Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Antigone Compare and Contrast

In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone decides to bury her brother who did not have a proper burial. She believes it is unfair that Eteocles got a burial and Polyneices did not. Antigone decides to go against Creon to bury Polyneices. While searching for help from her sister, she does not receive it. She realizes she is alone but decided to go through with it anyway.
Antigone is very loyal to her family. In the beginning of the prologue she talks to her sister Ismene about the death of her brothers. Antigone mentions the fact that she wants to bury her brother Polyneices the way Eteocles was buried. She shows her loyalty to her family when she says, "... and now you can prove what you are: a true sister, or a traitor to your family" (I.27&28). that was Antigone's way of trying to make Ismene stay loyal to her family. When Ismene offers Antigone support but tells her that she will not help, Antigone becomes upset and mentions that burying Polyneices is what the gods what've wanted, but Ismene doesn't change her decision.In the prologue in line 65 Anitgone tells Ismene that the law of the gods means nothing to Ismene. Because Antigone said that, it showed her loyalty to the gods alone with her family. Antigone and Creon are very different in a way that they have different beliefs and look at things differently. Creon is loyal to the state and know that he cannot respect by saying, "I am aware, of course, that no ruler can expect complete loyalty from his subjects until he has been tested in office" (Parados.19&20). While giving a speech, Creon mentioned that he wanted to gain and earn there respect Creon was not very loyal to his family. The power he received as the ruler, began to get to his head, and he allowed it to. but what goes around comes around, and he lost his family due to the fact that he could not control the power.
Although Antigone and Creon are very different they are also similar in many ways. Antigone is very prideful, this is proven and shown when she says, "think me a fool, if you like; but it may well be that a fool convicts me of folly." (II, 83-84) What Antigone meant was that she would not allow Creon to look at her as a fool. Because Antigone said that, it made her look foolish as well. Antigone also displays her pride when she told Ismene that Creon was not strong enough to stand in her way in the prologue. Antigone is extremely prideful but so is Creon. Creon shows his pride when he says, "this is my command and you can see the wisdom behind it." (I, 47) Creon displays his pride in this quote, because he mentioned that it was his command and that they had to obey it as his subjects. Creon also shows his pride when he mentions the gods. His tone of voice shows that he is not loyal to them and is not concerned with what they think (parados). Creon is extremely proud of the person he is which eventually back fires do to the decisions he made throughout the play. Therefore, Antigone and Creon are similar in the sense that they have too much pride.
Overall, Antigone and Creon both deserve blame for the outcome. Even though Antigone went against the kind Creon's command, she had her reasons to. Creon was very stubborn about the situation and should've gave Polyneices a proper burial. All in all the conflicts between the characters are the result of both their similarities and their differences.

No comments:

Post a Comment