Essay On Feminism In Antigone

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In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles. Antigone is portrayed as an extremely strong character. Through her words and actions, she lays some very early foundations for feminism. Feminism today is described as the radical notion that women are people. Even though Antigone by Sophocles existed before the word Feminism, that doesn't mean it couldn't show some of its primary fundamentals. Sophocles presents a female character in this play, who is a strong believer and who shows feminist logic. Antigone rejects the customary part of woman in Greece and she defies her ruler Creon, in various points of view making her be depicted as a feminist. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society, Sophocles’ Antigone depicts women as being solid and capable of making wise decisions. In the play we see Antigone meeting with her sister Ismene to talk about the announcement Creon made regarding their brother Polyneices. Antigone is dismayed that Polyneices' dead body is being sentenced to decay upon …show more content…

In the Choral Ode to man (the perhaps most famous passage from his drama), human existence is characterized as wondrous, riddle-like, uncanny. Human beings are natural and rational at once, bound by necessity yet gifted with freedom, mortal yet capable of transcending the mere necessities of life and survival, the doers of good and evil, makers and breakers of laws and city walls. Although the story of Antigone addresses these universal and timeless contradictions and perplexities of human kind, it simultaneously tells the story of a singular individual: Antigone, a woman who defies king Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the twentieth century and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades. Antigone is a story of divine retribution and human

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