2/20/04
Throughout the play Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone exemplifies what it is to be a headstrong human being. She is loyal to her family but has no regard for the laws of the king. Standing true to her actions, Antigone listens to no one when people try to talk sense into her. Only one thing is of the utmost importance to her, burying her traitor brother Polyneices’ dead body.
Ismene, Antigone’s sister, is the first to try to counsel her in the right direction. She states that it is proper to bury Polyneices’ body, but Creon the king has forbade it because Polyneices, exiled from the city by his brother King Eteocles, had returned with an army to claim the throne. With both brothers taking each other’s lives in the battle, Creon announces that Polyneices is the traitor because he made war with his own country. Therefore, Ismene warns Antigone that Creon will not tolerate such a defiant act and death will follow to anyone who disobeys his orders. Still, Antigone holds strong.
I believe that Antigone is so let down by her sister not joining her, her words turn to hate, “I should not want you, even if you asked to come” (1427). This is typical of a sibling fight. Many times have siblings said these very same words, but Antigone takes it much farther. So bull-headed, she turns on her only sister who is trying to help her: “Think how they’ll hate you when it all comes out. If they learn that you knew about it all the time” (1428).
What sister would want her own sibling to be hated by everyone? Has she forgotten what she holds deep to her heart, family? I think it is ironic how Antigone is so loyal to blood, but shuns her only living blood so easily. Is not that what Antigone is standing so strong about, loyalty to blood? So determined in burying Polyneices’ body, she has listened to no reasoning from her sister, and has actually shunned her: “Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, for your words are hateful” (1428).
Antigone is determined to bury her brother’s body and does not care about any consequences. She is not concerned about Creon and his laws. Death does not frighten nor scare her in the least bit; she actually welcomes it: “I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths—death without honor” (1428).
Reasoning from Ismene fell on a deaf ear along with reasoning from Creon. Creon is a king and should be treated with respect. It seems to me that Antigone feels she does not have to show respect like everyone else. She speaks loosely with Creon, not minding what words come out of her mouth: “All these men here would praise me were their lips not frozen shut with fear of you. (Bitterly.) All the good fortune of kings, licensed to say and do whatever they please!” (1436). This is no way to speak to a man of authority. She needs to put her stubbornness aside and listen to Creon, or at least speak to him respectfully. Respect for a king is vital to a country. If the king has no respect, how can he maintain order? If Creon loses respect from the people he rules over, no one will listen, and mayhem will follow.
Even if Antigone has a good reason for defying the law of the king, mouthing off is not a good way to defend your actions. Her bitter words anger Creon more and more with every word she speaks. If there was any chance of him pardoning her, that is gone now because of her complete lack of respect.
She does not want to listen to what Creon has to say, Antigone just wants him to make his ruling and be done with it: “Then I beg you: kill me. This talking is a great weariness: your words are distasteful to me, and I am sure that mine seem to you” (1436). But Creon goes on and tries to tell her that she is insulting the memory of her other brother, Eteocles. He is trying to tell her not only did she defy the law, but also she is honoring a man that does not deserve it. Yet again, reasoning falls onto deaf ears because Antigone has made up her mind and will not change it. She will not even look at another perspective of this matter, but only sees her own.
When Ismene is brought before Creon, she admits to taking part in the crime with Antigone. This is a very brave act and it shows how loyal Ismene is to her family and especially to Antigone. But obstinate Antigone will not let her sister do anything of the sort. Antigone says coldly, “No, Ismene. You have no right to say so. You would not help me and I will not have you help me” (1437). So earlier in the play, when Ismene tried to talk sense into her, Antigone turned her away. And when Ismene wants to join her in death, she turns her away yet again. Ismene is just trying to do the right thing and Antigone keeps shutting her out. Turning your back on a family member is a disgraceful act. Antigone should show Ismene what she says she so strongly believes in, loyalty to blood.
I think it is understandable that Antigone was hurt because Ismene did not help with the burial of their brother. But when Ismene tries to join her in death and says, “no way no how”, that is just stubborn. Why would not you want your sister to join? I think it is because Antigone is being selfish. Ismene has realized that maybe family is more important than law and will die for it, but Antigone wants to be the only one dying for her so-called noble act: “You shall not lessen my death by sharing it” (1437). Such hateful words she speaks to her only sister. Like I said earlier, loyalty to family is what is most meaningful to Antigone, yet she shows no loyalty to Ismene.
Antigone must remember that Creon too is family and that together they all run the city. After a civil war, the city is putting itself back together and needs stability. Yet, if turmoil is evident within the castle walls, the city will not receive the stability it seeks and will fall apart at the seams.
In the end of the play, Creon orders Antigone to be put into a vault to die a slow death of hunger. But he changes his mind after he talks to Teiresias. When he goes to the vault to release her, Creon finds she has hung herself. This is the last obstinate thing Antigone did. I think she was so self-willed that she was not going to die the way she was ordered to. She was going to die the way she wanted to and was not going to wait for hunger to take her life away.
Stubbornness ultimately took Antigone’s life. Not willing to listen to others or compromise did not accomplish much for her. It is essential to listen to various views and gather as much information before such a stance is taken. A person that does listen to others can learn from that experience. Stubbornness makes life difficult and stifles the learning process of a human being. You will not grow as a person if you listen to no one but yourself.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Antigone. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.
8th ed. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 2002. 1425-55.