Literary Analysis of Antigone - Research Paper Example

? Literary analysis of Antigone Rough draft Literary analysis: Antigone The story of Antigone is based on prophetic issues and the decision of main protagonists in the play. Antigone and Creon are the main protagonists of the play based on the belief and pride. The play is based on the trust and tradition of the people of Thebes. In fact, the major challenge is on the burial of Polyneices, the challenge is based on the laws to respect. Antigone believes in the laws of the deity which forces them to follow the rites and rituals for proper burial. However, King Creon believes that the laws are made by man and men are the only people who can change the laws. The major challenge affecting both the two protagonists is the personal pride making their stance known and not wanting to back-down. One important issue to be addressed is that the both share almost same idea, but different view. Oedipus was to become king by killing his father Laius, which happened on his way to visit the town. The tragic death of his father is outlined in the prophecy preceding the play. It outlines the issues that affect relationships in the play thereby enabling the reader to understand the role of incest in shaping the character of the main issues. The development of female heroism is depicted in the play by the actions of Antigone. Heroism and feminism has been in conflict over the years until in the last two decades. The factors that influenced the inclusion of women as action heroes include the rigid nature of the feminist agenda, feminism ideologies of the 20th century and the role of women in the society (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007, p. 45). The concept of heroism is borrowed from the ancient Greek mythology which creates personality who is immortalized. From the analysis of the play, the heroism depicted is antagonistic heroism because there are two main characters namely protagonist Antigone versus Creon. The antagonistic heroism is displayed in various traditional and modern literatures including the Harry Potter Series. Side kick heroes support the main hero. In the case of Antigone, there is no side kick hero, but only the antagonistic hero. However, some antagonistic heroism may lead to tragedy as depicted in the story of Antigone and Creon which shows the desire for freedom and social guidance (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007, p. 125). In addition, the relationship and desires of the two main characters shapes the development of the story. The principles of choice and the lack of flexibility to accommodate the views of others indicate the power of dictatorship and authoritarian regime. Creon refuses to accept the beliefs of Antigone and uses his authority to infringe on the rights of Antigone leading to tragedy. However, crisis in the play is presented at the start of the play, when Oedipus kills his father and ascends to power. The tragedy comes when he ascends to power and marries his mother. The life of Oedipus is complex because it marked with several challenges including being tied and thrown away in order to prevent the prophecy to occur. He is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta, but later married his mother. The realization of the tragedy of incest leads to death of the queen because she commits suicide after knowing the truth. Oedipus kills his father during a disagreement along the road. In addition, he kills Sphinx making him a darling for the people of Thebes. The reward for the win and following the death of King Laius, Oedipus is given the throne leading to the interaction with the queen (Sophocles, 2008, p. 1117). Final draft Literary Analysis: Antigone The story of Antigone is based on prophetic issues and the decision of main protagonists in the play. Antigone and Creon are the main protagonists of the play based on the belief and pride. The play is based on the trust and tradition of the people of Thebes. In fact, the major challenge is on the burial of Polyneices, the challenge is based on the laws to respect. Antigone believes in the laws of the deity which forces them to follow the rites and rituals for proper burial. However, King Creon believes that the laws are made by man and men are the only people who can change the laws. Oedipus marries his mother and gives birth of two boys and two girls namely Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone and Ismene. The tragedy of incest leads to blinding of Oedipus and leaving the city. The complex relationship between mother and son leads to the birth of four children who are also brothers to their father. The relationship between Antigone and Oedipus is complex in definition because of the complex nature of their relationships. Eteocles fights for Thebes while polyneices fights for the rebel (Sophocles, 2008, p. 1118). In the battle the rebel group is defeated and the new king of Thebes orders that Polyneices should not be buried creating controversy between leads to death of Antigone for defying the rule or order of King Creon. The play Antigone presents dramatically the issues of religion, marriage and family dynamics. Using similar literary representation as employed in Odyssey, Sophocles presents the central theme of the book which is the importance of the social institutions in Athens during the time of Sophocles. The play is predominantly and attic tragic drama with the family as the focal point of the discussion (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007). In fact, he introduces the connection between the two main protagonists in the play by illustrating the negative impact of prophecy and the Oedipus mother’s action of throwing him away. However, desertion of the child is not the focus of the play but the culmination of the play is based on the eventual occurrence of the prophecy. In Antigone, Sophocles reveals the environment as the main cause of the tragedy. Suicide is employed dramatic motif revealing the potency of environmental forces (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007). From the statistical data for the period, suicide was lower amongst married couples than singles, lower in civilians than soldiers and lower during economic stability than economic bloom. With respect to religion, suicide was lower in Jews and higher among Protestants than Catholics. Therefore, the findings led to the development of the four distinct categories of suicide namely; egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic suicides. Egoistic suicide occurs when there is poor integration of an individual into a stable society leading to being self-dependent. It leads to isolation and helplessness and is present in the play in various levels. Altruistic suicide occurs when victims are integrated into their society’s social groups and their commitment to the ethics of the society exceeds the importance they accord to their own lives. This integration leads to low individualization, which in turn results in self-sacrifice for the good of the community. Antigone presents her argument in a compelling way by offering to die for the values she deemed social value. When Oedipus orders that the father cannot be buried, Antigone illustrates that the respect and obedience to the deity is ultimate. Therefore, she offers to violate the rule of the king and burry the slain father. The Greek thought is a characteristic of anomic suicide which is prevalent among society in crisis or undergoing precipitous change. The main feature of anomic suicide is the low regulation and insatiable needs (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007). Fatalistic suicide is based on high regulation and suppressed need indicating the correlation between the rate of suicide and the relationship individuals have with their social groups and institution. The most important social force in the nineteenth century was religion which is depicted in Antigone by the actions undertaken. In fact, Antigone argues that the respect to the law of the deity is integral that the respect of the rule of men (Sophocles, 2008). However, Oedipus believes that the deity cannot shape the destiny of humanity. Consequently, the rule of man must be obeyed. The conflict leads to the anomic suicide of Antigone. Sophocles uses suicide as a motif and a device to promote principles of integration and regulations as the imperatives to the survival of polis. The interaction of integration and regulation with religion is complex with the independent variable being religion (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007). The concept is depicted in the play Antigone through the action of Antigone and the queen. On realization that she had committed incest, the queen commits suicide while Antigone prefers to bury her father despite the opposition by the king. Sophocles upholds the view of Antigone of the existence of deity's laws which must be followed in order to avoid conflict. The ego of both the king and Antigone leads to serious failures and death of the character. Antigone believes in the moral obligation and family duty, but Creon believes in human laws as greater than the deity (Sophocles, 2008, p. 126). Both stances deal with the issues of respect, but different perceptions that are integral in the development of the views. The views are very similar, but personal ego ensured there is a lack of consensus. Creon is very inflexible and cannot offer the necessary reasoning. The defying the law of Creon lead to a serious challenge for Antigone, but the move is opposed by the Creon’s son. The end product of pride and arrogance is a tragedy for the King. The power of inflexibility in views and pride leads to lack of understanding other view leads to crisis of that could lead to serious problems witnessed in the Antigone. Consequently, the solving of social problem in the society by using force as witnessed in the play creates greater problems than initially thought or argued in the process leading to serious challenges in the process. The death of King Oedipus illustrates the power of inflexibility and drawing of hard-lines in the society. The existence of the deity laws is an issue of great conflict in the play which gives the different stance taken by the two protagonists. From an audience perspective, Antigone is a figure representing the French resistance because she as a young girl rises against the state power (Sophocles, 2008, p. 112). In addition, sisters’ rivalry is depicted in the play and is revealed as foes and rivals. Ismene is depicted as timid reasonable, obedient and beautiful girl while Antigone is revealed as impulsive, sallow and moody. In fact, the character of Antigone is the exact opposite of Ismene and she does not even like being feminine (Wilmer & Zukauskaite, 2007, p. 56). The role of Antigone in the play is to develop the difference in principles and illustrate the need for freedom which is revealed in the actions taken. Creon’s arrogance and dictatorship leads to tragedy with incest playing an integral part in the choices made. Antigone is a play with tragic end of the heroine. Therefore, Antigone play is essentially a anomic suicide and tragic hero play with the society influence on the lives of the characters. Bibliography Sophocles. (2008). Antigone. New York: ReadHowYouWant.com. Wilmer, S. E., & Zukauskaite, A. (2007). Interrogating Antigone in Postmodern Philosophy and Criticism. Oxford : OUP Oxford. Read More