LRJ 2

LRJ #2

Antigone wants to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial but she can't bury him because he was fighting against Thebes so King Creon said that nobody could bury his body. She buried him anyways and now faced the wrath of Creon. Antigone is perceived as a very strong and stubborn woman, but also shows her loyal and courageous care for her family. She cares for her brother even though he went against their city. "It is my nature to join in love, not hate" (Sophocles 118-119). This shows that she is stubborn because she wants to bury her brother against Creons orders. It also shows that she is strong and loyal because she is going against the king to protect her brother’s honor. Antigone really does not care what happens to her because she knows that what she is doing is right. "There is no guilt in reverence of the dead" (Sophocles 107-108). This shows that she thinks she should be able to show her dead brother love and respect.

Antigone's fatal flaw is that she chose to bury her brother, because even though she thought she was doing the right thing, she could be killed because of her actions. Her stubbornness led up to this because she refused stop trying to give her brother a proper burial. This is shown throughout many quotes in the story. "If that is what you think, I should not want you, even if you ask to come. You have made your choice and you can be what you want to be; but I will burry him; but if I must die, 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. Not the living who makes the longest demands. We die forever. You may do ask you like, since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you" (Sophocles 107-108). This shows that she is willing to bury her brother even if it means death for her.

Antigone's anagnorisis is that she realizes that even though her uncle is the king, he still will not show her any mercy for trying to bury Polyneices. He will still kill her no matter what. "O city of my fathers in the land of Thebe! O ye gods, eldest of our race!-they lead me hence--now, now-they tarry not! Behold me, princes of Thebes, the last daughter of the house of your kings,-see what I suffer, and from whom, because I feared to cast away the fear of Heaven!" (Jebb 242).

Antigone's Peripeteia happens when she kills herself because she knew that the after life would be better than starving in a dark, cold, cave. She knew she was going to die for the crime, so rather than suffer, she decided to just get it over with herself because there was nothing else to live for and she knew she was going to die either way.

The audience has a catharsis when Antigone is going to be sent off to the cave where she will die. The audience is not sure what Creon is going to do with her and it is very suspenseful. When the audience finds out that she will be sent off to a cave to die, they feel bad for her because she was doing what she felt was right. They think that she does not deserve such a harsh punishment because she was staying loyal to her family. "Tomb, bridal-chamber, eternal prison in the caverned rock, whither go to find mine own, those many who have perished, and whom Persephone hath received among the dead!" (Jebb 235).

In Antigone, women are portrayed as weak characters. It appears that women cannot do anything by themselves and they always need the help of a man. This is shown when Haemon says "If thou art a woman; indeed, my care is for thee" (Jebb 197). This shows he feels that women need his help. Ismene also talks about how women should not fight against men because they would lose. "Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men;" (Jebb 16). This shows that women feel that they are less important than men.

Works Cited

Sophocles. “Antigone.” The Internet Classics Archive. Trans. R. C. Jebb. 04 Oct. 2000.
Classics.mit.edu. 11/24/08
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Sophocles. “Antigone.” Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: World Literature. Trans.
Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 814-826.