When duty diverges from the law, should it be pursued? In the tragedy, Antigone, written by greek playwright Sophacles, the protagonist Antigone breaks the law of a stubborn king when she buries her traitorous brother Polynices. Then in the tragedy Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, we follow Hamlet who is told by the returning spirit of his father that he was murdered by his uncle and that Hamlet must seek revenge for him. Both deal with themes of justice and the struggle that both Antigone and Hamlet face when enacting it. Both Antigone and Hamlet express themes of self-sacrifice, a thirst for justice, and a case of hubris in the main characters, while ultimately having different goals and showing different views on human nature.
To begin with, Antigone and Hamlet show
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In Antigone, she wants her brother Polynices to receive justice by receiving a proper burial like her brother Eteocles. She finds it unfair that Polynices is "to be left unwept, unburied, a lovely treasure for birds that scan the field and feast to their heart's content" (35). Antigone is distraught, not only at the death of her brothers, but also by the law Creon has placed that forbids anyone to even mourn Polynices. However, Antigone chooses to go against this law fully knowing the fate set for anyone bold enough to break it, and in doing so, she is certain that her actions are justified. Then in Hamlet, he is determined to avenge his father by killing his murderer, King Claudius. With his plan for revenge, Hamlet becomes so committed that he fakes madness in order to stray away any suspicion of his devious plot. He pretends to be insane which shows just how determined he is to achieve his vengeance. Despite their determination, Antigone hopes to lay her brother to properly rest while Hamlet is trying to kill his uncle in cold blood, both goals filled with entirely different