Analysis of Sophocles' Antigone Essay Example

Prior to Sophocles, Antigone was a popular myth where Antigone narrate a story regarding how one should never betray the gods. Indeed, this was a good script, which was possibly exaggerated, just like many myths. Sophocles introduces Antigone as an oppositional and solid willed woman; embellished with an eccentric persona. The character Antigone makes her an unconventional woman of the time. Since there is no exact date for Antigone, this is the fundamental reason as to why it is believed to be part of Greek mythology. Sophocles has done a remarkable job in advancing Greek plays by developing a dynamic female character, as opposed to the previously static characters that women would have. Antigone is a courageous woman and role model character who has endured the challenge of time for more than two thousand years. Her endeavors in the play Antigone by Sophocles are those of strength and dauntlessness. In the play, even though Sophocles has empowered a female character, there are still distinct differences and disparities in the way women are treated and viewed by male characters. The King, Creon, is the foolproof representation of this viewpoint because Sophocles intensifies this component through his use of language toward women in the play (Morton 9). Sophocles purposefully enhances these qualities on Creon because they also represent the cultural settings of the time. Ancient Greece was viewed as a male-commanded culture, a culture where women related themselves with other people and were seen as having no say in the matter of men. Creon sees women as having a less prestigious job in Greek society, which incorporated their family life just as their lives in the city. In light of this statement, this paper discusses various issues such as the state of women in society, the rule of kings, and the gender inequality between men and women in society.

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Antigone follows on from the Theban civil war, in which the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, die fighting each other for the throne of Thebes. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles is to be honored and Polynices is to be disgraced by leaving his body unburied on the battlefield, which is considered a harsh and shameful punishment at the time toward the dead at the time due to the rules set by the Greek Gods. As the play begins, Antigone vows to bury her brother Polynices' body in defiance of Creon's edict, although her sister Ismene refuses to help her, fearing the death penalty. After Creon finds out about Antigone's "wrongdoings," he decides that she shall be condemned to death. Creon reacts upon Antigone in such a bad behavior because he threatened by the idea of a woman breaking his rules and defying his power (Pieris 204). On the other side, Antigone's sister, Ismene is the ideal as a fitting model of what a woman should be in ancient Greece and the differences between her personality and Antigone's highlight the type of character that Sophocles wants to achieve through granting Antigone as a female lead. In Antigone Sophocles challenges traditional female societal roles through his use of language and the juxtapositioning of Antigone and Ismene as critical female characters of the play.

The main tools of Sophocles reveal the inequality between male and female characters through his use of language. Indeed, the specific purpose of language consists of harsh and unrelenting tones combined with insults from the male gender. For instance, women are perceived as objects where the role of women is assumed to be (Morton 19). Sophocles highlights the specific use of such moods and manners, especially in the male speeches, mainly in the ones by Creon or the dialogues between male and female characters such as Creon and Antigone. The fact that Sophocles wrote so much dialogue to distinguish between the sexual roles as well as the feelings between men and women, it shows that he was trying to make a more significant point besides honoring the gods as another major theme of the play. At the time when the play was written, patriarchy was alive and strong in ancient Greece, where men dominated the entire political and social spectrum. As a result, their prevalence gives them an upper hand to establishing and practice authority their counterparts the women.

As a result of deeply rooted men chauvinism in society it forces Creon to state that they also need to act like women, "from now we will act like women and tie them up, no more running loose" (Morton 7). Creon's first offensive remark is that he chooses to refer to men who supposedly acted weak in front of him. Creon equates men to women by referring men to women when he states that "they will act like women" to displays his mindset toward women and the way he treats them. Sophocles applies this language to enhance the outlook that the dominant male society has toward women. Sophocles implies that women are referred to as weak, useless, and easily influenced by the men power, which is why Creon declares that they can be tied up. His opinion that women should be restrained at all times and failure to do so would lead to chaos reflects what he also considers disobedience to men and the city. The usage of the phrase "tie them up" demonstrates the disgust and worthlessness that Creon views women with since that particular phrase is commonly used when referring to an animal or some other sort of thing that does not possess human value. Sophocles uses Creon as the character who displays the dehumanization that women have to face in society. Women did not possess the authority to free speech, and it was not the role of women to oppose men's decisions.

A sense of insecurity flows through Creon's mind when it comes to the idea of a woman conveying strength and determination as he proclaims that "While I'm alive, no woman is going to lord it over me" (Morton 13). His words reflect paranoia over his dominance because Creon finds himself much too scared of the concept of someone defying his decrees and in this case, it is much of a shameful experience for him since a woman is standing up against him. Antigone is not just a citizen standing up against Creon, but a noblewoman standing up for herself. Sophocles wants Antigone to be the one directly defying Creon's claims toward women, and through this use language, he shows the dominance that men are born with and then briefly shifts toward entitling Antigone with that same dominance (Pieris). Sophocles creates an intricate contrast in the way he empowers both of them in their dialogs, which is something that has never been done in Greek plays before Antigone . The first feminist quality that Antigone shows to the audience occurs when she chooses to challenge Creon's authority. The challenge represents an act of rebellion towards Creon's laws, and during Antigone's interactions with Creon in the play, she exhibits a very bold and firm tone in regards to her opinions, which ultimately challenge the traditional role of women in the society.

At the beginning of Antigone , we are shown the contrasting personalities between Antigone and Ismene. Ismene is the female character in the play that Sophocles uses to represent the passive essence of a classical woman during Ancient Greek societal expectations. Ismene expresses her beliefs toward her role as a woman in the society by opposing Antigone's stance as she says that "Remember we are women, we're not born to contend with men" (Pieris). Ismene's reluctance to participate in the burial of their brother shows her obedient and submissive nature towards authority and men. Sophocles wants us to know that even though women may not agree with the new law, at this point in the play, Ismene, for instance, maintains her stance on women's position to their roles despite their injustices.

In the first incidence, Sophocles presents the social role of Greek women in a dialogue between Antigone and Ismene. Ismene is the one who is entirely suppressed by men in the Greek society, while Antigone is the one who poses a threat toward Creon's power due to her unconventional attitude, and this element is quite noticeable in the dialogs between Ismene and Antigone. Sophocles uses the word "we" to address the collective woman population's place in society. This indicates that by using "we," Ismene includes Antigone as a reminder of their shared limitations. In addition, Sophocles uses the law as a metaphor for men and their strength in society and politics. Sophocles uses Ismene as a character who first highlights that men hold ultimate power over women in all interactions and that Antigone's revolutionary power provokes this disparity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Sophocles uses several elements in Antigone to emphasize the on the existence of gender inequality between men and women in society as a matter that never started the other days but a long time ago. Sophocles uses Ismene to identify two crucial understandings of Greek culture during this period: as a character who is first highlighting that men hold ultimate power over women in all interactions, and the second that Antigone's revolutionary power provokes this disparity.

Works Cited

Morton, Timothy. "The Oedipal logic of ecological awareness." Environmental Humanities 1.1 (2012): 7-21.

Pieris, Anoma. "14 Ismene and Antigone in Sri Lanka's Black Cinema." Asian Cinema and the Use of Space: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2015): 204.