Entitlement Theme In Antigone

Although human beings have evolved in many ways over time, the human intellect has remained relatively unchanged throughout time. It is this stagnation of the human mind that makes past literary works recognizable and relatable. Most people can relate to a work of some sort due to the fact that the author and the reader both have similar emotions and face similar problems. A specific piece of literature, Antigone, portrays similar conflicts and emotions that the modern reader today would most likely face. There are many themes in Antigone that are identifiable now, a sense of entitlement to all ( fairness), rebellion against restraints, and the importance of communication, but mainly the theme of entitlement. Human beings have always felt an arrogant sense of entitlement to equality in every situation of life. Americans normally view equality as a group of peoples getting the same or similar things.

Antigone is put at a disposition at the beginning of the work as she is a woman trying to voice her opinion in a time where men were only heard. Some may attribute her lack of voicing to her arrogant attitude, possibly rightly so, developed from the sequence of events in the work. Antigone felt entitled to bury her brother; she felt entitled that her voice be heard. She went against Creon’s command and tried to bury her brother. Antigone scorns Creon at the beginning of the play during questioning by back-talking and arrogantly answering Creon. She often challenges his intelligence with tricky, wordy responses. Antigone also pleads her case by proclaiming to Creon that she was entitled to bury Polyneices ( Sophocles 980-984, 1-115 ). The justification of Antigone’s entitlement can be left to one's discretion ,but Antigone still felt a sense of entitlement. Antigone may seem distent because of the time the work is set in, but she mirrors the personalities of Americans throughout time almost