Antigone and Mrs. Alving: Victims of Their Own Generations - Essay Example

Your first and sur Your Due Antigone and Mrs. Alving – Rebels/Victims of their own Generations The two plays ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles and ‘Ghosts’ by Henrik Ibsen depict tragedies of different kinds set across time frames centuries apart but are successful in evoking a sense of despair, sadness and the helplessness in a succinct and effective manner in the audience. The frailty and helplessness of humans in the face of tragedies has been exposed in both the plays and the emotional faculties of a modern reader or audience are definitely stimulated. ‘Antigone’ written in 442 B.C. by Sophocles is a Greek tragedy about the life of the daughter of Oedipus, the late King of Thebes who suffers a tragic fate despite her righteousness and love for her slain brother. The play is built upon an aura of tragedy where most of the characters including the ruler Creon justify their decisions according to the prevalent as well as divine law but suffer the consequences. Antigone is adamant in providing a decent burial to her brother against the royal edict and tries to convince her sister Ismene about her decision who is reluctant to go against the royal edict. But Antigone who is betrothed to the son of Creon is adamant and goes ahead with the burial of Polyneices which is later reported. This is followed by a chain of tragedies when Antigone is sentenced to be buried alive in a cave, resulting in her death and subsequent suicides by the son of Creon, Haemon and the Queen Eurydice who cannot bear the grief. Although Creon was warned of his wrong decisions by Teiresias, a prophet who proclaimed that the denial of burial to Polyneices and the imprisonment of Antigone were against the wishes of the gods, he sticks to his decisions only to relent later. Although Creon has protected the royal order he suffers as a result and finally agrees that his actions which were against the wishes of gods had resulted in his dismal fate. The second play ‘Ghosts’ by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen was originally titled ‘Gengangere’ which meant ‘the ones who return’. It highlighted the moral turpitude of those times which results in tragic circumstances for an otherwise well established family in society with the main sufferer being Mrs. Helene Alving who has to bear the adversities in life due to her philandering husband Captain Alving silently while being forced to keep up an honorable image of the family to the outside world. She tries to shield her son from the evil influence of his father, but after all her penance she discovers at the fag end that the son too suffers from a disease inherited from his father and is destined for a horrible fate. The decadence in society of that time is highlighted by the devious carpenter Jacob Engstrand who succeeds in fulfilling his evil designs by unscrupulous means. The pastor Mr. Manders despite his God fearing nature and efforts to set things right for the Alving Family is hoodwinked into believing that Engstrand had always sacrificed for righteousness by accepting Regina’s mother as his wife after she had she had been made pregnant by Captain Alving. Later when the orphanage is burnt down, he succeeds in manipulating Manders into fulfilling his designs of setting up a business for himself with Regina to assist him. Mrs. Alving’s tragedy is reenacted when she discovers that her son Oswald had fallen in love with his own half-sister and this affirms her belief in the ‘ghosts’ of the past which have come to haunt her life all over again. Comparison between Antigone and Mrs. Alving Although set centuries apart, both these plays highlight the tribulations of women in trying to act in a righteous manner to preserve their honor and integrity with complete commitment towards their family. Despite facing the odds both women show exemplary courage in facing the society and try to set right the wrongs committed by others. The selfless love for her brother makes Antigone to act in a manner which she knew all along would result in mortal damage to an otherwise bright future. Despite adequate warning from her own sister she goes ahead with her intentions of burying her brother and unflinchingly takes the task on her own self after her sister shows reluctance in assisting her. Antigone tries to convince her sister and awaken her inherent noble intellect by passionately pleading to her sister in the following manner: “Such, tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.” (Antigone, Sophocles) But Ismene is unmoved and cites her helplessness as a member of the fairer sex, the tragedies that had befallen their parents, Oedipus, the King and their mother who had died under tragic circumstances, and shows her apprehension and belief that it would not be right to go against the lawful edict passed by the present ruler Creon. Antigone is unmoved by Ismene’s pleading but shows her greatness by absolving Ismene of her responsibility and making a final resolve of doing her will all alone. She not only follows her inner resolve to fulfill her duty as a sister but faces the adversities unflinchingly and takes the punishment meted out to her with a brave face, unmindful of the tragic consequences. The tragedy shows how society in that particular period of time had imposed restrictions on society which were unjustified and inhuman. The play is an endeavor to guide humanity against the self constructed rules and regulations which are overall detrimental to a just and ideal point of view in life which could have resulted in a better situation in life for all. Mrs. Helene Alving’s situation is akin to that of Antigone in terms of suffering inflicted on womenfolk by society although she lives in a relatively modern 19th century society. Religious guidance is available and is instrumental in guiding people on their path in life. Despite such relative modernity, Mrs. Alving suffers a tragedy akin to that of Antigone as she is forced by circumstances to live and act against her wishes. The morality and righteousness forced on women is depicted by Mrs. Alving as she is made to live with an erring husband despite her recognition of the fact and bringing it forth to her religious guide and mentor, Mr. Manders, who cajoles her to go along with her husband in order to preserve the family honor. The helplessness of a woman is personified by Mrs. Alving who agrees to go on with the life handed out to her despite the cruelty and negligence she faces. She goes on to maintain the honor of the family by undertaking the social responsibilities meted out to her. She does not reveal her sufferings to anybody and it is only in the latter part of her life that Mr. Manders is made aware of the indiscretions she had been subjected to by her late husband. In her own word she reveals to Mr. Manders the character of her husband: “That was just what I had to fight for incessantly, day after day. When Oswald was born, I thought I saw a slight improvement. But it didnt last long. And after that I had to fight doubly hard–fight a desperate fight so that no one should know what sort of a man my childs father was. You know quite well what an attractive manner he had; it seemed as if people could believe nothing but good of him. He was one of those men whose mode of life seems to have no effect upon their reputations. But at last, Mr. Manders–you must hear this too–at last something happened more abominable than everything else.” (Act I) Mrs. Alving goes on to reveal that Regina is the illegitimate daughter of her husband which is a further shock to the pastor. Her tragedy is compounded later when she finds that her son Oswald has fallen in love with Regina and intends to marry her. History repeats for Mrs. Alving as her son whom she is so fond of falls into the same abyss as his late father as she gets a feeling of ‘ghosts’ in her household which are intent on multiplying her misery. The happenings later in the play culminate in a disastrous situation for Mrs. Alving where she is left alone with her diseased son with no hope for any happiness in life for which she had struggled throughout her life. Works Cited Antigone by Sophocles, Available at: http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html Henrik Ibsens Ghosts, A Domestic Tragedy in Three Acts, Available at: http://www.marxists.org/subject/women/fiction/ibsen/ghosts/ Read More