Antigone free essay sample

Why does Ismene object to Antigones plan to bury Polyneices? Possible Answer: Ismene believes the men who rule Thebes must not be disobeyed because men are stronger and their will must be respected. How does Antigone demonstrate pre-feminist ethics? Possible Answer: Antigone believes that a womans duty is not to the men who rule a domain, but rather to her own instincts and her own sense of right and wrong. She believes that the gods do not dictate through a ruler, but rather through individual beliefs. When does Creon become apologetic for his actions? Possible Answer: Creon never apologizes for his actions. Instead, he simply orders Antigone to be freed because he knows that Teiresias is never wrong and therefore that his own life is at risk. However, he never truly believes that his order to imprison her was the wrong course of action. What is the seeming reason for Haemons suicide? Does he kill himself only out of desperate love for the dead Antigone? Possible Answer: Haemons suicide seems to have two motivations first out of anguish over Antigones death, but also because he is so furious with his father for having betrayed his trust. We will write a custom essay sample on Antigone or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Early in the play, Haemon tells his father that as long as he offers wisdom, Haemon will follow him. But now it is clear that his father led him astray, and for that Haemon believes that one of them must die. Why isnt Creon killed by the plague that befalls him at the plays end? Possible Answer: Creons punishment is to suffer without a family, and to suffer the guilt of knowing he destroyed the lives of innocents to preserve obsolete traditions and a misconceived legacy of misogynist rule. What is Creons tragic flaw? Possible Answer: Creons tragic flaw is that he believes that men have the right to interpret divine will and impose absolute power in their name. As a result, a simple belief men cannot be wrong in the face of women is elevated to law and thus leads to multiple (unnecessary) deaths. Is Antigone ever apologetic for burying Polyneices? Possible Answer: Though Antigone bemoans her fate and believes death is a cruel and unnecessary punishment for burying Polyneices, she is never apologetic for actually covering his body. She believes until the end that she did the right thing. Why does Antigone not allow Ismene to join her in her death sentence? Possible Answer: Antigone does not want her sister laying claim to an act that was solely hers for two reasons: one, because she wants her sister to remain alive, and two, because she wants her sister to feel the shame of abandoning her principles for the sake of staying alive and being subservient to men. What is the role of the Chorus? Possible Answer: The Chorus is meant to reflect the conscience of Thebes they are the elders who expect Creon to guide them towards wisdom. As they lead him astray, they begin to sense this and reflect their feelings in their choral poems. What is unusual about the Watchmans speech? Possible Answer: Unlike the other characters, the Watchmans speech is written in more natural rhythms and dialect. Antigone free essay sample Evil not only fascinates people in general, but writers as well. In what ways and with what effect has â€Å"evil† been treated in Antigone? In the play of ‘Antigone’, evil appears in many forms. There is the soldier who is a traitor to his nation; the sister trying to prove her love for her family yet ends up breaking the law; the king who so eagerly tries to stop rule-breakers yet he himself neglects his flesh and blood. Here the difference of the two works is seen: The Earth of Mankind gives the impression that characters of power possess evil, whereas in Antigone, evil can be inside all of these opposing individuals. Polyneices, a soldier who fought against his own nation was to be punished as a traitor by not burying him after his death. When his sister, Antigone, goes against the King’s decree and burry Polyneices, she was also seen as a traitor to her country. We will write a custom essay sample on Antigone or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However their other sibling, Ismene, who sits at home as Antigone fights for her brother’s right, is also said to have performed a crime of being a traitor to her family. Now something we can see from here is that each and every character involved in the story so far possesses evil. This message is summed up by Sophocles in page 204 of the book, in Ode 1, where it says, ‘O fate of man, working both good and evil! ’ What the writer is trying to convey here is more realistic than what is said in ‘The Earth of Mankind’; both evil and good is naturally inside everyone’s mind.It is one’s choice to do which, but performing a crime is inevitable. Everyone has his or her own ‘evil’ deeds, not only the powerful ones. As seen in my previous explanation on who performs evil deeds in the play of ‘Antigone’, we can see that one evil act leads to another, whereas the chain of good doings ends sooner. Eteocles, who was a soldier and a brother to Antigone, fought bravely for his nation and was buried with honor by the King. Although many respect him for his virtuosity, the play didn’t show that further kindness was done because of him.However, when Polyneices betrays his nation and fought against it, a number of people are forced to perform evil in his affect. Antigone had to break the law in order to give him his right of getting a burial. Ismene, who was too scared to go against the decree, was said to be a traitor to her family, as she didn’t come to assist Antigone in her mission. They then cause Creon to imprison the sisters, punish them, which then cause him to have a fight with his son. Creon then causes death of Haimon, and therefore leads to the suicide of the Queen.On page 243, the messenger says, ‘†¦and her last breath was a curse for their father, the murderer of her sons. ’ A number of misfortunes occur as being the result of one act of evil. The play now gives the effect that evil gives more negative outcomes in comparison to good giving positive results. Here, evil is powerful enough to make such a big impact on its surrounding; bigger than the good. Creon sees Antigone as a traitor to his rules, despite her reasons. Creon imprisoned both Antigone and Ismene for the burial of the nation’s traitor, Polyneices, who is their brother.It is true that Antigone has broken the law, but according to her logic, it is more important to follow the rules of the Gods than the King. She feels that the dead, no matter what they did in their lives, deserve respect and be buried, and that it was her duty to do so as Polyneices’ sister. She didn’t care that she is breaking the decree, and may be punished to die, as long as this task is done. Creon, being a non-believer of the Gods in the beginning, thinks that breaking the law is crime, no matter for what purpose.Polyneices was a traitor and he suffers because of himself, thus no one should help him. On page 211, Creon even said to Antigone, ‘An enemy is an enemy, even dead. ’ There is truth in both arguments, and no one can say what is right. Here, the play depicts that the existence of evil depends on how one views it. ‘Antigone’ treats evil as a subjective topic, where it may be seen as a crime from one point of view, but is actually a good deed from another. No evil deed is done without a reason, and the play shows that one should explore, not only what crime has been done, but also why it was done.