(no subject)
Okay, I've been working on my essay like crazy - due tomarry you know. This is what I've got so far:
Antigone is a classic play of Sophocles in which discusses the issues of sexism, morality, law, pride, and responsibility. Up until this particular piece of Bronze Age Drama, most Greek tragedies consisted of one character interacting with a chorus. Contrariwise, Antigone incorporates several characters- all, save one, with complex consciences, nobility, and a tragic fate of their own. Some critics have even been lead to believe that Antigone herself is not the tragic hero in the story whose name it bears. Whether it be Creon with his delayed epiphany, Eurydice and her intricate knitting needles, Haemon and his persuasive logic, Ismeme and her dieing feminity, or Antigone her bold courage, Antigone the play is a tragic one which uses a weave of downfalls making the hero’s (or heroine’s) own more tragic.
After Antigone, the first character we become acquainted with is Ismene, the sister/aunt (don’t ask) of our leading lady. Ismene provokes many feelings: betrayal, disgust, pity… she is a woman guilty of cowardice and sheep walking. She is a symbol of the average, ideal Greek woman of the time. She is a sorry character. From the beginning, Ismene only wants Antigone to wait, hold her rash actions and think of the consequences. But once the deed is done and Polynices buried, Ismene attempts to take her sisters deed on her own as if to lighten the burden of her younger sister’s punishment. It is questionable the thoughts behind dear Ismene’s change of actions. If, perhaps, she was had an epiphany preceding her attempting to take on Antigone’s fate and thus truly entertained a change of heart, or if she, as Antigone told her, seeking to “claim what she would not touch” (141)?
“It is Creon who had the Epiphany. It is he who is of noble birth and he who brings to pass his own sad fate. It is Creon who is the tragic hero, not his dear niece Antigone” (Jones). We must recall, of course, that it was not Creon who died, but Antigone who passed into life the next. Rule one of the tragic heroes: The Hero [or Heroine] always dies. Nonetheless, Creon does attract a jaded since of sympathy. He looses his wife, his son, and his niece all in one vengeful day. Is that not a fate worse than death?
Eurydice, on the other hand, is not the just the woman of a queer name. She is a mistress of her own fate. She stabs herself with her own knitting needles, thus expanding the Greek metaphor surrounding the thread of life. She is the tool by which her husband suffers and the pillow beneath his sexist buttocks. And of course, she dies.
Heamon, Antigone’s fiancé, is the logical lawyer of the bronze age. He’s smart, tall, dark, handsome… manipulative… and has a bazaar intrest in inbred women. His intentions are unclear at first meeting, but our hearts are won when he asks Creon: “has she not earned a crown of gold apon her head?” (144). Through these words, his loyalties are clear- his hear has always lie where he wished his body to (excuse the pun).
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Grr... I know, a lot of work to do. And it's really informal. Grr...
Antigone is a classic play of Sophocles in which discusses the issues of sexism, morality, law, pride, and responsibility. Up until this particular piece of Bronze Age Drama, most Greek tragedies consisted of one character interacting with a chorus. Contrariwise, Antigone incorporates several characters- all, save one, with complex consciences, nobility, and a tragic fate of their own. Some critics have even been lead to believe that Antigone herself is not the tragic hero in the story whose name it bears. Whether it be Creon with his delayed epiphany, Eurydice and her intricate knitting needles, Haemon and his persuasive logic, Ismeme and her dieing feminity, or Antigone her bold courage, Antigone the play is a tragic one which uses a weave of downfalls making the hero’s (or heroine’s) own more tragic.
After Antigone, the first character we become acquainted with is Ismene, the sister/aunt (don’t ask) of our leading lady. Ismene provokes many feelings: betrayal, disgust, pity… she is a woman guilty of cowardice and sheep walking. She is a symbol of the average, ideal Greek woman of the time. She is a sorry character. From the beginning, Ismene only wants Antigone to wait, hold her rash actions and think of the consequences. But once the deed is done and Polynices buried, Ismene attempts to take her sisters deed on her own as if to lighten the burden of her younger sister’s punishment. It is questionable the thoughts behind dear Ismene’s change of actions. If, perhaps, she was had an epiphany preceding her attempting to take on Antigone’s fate and thus truly entertained a change of heart, or if she, as Antigone told her, seeking to “claim what she would not touch” (141)?
“It is Creon who had the Epiphany. It is he who is of noble birth and he who brings to pass his own sad fate. It is Creon who is the tragic hero, not his dear niece Antigone” (Jones). We must recall, of course, that it was not Creon who died, but Antigone who passed into life the next. Rule one of the tragic heroes: The Hero [or Heroine] always dies. Nonetheless, Creon does attract a jaded since of sympathy. He looses his wife, his son, and his niece all in one vengeful day. Is that not a fate worse than death?
Eurydice, on the other hand, is not the just the woman of a queer name. She is a mistress of her own fate. She stabs herself with her own knitting needles, thus expanding the Greek metaphor surrounding the thread of life. She is the tool by which her husband suffers and the pillow beneath his sexist buttocks. And of course, she dies.
Heamon, Antigone’s fiancé, is the logical lawyer of the bronze age. He’s smart, tall, dark, handsome… manipulative… and has a bazaar intrest in inbred women. His intentions are unclear at first meeting, but our hearts are won when he asks Creon: “has she not earned a crown of gold apon her head?” (144). Through these words, his loyalties are clear- his hear has always lie where he wished his body to (excuse the pun).
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Grr... I know, a lot of work to do. And it's really informal. Grr...