Character Changes Involving Antigone and Creon
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. A
Some common words found in the essay are:
Creon Creon, Polyneices Creon, Creon Stop, Ismene Ismene, Creon Antigone’s, Thebes Unhappy, Sophocles’ Greek, Lies Creon, Polyneices” Creon’s, Haimon Eurydice, death antigone, close minded, creon’s close-minded attitude, niece son, law placed, forced commit, stubborn inflexible, son wife, creon’s decline, niece son wife, attitude leads, creon’s change,
Approximate Word count = 1460
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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