ipl-logo

Creon's Treatment Of Women In Antigone

644 Words3 Pages

Antigone examines a difference between the behavior expected of women and the truth of their part in society. Creon believes that men are the lead characters in society and women to take a secondary and compliant part. Creon gives Antigone a harsher punishment simply because she is a woman. I trust Antigone is right on the grounds that not only is her demonstration courageous, but compassionate and tolerant. Above all, it is the proper thing to do, to pay admiration to the dead.
Antigone’s act of valor throughout the play challenged gender roles of her time. Her first action of bravery is when she insisted to bury her brother unaccompanied by her sister, “I will bury him. I will have a noble death and lie with him…” To Antigone, this was the honorable thing to do. She knew there would be consequences for her actions and she deliberately disobeyed. Antigone never …show more content…

Traditionally, women are considered as feeble and inferior and Ismene is represented by these characteristics. Even at the danger of challenging a man’s authority, Antigone believes that a woman should stick to her morals. Ismene disputes that because she and Antigone are women, they lack the power to defy the states. She implies, “We are women and we do not fight with men… and I’ll obey the men in charge”. Ismene is under the impression that being born a woman is somehow a subsequent condition with men being “stronger”. Antigone desires to escape from these traditions as she is disappointed with Ismene’s passiveness, urging her to stand up for what is morally right. Ismene refuses to go against Creon’s presiding insisting that they “must obey this order, even if it hurts us more… forgive me I am held back by force.” This concept of male authority depicts Ismene to be compliant to men while being fearful of men’s power. She refuses to bury her own brother as a result. Antigone was determined to do what’s right no matter the

Show More
Related
318 Words | 2 Pages

Antigone will always stand up for her family so she will go against her own uncle. Antigone is correct for bold rebellion to bury her brother because she loyal to her family and to the gods. Antigone will always be loyal to her brother no matter what anyone says, even her uncle. According to the play, Antigone says, “Ismene I am going to bury him. Will you come?’’

Read More
883 Words | 4 Pages

For example, when she puts aside her grave fear of consequence to traverse the bridge. Antigone is overwhelmed by her own stubbornness, which leads to a tragic situation. Antigone refuses to compromise with her sister, Ismene, whom when she first learns of her brother's death. Antigone's unrepressed emotions gives a voice of dissatisfaction with Creon’s. Ever since Antigone gets herself in that situation facing Creon’s wrath, but still she doesn’t make a decision on how to bury her brother.

Read More
1104 Words | 5 Pages

Death was the only outcome of her transgressions. As one might expect from a character like her, Antigone accepted her death and appeared ready for

Read More
532 Words | 3 Pages

On the other hand, Ismene is more concerned with loyalty and is hesitant to go against Creon's orders. This creates a contrast between the two sisters and highlights Antigone's bravery and unwavering commitment to her beliefs. The contrast between Antigone and Ismene serves to emphasize the themes of morality, loyalty, and bravery in the play. Antigone has accepted her fate for disobeying Creon. Despite the consequences of her actions, Antigone remains confident in her beliefs and is not afraid to stand up for what she believes is right.

Read More
1226 Words | 5 Pages

In this quote, she is trying to harn Creon that although he thinks very highly of himself, he will never be able to anything to disrupt the gods and their unwritten laws (being that all men deserve burial). Additionally, the word choice and tone used by the characters also differs. When Creon talks he makes it clear that he thinks of himself quite highly and is convinced that he is above everyone else because of his excessive pride and noble stature. This leads to a tone in his speech that is very obnoxious and off-putting. To the contrary, Antigone regards herself quite low and stands for

Read More
1168 Words | 5 Pages

When Antigone was talking to Ismene in the prologue, she was trying to convince her to go with her to bury Polyneices. Ismene refuses because she thinks that she will get in trouble and she is also scared of what will happen to her if they get caught. In the prologue, Ismene says, "We are only women, We cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong, we must give in to the law In this thing, and in worse. I beg the dead to forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority.

Read More
1501 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More
736 Words | 3 Pages

After catching Antigone, he declares, “Listen, if she’s not punished for taking the upper hand, / Then I am not a man. She would be a man!” (pg. 20). It is evident that Creon believes women should be punished for not staying in their place.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

Conscience vs. Society Everyone faces difficult choices throughout their life, and many of these choices are due to the pressures of society. Society is cruel and everyone, at some point in their lives, has been at the receiving end of that cruelty and felt the sorrow it brings. In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone finds herself faced with the choice of doing what her heart says is right, and burying her dead sibling or following what society has decreed as the right thing to do and leave him “to be devoured by dogs and fowls of the air.” (Sophocles, page 12) Antigone’s sister, Ismene, faces the same choice though she is less willing to defy society in favor of family obligations.

Read More
552 Words | 3 Pages

In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"

Read More
573 Words | 3 Pages

When Ismene hears of Antigone’s plan to bury Polynices, she tries to lower Antigone’s ambitions by saying “Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men.” When she mentions this, Ismene portrays herself as an “ideal woman,” whereas Antigone is more of a masculine character because of her willingness to fight for her

Read More
385 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
742 Words | 3 Pages

Creon throughout the whole play shows a discrimination toward women, in the end he ends up undergoing a terrible downfall. In the play, Antigone is the protagonist who most of the sexism is appointed toward. Creon shows a lot of feminism toward Antigone not only because of her criminal action but also that the fact that she is a female. Creon goes on to send Antigone to a cell deep in the middle of the woods because she went against his law. The fact that she was a female and went against a man’s power makes it seem worse than it actually has to be, all she did was pay her respect to her brother because no one would.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

(Book 13, 396-403) Greek literature sometimes showed signs of female empowerment, but most mortal female characters were nothing more than wives or maids. Antigone was one of the few exceptions. She was strong, smart, and didn’t care what people thought of her. She was fearless, unlike her sister Ismene, who felt limited in her options because she was a woman. She did not think a woman could ever bury her brother’s body,

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

Women are viewed as lower class, or “slaves”. So when Creon heard of Antigone’s actions, he is in disbelief and thinks her actions should be punished by death. In response to Creon ordering her to her death, she sneered, “Then I beg you: Kill me… I should have praise and honor for what I have done.” She has accepted consequences and is welcoming her fate of death. She is proud in the fact she buried her brother

Read More

More about Creon's Treatment Of Women In Antigone

Related Topics

Open Document