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Gender Roles In Antigone

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Gender roles play a significant part through ought the play Antigone due to the fact that men are treated on a higher scale than women. Sophocles portrays women as people with no rights nor freedom. Antigone is on a destiny for burial rights of her brother Polyneicis. Gender roles are expressed throughout the play Antigone by disrespecting women and men having power and freedom. Antigone believes she should have the right of her brother’s burial. Creon states, “No one shall burry him, no one mourn for him” (Sophocles 2) illustrating that Polyneicis is irrelevant in the city of Thebes. The law in Greek society is a female should not have power or freedom over any circumstance. Antigone demands rights over her brother and will not accept …show more content…

Ismene trembles in feat because her life could also be in danger for being the sister of Antigone. Throughout all the family drama if Antigone dies Ismene will be the only descendant from Oedipus alive. Ismene is worried and says, “Antigone I am so afraid for you” (3) because she knows Antigone will die soon. Ismene tells Antigone to be intelligent about her actions and not eager to respond to situations. Creon believes Antigone should forget about her brother because he is dead. Creon expresses to Antigone that her actions will result in terrible consequences. Creon exemplifies that once someone dies from another city they are irrelevant by saying, “An enemy is and enemy even when dead” (15). Creon assumes Polyneicis is a trader because he vanished from the city of Thebes. Due to this incident Creon does not see a right for his burial. Gender roles are important in the play Antigone because it determines where you fit in society. Gender roles also determine if you have a freedom of choice. Antigone does not have freedom because she is a female. The Greeks consider this an honor when a male surpasses a female. Gender role is a key factor when trying to fit in with

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I used this quote from Antigone because it properly states Antigone’s viewpoint on Creon’s decree. As told in the story, Creon's decree was that no one could grieve for or bury Polyneices. Creon made this proclamation because when Eteocles and Polyneices fought over Thebes, Eteocles was pronounced king and exiled Polyneices from Thebes. Polyneices, in turn, formed an army to take on the city, ending up with Eteocles and Polyneices killing each other, thus putting Creon in the position of power. Creon then proceeds to label Polyneices a traitor and finally, makes his decree.

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In the story of Antigone, Antigone’s uncle, Creon, is the king of Thebes who forbids the burial of his nephew, Polyneikes. Polyneikes is Antigone’s brother who went to war with one of their brothers. The fight between the two men ended in death for both, at which was based on who was justified by the state. The brother who fought Polyneikes was awarded a proper burial while Polyneikes was left as a food source for dogs and vultures. Antigone disliked the fact that Polyneikes was not awarded a proper burial because it is her brother.

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198 Words | 1 Pages

The tragic play “Antigone” written by Sophocles, follows after the war between Thebes and Argos. In the war, the two sons of Oedipus, Eteokles and Polynices fought for the throne; however, as a result, both sons die. Due to the brotherly feud, Eteokles and Polynices uncle, Creon becomes the king of Thebes. The new king Creon then passes on a law to not bury Polyneices the exile who rebelled against Thebes, but honor Eteokles who defended the country. He then stated, if the body were to be buried by someone, the burier must be executed.

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1233 Words | 5 Pages

Who: Antigone What: Creon made an edict that Polynieces is not allowed to have proper burial rites but Antigone wants to defy him and bury his brother’s corpse Why: She must face this problem because she thinks that Polynieces deserves to be buried so that his soul may rest. Against all prohibitions and without any just cause, she will bury her brother to the point of her own death. Solution Attempted:

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In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the majority of the conflict surrounds Antigone and her uncle, Creon. However, Antigone’s sister Ismene also is a character of interest throughout the play. The conflict that arises from Creon banning the proper burial of Polynices, Ismene and Antigone’s brother, presents a unique situation. According to the Greeks, without a proper burial one’s soul cannot move on to the afterlife. So, it was extremely important that a proper burial take place.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

In the play, “Antigone” by Sophocles, one of the main characters Antigone, shows us that through determination and bravery we can accomplish the things that scare us the most. Kreon, the new ruler of Thebes, has put a ban on burying Polyneikes, Antigone's brother because he betrayed the city. Antigone wants to go against Kreons law because of the respect she has not only for her brother but the respect she has for the Gods law. Antigone has learned what law Kreon has set for the people of Thebes, they were told that they must not bury the body of Polyneikes. She sets out to find her sister, Ismene, and tell her the upsetting news about their brother.

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485 Words | 2 Pages

In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Antigone’s words, actions, and ideas contracted with Creon’s character. After, Eteocles and Polyneices killed each other in a battle of which one shall be declared king of Thebes. Creon declared that Polyneices should not be given the proper burial rights because, he was a disgrace for attacking his brother. Antigone loved her brothers that so she knew both brothers should have the same burial right for being part of the family . Yet Antigone knows, Creon wants to keep Polyneices from being buried.

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1786 Words | 8 Pages

In the play, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus learns about the death of her two brothers (Eteocles and Polynices).Creon, the new king of Thebes passed a decree to the city on the burial of the two brothers. In the decree, Creon declares that Eteocles body should be buried with honor and fame for his courage of saving the city from the enemy. Whiles Polynices body is left unburied and rotting for beasts to feed on because he came to destroy the city and enslave the people. Antigone defies Creon 's decree, buries Polynices body and gets caught. Creon imprisons her

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Antigone: An Anti-Feminist Play Sophocles’ play Antigone begins with Creon, the king of Thebes, decreeing that the punishment for burying the traitorous Polynices, who fought against the city, is death. However, Creon’s niece Antigone decides to comply with religious law and to defy this decree by burying her dead brother. Because Antigone disobeys his decree, Creon orders that she be locked away, allowing fate to decide whether she lives or dies. However, Antigone decides to kill herself and, furious with his father for Antigone’s death, Creon’s son Haemon also kills himself. Overcome with the grief from her son’s death, Creon’s wife Eurydice commits suicide.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

When Director Ivo van Howe initially conceived the idea of a modern rendition of Sophokles’ Antigone, perhaps he wanted to display the persistence of philosophical issues such as the conflict between law and morality as well as the somewhat stereotypical gender roles of females through bringing the central plot of Antigone to modern society. Despite the great artistic potential of a revival of the play, Howe’s play fails to effectively convey any significant theme or meaning to the audience and instead leaves the audience members, especially the ones who have never read the original play, hopelessly confused. This is caused by the numerous flaws in Ivo van Howe’s confusing and half-hearted directive choices that causes the play to feel shallow.

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385 Words | 2 Pages

But Antigone did so anyways knowing the consequences were going to be brutal. This is significant because the sacrificial death of Antigone, who challenged a male counterpart is basically inevitable. This play challenged the beliefs of women during that day and age, giving them the power to criticize and proceed against an opposing male force. Without the sacrificial death, Antigone would only consist of the overpowering actions of King Creon. Her decisions and actions on challenging him was one of the main themes of the play.

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742 Words | 3 Pages

Him putting Antigone to death because she went against his power clearly shows his feminism towards women. This also shows that all males had full power over society, economy, and women, which isn’t fair. Antigone displays her feminist qualities when she goes against the most powerful male, the king Creon. Her going against him shows her disrespect for Creon, her doing this and speaking like a male figure shows her push for equality between the sexes. Antigone throughout the whole play pushed for equality but she never seemed to get what she wants.

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759 Words | 4 Pages

In Antigone, there was two brothers who shared being the King and one of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted to be the main ruler. Polynices and his brother Eteocles fight and they both end up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who takes position as King when they are both killed, decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polynices will be left to rot. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polynices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands.

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549 Words | 3 Pages

In the play, Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone argues that her older brother should be given the respect of a proper burial to be able to pass through Purgatory. Antigone supports her argument by using Pathos and Ethos to persuade the king Creon to go back on the law of anyone attempting to Polyneices a burial they will be punished. Antigone’s purpose is to give her brother the burial that will allow him to pass onto the afterlife she believes in. Antigone uses an argumentative tone for the proper burial of her brother. In seeking a proper burial for her brother, Polyneices, Antigone’s standards of divine justice provide a more effective argument than that of the king

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1735 Words | 7 Pages

Sophocles play “Antigone” introduces a lot of debatable topics such as Human law vs Divine laws, pride, but most importantly the topic of woman’s movement for empowerment. Long before 442 B.C.E, women were belittled because of their gender however, after the birth of “Antigone” it demonstrated a strong outreach towards women and their roles in society ”Antigone, a woman who defines King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades” (Söderbäck). Birth from a respected bloodline, Antigone doesn’t feel respected at all within her town, especially from her uncle Creon who became entitled as the King after Antigone’s blood

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