Edudorm Facebook

Antigone

  • Philosophy
  •             Antigone is a novel that describes a tragedy that of about 442 B.C. The author by name Sophocles published the novel in 2007 (Sophocles, 5). The novel illustrates various situations in which the author describes the importance of existentialism. Believe of existentialism is relevant to the novel because there is an indication why personal choice is important. According to the novel, there is a firm association of existentialism with the philosophy of an individual (Klimek 37). The author describes the philosophy that takes place in personal freedom while in the society. The story and drama about Antigone has its roots in the celebrations made by religious groups in the Greece society. The Athenians made an establishment of their culture from rural festival to urban celebrations through dancing choruses. The play illustrated in the novel gives a clear few of how people refer to various issues like death and the rule of law. The modern academics and critics describe the information given about antigen as most naturalistic. They state that the styles used in antigone portrays a well form of art work. According the views made by audience, the novel fully describes the culture of the early Greek people (Klimek 37).                         
  •             The novel gives a story of courage’s woman known as Antigone who manages to express her freedom of choice. According to the novel, Antigone’s two brothers known as Polyneices and Eteocles die after engaging in a civil war. The novel depicts that according to the customs of the society of Thebes where the named characters live, the law could not allow the burial of Polyneices to take place. Sophicles describes that the reason for the burial of Polyneices not to take place was an order from the ruler of that time known as Creon. The ruler gave the reason of not allowing the burial as an order he received from holy rites (Menon 56). According to the laws of Thebes, anybody who would participate in burying the body of the deceased would face death penalty. The author illustrates that Ismane failed to assist Antigone in attempting to bury their brother because she feared the consequences of the act. Even though Antigone knew that claiming to burry her brother was morally wrong according to the laws of Greece land, she commits herself in making sure that she attains her goal.  
  •             The novel explains that Antigone managed to bury his brother without the help from anybody. Creon who was the ruler summoned Antigone to appear before him in order to explain why she could do against the will of the holy gods. After declining to accept that it was wrong to bury the body of his brother, Creon gave an order to his Sentry to lock-up both Antigone and her sister (Jones & Marlow 5). The novel illustrates that a man called Haemon who is the son of Creon killed himself after having a conflict with his father. The death of Haemon affects her mother who then commits suicide after having depression for sometime. Before Eurydice who is Creon’s wife succumbed to her death, she curses her husband for being the cause of their son’s death. The novel depicts that Antigone later kills herself as reported by the messenger who gives the ruler about those unexpected information.
  •             The novel gives a clear illustration that Creon ended up losing his wife and son because of failing to obey the voice of the blind prophet. According to the prophet, it was against the freedom of choice to deny Antigone to bury his brother. The prophet also highlighted to the Creon that the gods would punish him for issuing instructions that were not acceptable. The novel indicates that although the order that Creon issued was fine to him as a king, the gods punished him for being proud. According to the novel, he decided that Antigone deserves to die in a tomb after confessing that she buried her brother (Krauss 114).
  •             According to the novel by Sophicles, the existential interpretation is how people refer to the rule of law. The novel also gives a clear illustration of how people figure not be in association with the dead people. The novel refers to the theme of death and gives many details about it. According to the novel, many of the characters end up dying due to various reasons. In the first incidence, the Antigone’s two brothers die after participating in a civil war with a neighboring community (Kligerman 94). Most of other cases of death discussed in the novel came because of committing suicide due to different reasons. According to the author of the novel, it is clear that all the deaths that occur are because of failure to adhere certain philosophical guidelines. There is failure in implementing the idea of ethical values in the society of Athenians. Referring to the deaths that came because of the characters committing suicide, the novel gives a clear illustration that the people were emotionally unstable. They killed themselves because the ruler violated their rights by that time.
  •             Another theme in the novel of Antigone is commitment. The ancient Greece was a territory where women had minor role in the society. They had no chance to express themselves because the place was under the control of men. The authors work portrays that the commitment of some of the Athenians women played a significant role in demonstrating that a woman is a capable of doing even more than men do. Antigone is an example in the novel that women have the ability to make wise decisions. From the beginning of the story in Sophocle’s novel, Antigone is committed in making sure that his brother’s dead body receive deserve a respectful burial (Menon 407). The novel depicts that even after Creon becomes arrogant with Antigone, she does not lose hope of making sure that she buries the body of her brother. The novel depicts that it is because of Antigon’s commitment that she is able to attain her goals. She manages to walk the hardest part of her life alone even after her sister declines to assist in burying their brother. Isemene who is Antigone’s sister is a coward and according to the novel and portrays the weak side of women in the society. She is an example that if women fail to commit themselves in various issues, men can dominate their lives forever.        
  •             According to the novel, the theme of passion makes a minor role in the whole setting of the story. This is because the play is about a sad mood where most of the time the author shows scenes of death in all the episodes. The novel criticizes the theme of absurd because there is no moment that seems ridiculous. From the beginning of the novel, the author illustrates how the two brothers of Antigone die during the civil war. This is a clear indication that there the story written in the novel is a sad one (Keenan 114). The author continues to state more death that occurs in Athen that shows a make the mood of the story to be sad. According to the novel, Creon who is the ruler in Athien, is not people friendly. He does not read by a good example starting from his own family. The author of the novel depicts that Creon is the cause of both his son and wife deaths. He also summons Antigone and handles her case in a ruthless manner even after receiving advice from different people. The story ends in a sad mood after realizing that the woman referred as the heroin in the society ends up committing suicide. She sets a bad example to the young women looking upon her as a role model.
  •             Although the main theme in the novel death, the audience can depict minor ridiculous moments in the background work when there is a presentation of the play. The instances where the audience can depict passion in the novel are minor. The author illustrates that while focusing on the life of Antigone, the story demonstrates clear how the writer employs the theme of death. Theme of death is understandable because the author gives many examples of people who succumbing to death due to various issues. Considering that the first section of the novel indicates the death of the two brothers, the novel explains well the theme of death all the way to the end (Bańkowski, 127). The novel gives a clear outline of the theme of commitment where Antigone achievement the author discusses Antigone’s achievements in details.
  •             Even though the theme of absurd does not appear in large extent in the novel, the author tries to show some various ridiculous items. According to the novel, the author figures out the theme of absurdity in the life of Antigone although in rare cases. He illustrates that Antigone had willingly preferred death to life. In most cases, it is very rare to hear of such a person who value human happiness out of love. She also had faith in the dead and believed that they deserve to get their rights. Another instance that the author depicts the theme of absurdity is at the pathetic narrative of the scene in the tomb. According the novel, this instance illustrates that Antigone died without the knowledge of Haemon’s faithfulness and the wrath that Creon receives (Bańkowski, 127).
  •             According to the author, he intended to have an existential meaning to the story of Antigone (Tanzer 1). In most of the illustrations in the novel, Sophicles describes the philosophy that emphasis on uniqueness of Antigone. The novel gives a clear view on how an individual can experience isolation regarding the existence of the law. The novel also stresses the freedom of choice that the woman struggle to get in her life. The novel by Sophicles, succeeds as an existential artifact because it approaches death in an existential manner. The novel has developed a clear understanding to the knowledge of existentialism especially its connection with philosophical issues (Tanzer 1).
  • References
  • Bańkowski Zenon. Epistemology and ontology: IVR-Symposium Lund 2003. New York: Franz     Steiner Verlag, 2005. Print.
  • Jones Eamonn & Marlow Jean. More duologues for all accents and ages. New York: Routledge,   2004. Print.
  • Keenan Dennis. The question of sacrifice. New York: Indiana University Press, 2005. Print.
  • Kligerman Eric. Sites of the uncanny: Paul Celan, specularity and the visual arts. New York:         Walter de Gruyter, 2007. Print.
  • Klimek Diana. Antigone's reach: A feminine model for today's businesswoman. New York:           ProQuest, 2008. Print.
  • Krauss Kenneth. The drama of fallen France: reading la comédie sans tickets. New York:             SUNY Press, 2004.Print.
  • Menon Madhavi. Shakesqueer: A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare.         New York: Duke University Press, 2011. Print.
  • Sophocles. Antigone. New York: RicherResourcesPublications, 2007. Print.
  • Tanzer Mark. On existentialism. Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
1801 Words  6 Pages
Get in Touch

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to inform us and we will gladly take care of it.

Email us at support@edudorm.com Discounts

LOGIN
Busy loading action
  Working. Please Wait...