ruler of society. He remains loyal in upholding his laws and trying to overpower the laws of the gods, until the end when he realizes that the divine laws are stronger than his own. His regards for the laws of the city cause him to abandon all other beliefs. He feels that all should obey the rules set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise. This is proven when he says, "As long as I am King, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State-he shall have my respect while he is living and my reverence when he is dead" (40).
Philosophical views on death were also mentioned by Hamlet in Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 204-224 when he realizes that no matter how illustrious a man can be whilst living, like Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar, everyone looks and becomes the same once lamented. He comes to realize that ultimately everyone is as insignificant as dust, "Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a whole to keep the wind away." V. i. 220-221). See the http://www.ssc.gov/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/s Hamlet insinuates that even though in life someone could have been a great ruler or conqueror, once they have fallen they could become something as negligible as dirt or clay only being able to stop the wind. Hamlet's soliloquies are brimful with brilliance and scholarly thought.
knew full well that what she was doing was wrong. She knew that if she buried
In the beginning of the play Hamlet's view of death is mournful but, as the play continues he begins to think of death as this incredibly terrifying concept, this is clear when he states “To die,to sleep-- to sleep, perchance to dream […] But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country of whose bourn” (Shakespeare III i
Is Antigone a tragic play as defined by Aristotle? Antigone is not a tragic play. Rather it is a theological debate spawned by Sophocles, a debate that is still raging today, the debate of who holds the higher law, the Gods or the State. While this debate has slowly twisted into Church versus State, which is a very different argument, the highest questions still remain the same: Which one is held higher in men’s (and women’s) hearts? Antigone answers this question with shocking clarity in her admission of guilt to Creon.
Antigone, Sophocles’ classical Greek tragedy, presents tragic flaw as the cause of the destruction of Creon, the king of Thebes. This essay examines that flaw and the critical perspective on it.
Lewicki, R., Saunders, D.M., Barry B., (2010) Negotiation: Readings, Exercises, and Cases. 6th Ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin. New York, NY
Undeniably, all humans possess an attribute that has the ability to make them prosperous if used to an advantage, but in many cases this attribute is a defect, otherwise known as a flaw. Whether one possess a singular flaw, or multiple, they are considered to be a tragic figure. In the play Hamlet the protagonist, Hamlet, possesses many tragic traits leading to his downfall. Hamlet is an artist who pauses, contemplated and constantly overthinks. His rationality creates an inability to take action in many aspects of his life. Hamlet also possesses an imperious and arrogant personality, another tragic trait that some may consider to also be a factor contributing to his inability. Nonetheless, despite Hamlet recognizing his flaws at the end of
In act 3, Hamlet questions the unbearable pain of life and views death through the metaphor of sleep. "To be or not to be: that is the question: / whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles / and, by opposing end them. To die, to sleep / no more" (3.1.64-68), details which bring up new thoughts about what happens in the after life. Thus, Hamlet contemplates suicide, but his lacking knowledge about what awaits him in the afterworld causes him to question what death will bring. For example he states, "The undiscovered country, from whose bourn / no traveler returns, puzzles the will / and makes us rather bear those ills we have / than fly to others that we know not of" (3.1.87-90), again revealing his growing concern with "Truth" and his need for certainty. Once again, death appears in act 4 with the suicide of Ophelia, the demand for Hamlet's execution and the gravedigger scene. All of these situations tie back with how death is all around Hamlet and feeds his obsession with it. Finally in act 5, Hamlet meets his own death, as his obsession to know leads to the death of himself.
Aristotle views tragedy as an “imitation of an action that is serious,complete and of a certain
Antigone and Hamlet are two distinctive tragedies, written by two different authors, in two separate centuries, yet both stories have considerable aspects in common. Antigone is about a girl who stands up to her uncle, the new King Kreon, after he refuses to bury one of her dead brothers, Polynieces, because she believes not burying him in wrong, especially on a spiritual level. Antigone is a tragic heroine because her tragic flaw, tenacious loyalty, leads to the down fall of not only herself, but more importantly her beloved fiancé, Haemon, and also his mother. Hamlet is about a prince whose father, King Hamlet, just died and whose mom, Queen Gertrude, just married his uncle, the new King Claudius. Hamlet is not ok with the situation. Hamlet
In his tragedy Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores and analyzes the concept of mortality and the inevitability of death through the development of Hamlet’s understanding and ideology regarding the purpose for living. Through Hamlet’s obsessive fascination in understanding the purpose for living and whether death is the answer, Shakespeare analyzes and interprets the meaning of different elements of mortality and death: The pain death causes to others, the fading of evidence of existence through death, and the reason for living. While due to the inevitable and unsolvable mystery of the uncertainty of death, as no being will ever empirically experience death and be able to tell the tale, Shakespeare offers an answer to the reason for living through an analysis of Hamlet’s development in understanding death.
Hamlet and Antigone both strongly followed in what they believed. There is a lot of death that is involved in both of these stories, which makes them very similar in many ways however that do have their differences as well. Hamlet and Antigone were both highly upset about the way that the death in their families was handled. In each play they both try to avenge the deaths. Their decision making process in avenging the death of their family members is not all that clear because they have to be careful about what they do.
Hamlet's fatal flaw is his inability to act. Unlike his father, Hamlet lets his intelligence rather than his heroism govern him. When he has a chance to kill Claudius, and take vengeance for his father's murder, he hesitates, reckoning that if he kills the man while he is at prayer, Claudius would have asked for pardon from the Lord and been forgiven of his sins, therefore allowing him to enter Heaven. Hamlet decides to wait for a better opening. His flaw of being hesitant in the end leads to his own death, and also the deaths of Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, and Claudius.