Ismenes Indecisiveness in Antigone

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The play Antigone is usually thought of as either the tragedy of Creon or the tragedy of Antigone, but it is just as much the tragedy of Antigone's sister Ismene. In the play, Antigone and Creon hold on to two different ideals, Antigone to the ideal of sororal duty and holy rights, while Creon holds on to the rules of his kingdom, dominated by the laws of men and of reason. Ismene is obsessed by her role as a woman, choosing to ignore her feelings of obligation towards her family, and remaining completely indecisive and inactive, as she believes a woman should. By the end of the play she is left in the same position as Creon, without any family in the world and feeling partially responsible for the outcome. If Ismene had stood up and done something either to stop Creon from sentencing Antigone to death, or to help Antigone in burying Polyneices, she would in the end be with her family in life or in death, and be better of than being left alone on earth alive. Also the actions of the characters in the play are very comparable to the ideas and strategies of the Greeks and Spartans in Thucydides, written shortly afterwards.

Ismene's indecisiveness and lack of action is starkly contrasted with the actions and beliefs of Creon and Antigone, the characters who are most often thought of as the victims. For Antigone, the punishment that characterizes her as a victim is the sacrifice of her life for her personal beliefs about the honor and duty associated with family ties. Antigone's death at the end of the play illustrates the fact that she is willing to die as long as she knows that her brother has received proper burial rites. On the other side there is Creon, who can be thought of as a stubborn and terrible king, but who really is acting just like Antigone, holding onto what he believes firmly in. As Antigone blatantly ignores the laws of the city, and only acts in the direction fulfilling the requirements of holy rites, Creon acts in parallel by ignoring the laws of the divine and only following the laws which as king it is his duty to uphold and preserve. Antigone clearly gives her opinion of the situation, and outlines her values that are so important to her while speaking to her sister.

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