Character Changes in Antigone
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it. Antigone now has the ability to consider her consequences because her action of burying her brother is complete. She knows her crime is justified, but her new open-mindedness leads her to consider the alternative. Even though she knows she will die with honor she is grieving for the way she was forced to commit a crime to take an action she believes is justifiable. This is seem when Antigone says: Soon I shall be with my own again . . . To me, since it was my hand That washed him clean and poured the ritual wine: And my reward is death before my time! And yet, as men's hearts knows, I have done no wrong, I have not sinned before God. Or if I have, I shall know the truth in death. But if the guilt Lies upon Creon who judged me, then, I pray, May his punishment equal my own. Antigone's statement shows open-mindedness because she says she does not believe she has sinned but if she has she will know in death. Before Antigone believed that her actions were not sinful, but how she shows an open mind. She is also saying if it is Creon's fault that she will die then may he die also for sending her unjustly to her death. Antigone says: Thebes, and you my father's gods, And rulers of Thebes, you see me now, the last Unhappy daughter of a line of kings, Your kings, led away to death. You will remember What things I suffer, and at what men's hands Because I would not transgress the laws of heaven Come: let us wait no longer. She comes from a long line of kings that were fated to die because of a curse placed on them. She willingly leaves to die knowing that it is an honorable death. Antigone hangs herself, in the tomb she was placed in by Creon, using a noose of her fine linen veil. Creon, Antigone's uncle, experiences a change of close-mindedness to open-mindedness with his actions throughout the play. Creon's close-minded attitude can be seen when he says: This is my command, and you can see the wisdom behind it. As long as I am king, no traitor is going to be honored with The loyal man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he Is on the side of the state, he shall have my respect while He is living, and my reverence when he is dead. Creon is saying that as long as he is king that this is the way it will be, and you can see wisdom behind it. Unfortunately he is convinced that this is the right way to rule, and it is this attitude that leads to Creon's decline. When Choragos tries to explain why Polyneices is now buried Creon says: Stop! Must you doddering wrecks Go our of your heads entirely? "The gods!" Intolerable! . . . Is it your senile opinion that the gods love to honor bad men? A pious thought! Creon does not accept that a higher being could possibly judge Polyneices differently then he has. This example of close-mindedness shows that Creon compares his views with those of Greek gods. After learning that Antigone is the person who defied his law he says: She has much to learn. The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron Cracks first, and the wildest horses bend their necks At the pull of the smallest curb. This is ironic because he is saying she has an inflexible heart when in fact he is the one who is stubborn or inflexible. When asked by his niece what he wants more than her death he says, "Nothing. That gives me everything." The audience gets a continuous look at Creon's close-minded attitude. When he says Antigone's death gives him everything he means everything in a positive sense. In actuality her death brings him everything negative. This is how his close-minded, stubborn attitude leads to his decline. As a result of his inflexibility, he loses Antigone, Haimon, and Eurydice. After the loss of his niece, son and wife, Creon's change is sudden. While talking to Choragos, he tells Creon to, "Go quickly: free Antigone from her vault and build a tomb for the body of Polyneices." Creon's response is contrary to his earlier stubbornness, "It is hard to deny the heart! But I will do it: I will not fight with destiny." Creon is now becoming open-minded. He says that he will no longer fight destiny and this shows that he was not right to punish Antigone in the first place. Another example of Creon's change is shown when the Messenger says: Take the case of Creon: Creon was happy once, as I count happiness: Victorious in battle, soul governor of the land, Fortunate father of children nobly born. And now it is all gone from him. This illustrates Creon's decline due to his stubborn, inflexible attitude. He has lost all of his happiness, explained by the Messenger, leading towards his decline because of his stubborn personality. The Messenger says, "Haimon is dead; and the hand that killed him is his own hand." Choragos' response is, "His father's? or his own?" The Messenger replies, "His own, driven mad by the murder his father had done." Haimon's suicide is being placed on Creon's stubborn murdering. He also admits to this later when he says, "I have killed my son and my wife." Choragos attempts to explain Creon's newfound open mind when he says: There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise. This statement illustrates that Creon's "big words" are punished by the deaths of his niece, son and wife. Creon learns to be wise or to become more open-minded after he is too late to stop the deaths in his family. Creon was a proud man, but with time and consequences he learned to be wise. Antigone is a tragedy that involves the changing attitudes of two characters. It is through the changes made by Antigone and Creon from close-minded to open-minded characters that the play becomes a tragedy. With Creon's stubborn laws and Antigone's stubborn opinion in the beginning of the play, the tragedy may take place.
Challenges to Male Authority in Sophocles’ play, Antigone
In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Creon and Antigone have distinct conflicting values.
Antigone first demonstrates feminist logic when she chooses to challenge a powerful male establishment. This establishment is personified by her uncle Creon, who is newly crowned as the King of Thebes. Creon poses to be a major authority figure in a patriarchal society. Creon's regard for the laws of the city causes him to abandon all other beliefs. He feels that all should obey the laws set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise. Antigone, on the other hand, holds the beliefs of the gods in high reverence. She feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed above all others, especially when in respect to family. The bold, tradition-braking character of Antigone clearly clashed with the overpowering patriarchal dominance of Creon. This collision between characters gives rise to the conflict between the sexes in Sophocles' Antigone. The denial of burial to Polynices strikes directly at her family loyalty. This enormous sense of loyalty leads to her simultaneous violation and observance to the duty of women of the time. It is precisely this loyalty that makes her an active rather than a static figure.
Antigone herself represents the highest ideals of human life -- courage and respect for the gods. She believed that the law of the gods, which dictates that a body be given proper burial rights, was more important than the law of the King. Throughout the play, Antigone amazingly retains the traditional role of women, while at the same time boldly challenges this depiction. The challenge occurs as both a defiance of Creon's laws in Antigone's burying Polynices and as a direct verbal assault on Creon himself. Creon becomes angry that a woman questions his sovereignty and condemns her to death even though she was the daughter of his sister, Jocasta. Creon believes that if he does not follow through on his word the people of Thebes will not respect his authority as king. Thus Creon's patriotic values clash with Antigone's ethical values to make conflicting roles.
Creon, being a new king, wants to prove his abilities as a firm and strong administrator. Creon wants to be respected and feared as a king because this will prove him to be the ultimate authorative figure in Thebes. He stands for obedience to the State. Surely it is
his voice the townspeople should obey. Creon abuses his power to force others to accept
his point of view. This extreme dominance conflicts head-on with Antigone's bold unwomanly challenge to Creon's authority. Creon made many convictions insulting
womenkind. His convictions seemed true a large population of men. He uses her to set an
example for the entire city of Thebes, for Antigone is the first person to ever deliberately disobey Creon's order not the bury her late brother, who has been declared a traitor of the city. Imagine it: I caught her naked rebellion, /the traitor, the only one in the whole city./ I'm not about to prove myself a liar,/ not to my people, no, I'm going to kill her! (94,ll.731-734). Creon refuses to compromise or humble himself before others especially women. He states Better to fall from power, if fall we must,/at the hands of a man-never to rated/ inferior to a woman, never (94, ll. 759-761 ). Antigone does not give Creon additional respect either because he is a man in a patriarchal society or because he is king. In such way, she argues an equality of the sexes, as well as equality under God.
In the prologue, Antigone tells Ismene that she will take action pertaining to their brother, whether or not Ismene agrees . Antigone, persuades her to help bury their brother, He is my brother and-deny it as you will-/ your brother too(61, ll.55-56). The two sisters argue, but in the end their differences in opinions stand out. Ismene being too weak is afraid to defy the king. On the other hand, Antigone is brave enough to go ahead with her decision. Even without her sister's help, she is willing to risk her life to give her brother what he deserves and what the gods say should be done, despite Creon's edict. Thus unlike her sister, Ismene refuses to challenge the male authority, even if it means to not fulfill her duties as a sister. Ismene states: Remember we are women,/ we're not born to contend with men. Then too,/ we're underlings, ruled by much stronger hands,/ so we must submit in this, and things still worse (62, ll. 74-77). These words stated by Ismene, express her extreme fear for and subordination to man. Her view of the inferiority to men came from the many laws restricting the lives of women. After Antigone carries out the deed, Ismene now feels responsible to die with Antigone. This sense of responsibility is probably the result of Antigone's earlier pleas for help and Ismene's fear of being without any family.
When speaking to his son, Haemon, about his fiancee's act, Creon strongly emphasizes the important relationship and obligation of a man to his father rather than to his wife. Moreover, he emphasizes the importance of males in decision making by stating, " Oh Haemon, never loose your sense of judgement over a woman" (93, l.723). Haemon's defiance to his father lead Creon to proclaim him a woman's slave, a man who is unfortunately sided with a woman. According to Creon, this act was close to committing a sin. Had Antigone been born the son of Oedipus, rather than his daughter, it would not be his place to decide, as his crown would rest upon Antigone's head. And even if Creon were king, and Antigone a male, her opinion on the matter of Polynices' burial would likely have been taken more into his consideration. Antigone's gender made her situation even more difficult than it already was, as the King totally disregarded Antigone's judgement over the matter.
In conclusion, Antigone in Sopocles's Antigone demonstrates feminist thoughts in several ways. She first challenges a powerful male establishment headed by her own uncle.Creon is devoted to his laws, while Antigone is loyal to her beliefs. Antigone as a woman acting out of obligation and duty, to the gods, her family and her conscience is the exemplum for her society. Antigone did not run from her death sentence suggest an inherent bravery and obstinacy which the chorus recognizes before her departure to her death. Her legacy will live on, and inspire many other rebels to stand up for their beliefs. Antigone's strong feminist stance in defying a patriarchal tyrant shows how individualistic ideas and actions can be very effectual.
Works cited :
- Sophocles, Antigone. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York. Penguin Group. 1982. 58-128.
