Female Rebellion In Antisane By Sophocles Antigone

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What will happen when a woman in a male-dominated society rebels against the king of her city? Sophocles’ Antigone is a work of female rebellion because the main character, Antigone, rebels against the most supreme character in the play. Antigone shows how she is different than other females, and even males in the play. The two main ideas of female rebellion in Antigone are that Antigone rebels against the king, Creon, and that other characters in the book are afraid of Creon because he is a tyrant. The other characters in the play, such as Haemon, show readers how rebellious Antigone is because they are the opposite of Antigone. Antigone is rebellious and willing to fight back, but the others character in the play are not so brave. Antigone …show more content…

She wants to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial. Antigone explains to Ismene that she will not die a coward's death and that she will bury her brother, whether Ismene wants to help her or not. “Let me be, me and my folly! I will face the danger that so dismays you, for it cannot be so dreadful to die a coward’s death.” (94-96). This shows that Antigone will do whatever it takes to give her brother a proper burial. Antigone tells Ismene that if she dies, at least she will not “die a coward's death.” This tells readers that Antigone is fearless as well as strong-minded. Ismene does not want to help because she knows that it is against the law to bury Polyneices. Antigone feels that Creon is holding her back from what the gods want her to do, which is give Polyneices a proper burial. “He has no right to keep me from my own!” (48). Antigone shows her bravery in this quote because she speaks out against Creon. This quote shows one of the main themes in the play, female …show more content…

When Creon asks Antigone if she buried the body, she does not deny it. “No, I do not deny it. I admit it” (445). Readers get a glimpse of how Antigone stands up to Creon, and is not scared of him. Other characters in the play do not want to tell Creon what they think hence they are scared of him. “He will not say, before your face, what might displease you.” (691-692). Haemon is afraid of Creon and tries to tell him that Antigone should not die for what she did. He does not want Antigone to be killed, although he does not want to “displease” Creon by telling him what he thinks. Later in the play, Haemon does stand up to Creon. Another character who is scared of Creon is Tiresias, the prophet. “No man alive is free from error, but the wise and prudent man when he has fallen into evil courses does not persist, but tries to find amendment.” (1023-1026). Tiresias tells Creon that he is making a mistake by killing Antigone, but he does not directly tell Creon what he thinks. Haemon along with Teiresias are different from Antigone because they both try to stay on Creon's nice side because of their fear for him. The characters who are scared of Creon try to tell him gently that he is a tyrant. They take a different approach than Antigone, because she would have told Creon that he was a tyrant and overall, a bad king. Other characters realize that Creon is a tyrant, but are too scared to stand

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