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Kant ethical theory
Immanuel kant theory of ethics
Immanuel kant theory of ethics
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“Polyneices fought as bravely and died as miserably – They say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him, no one shall mourn for him . . . There it is, and now you can prove what you are: A true sister or a traitor to the family” (Sophocles 3.17-27). Antigone is evidently sentenced to death after being convicted for the burial of Polyneices, but just before her execution, Creon pleads with her to quickly marry Haemon so her life will be “fulfilled.” Antigone believes marrying Haemon in such a rush is futile and will not fulfill her. For this reason, she makes the choice to take her own life rather than being executed and marrying Haemon.
Antigone defies King Creon’s law and buries her brother as a way to help his soul find peace, while invoking divine law as a defense for her actions. A soldier catches Antigone in the act, but she does not attempt an escape or deny what she is doing. Instead, she simply accepts her punishment. Consequently, she is condemned to die. On another note, Antigone being female is a large factor in the story.
To her the law being unjust is not right, and she will disobey it even if that means she has to risk her life. The main way she does this is by burying her brother. Polynices was her brother, and even though he is told he should not have a proper burial and rot forever, Antigone disagrees. She needs to bury him. She believes it is her right to do so, she was “I wasn’t born to hate with the other, but to love both together” (Sophocles.
She has a heroic and courageous personality. Throughout her quest to bury Polyneices, Antigone encounters many hindrances along the way. The death of her father Oedipus led to her greatest disputant being given power, her Uncle Creon. He would show her no mercy for breaking his laws, until it is too late. Even when her sister Ismene states “Our own death would be if we should go against Creon And do what he has forbidden!
After the news of her brothers’ deaths, she was informed, that the one who attacked their homeland to gain the crown, would be granted no burial. Angered by this she tried to convince her sister to help her in her plot to bury their brother, but afraid of the punishment she will not help Antigone. She then tried to convince Antigone to not bury him, so she wouldn’t face execution. Even further angered by her sisters actions,
Antigone: I think she leans towards humanism, from what I saw in the beginning of the play. She ignores the King’s wrath, and feels the need to bury her brother despite risking her own life. She tells Ismene that it must be done. She proceeded to Creone that she did not abide by his laws, but rather God’s laws. She believed that it was better to treat her brother, as she wanted to provide for one another, under her faith in God.
In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.
The two are bound to two opposing sides of the law with family stances being most prominent reason for their divide. Through the characters of Antigone and Creon, Sophocles and Anouilh prove that duty is bound to family loyalty, regardless of how polarizing the reactions may be. This is shown through Antigone and Creon’s actions and decisions, determination and persistence,
Antigone breaks king Creon’s rules and buries her brother. In doing so she is breaking away from the rule of Creon. She is deciding her own destiny. She ends up getting caught and faces consequences, she put herself in that situation deciding her own fate.
In “Antigone” Sophocles proves that it is a moral choice to do something that will result in our death if we have a good enough reason to do it because it shows bravery, proves the importance of human rights, and can create role models for
Her death had a major impact on the city and her family’s legacy. So, it was justified that she made the decisions she made that lead to her noble death. Antigone’s love for a noble death is shown throughout the book. When Antigone finds out that her brother will not be given a proper burial, she sees it as an opportunity
Arguably she made a heroic decision, but deciding what her intent was behind those decisions is questionable. Undoubtedly one of Antigone’s motivations was to be certain that both of her brothers were resting
Antigone’s first core value is that she believes in putting her family first. This core value influences her decision that leads to her attempting
Antigone’s actions are motivated by her allegiance to her family, moral conscience, and religion amid Creon’s political injustice and tyranny. Antigone’s actions motivate her to demand Ismene to prove whether she is “a true sister or a traitor to your family” (26-27). Antigone maintains loyalty to her brother despite his actions which threatened Thebes. Her inability to bear the thought of her brother’s corpse being picked apart by animals and not being honored with proper funeral rites forces her to act. Antigone’s fierce allegiance to her family is laid bare as she is willing to sacrifice her life to honor her brother and defy the law in an act that she believes is morally just.
She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods.