Women In Antigone

Some people decide to make their own choices instead of obeying the rules. They may feel that it is the right thing to do even if society sees them as inferior. Sophocles wrote the greek drama Antigone. This play is about a king named Creon and him not allowing Polyneices to be buried. Antigone, a woman, thought differently and chose to bury Polyneices. Her choice eventually led to a series of tragic events in the play that would include her eventual death. Because of this, Sophocles conveys the idea that in a society dominated by men, women are able to challenge men by pushing forward their own ideas and by making their own choices.

Sophocles utilizes character foil to illustrate how Greek society found women to be inferior. This inferiority

He mentions a handful of rude statements in the play that are meant to put down the person his message reaches. Sophocles utilizes hyperbole in the play to depict how Creon thinks of the likes of Antigone and Ismene. When Creon asked about Ismene’s part in the Antigone’s plan to bury Polyneices, Ismene admits that she was part and aware of the plan. Antigone, however argued with Ismene and said that Ismene wasn’t guilty. Furthermore, Creon would interrupt this conversation by sarcastically saying, “One has just now lost her mind; the other, It seems, has never had a mind at all.” From this statement, we continue to learn about the insecurities of Creon and his inappropriate behavior. Moreover, we learn that Sophocles also uses stereotypes as it is seen in his character in Creon. Creon’s quotes describing and belittling the power of women shows his sexist views. Even if greek society in this period was male dominant, Creon exhibits a greater level of disgust towards women. His quote “For they are but women, and even brave men run” (214) exemplifies his sexist views as he describes women as nothing merely great or important while he said of men as brave. He seems to insert himself into situations that would leave him with the highest of authority and