To those in authority. (Sophocles Prologue 46-51)
Everyone thinks of Ismene as a supporter of Creon because she does not show that she secretly rebels against him. Ismene’s secretive actions allow her to rebel against Creon while still escaping punishment.
Ismene is able to get away with her actions because she creates an “onstage” and an “offstage” behavior. Her “onstage” behavior shows her concurring to Creon and her “offstage” behavior is her rebelling against Creon. James Scott’s ideas in Weapons of the Weak are used by Jennet Kirkpatrick when she says, “...they protect themselves with ‘onstage’ behavior in public and power-laden contexts that is deferential and compliant, while their ‘offstage’ behavior is markedly less so” (Kirkpatrick 405). The “onstage” behavior allows Ismene to seem compliant with Creon while her “offstage” behavior is her true feelings and emotions towards Creon. By being secretive with her actions and having both an “onstage” and an “offstage” behavior, Ismene rebels against Creon
…show more content…
As mentioned before, the burial styles are exceedingly different. One burial occurs secretly at night and the other is a ceremonial burial that happens during broad daylight (Kirkpatrick 406). The style of the first burial matches the personality of Ismene and the second burial matches Antigone’s personality. When Antigone is discussing her punishment with Creon, Ismene tries to take her share of the punishment as well. She wants to join Antigone because she is equally guilty, but Antigone forbids Ismene from taking the blame of the burials (Sophocles 1.2.133-48). Ismene tries to take responsibility for her actions but Antigone prevents her from doing so. Antigone is not responsible for burying Polyneices the first time because of the extreme differences between the burials and Ismene trying to take her share of the