English Essay

Submitted By nojojojo
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"It lies not in our power to love, or hate, For will in us is over-ruled by fate" - Christopher Marlowe (hero and Leander). A central theme in both versions of Antigone is fate vs. free will. It sways the characters behaviour and plays a key role in the characters lives. Antigone knows her fate and is ruled by it while Creon believes that he is in control of fate. In both plays Antigone and Creon make their decisions and these choices lead to their fates. Antigone's defiance is the cause of her death while Creon suffering is a result of his Hubris. Through Antigone and Creon, Sophocles and Anouilh show that people need to be rational when they make decisions, and question and reflect upon their choices. This is shown through Antigone and Creon' attitudes, their ignorant decisions, and them realizing once it's too late. In both plays, Creon shows his irrational nature when making decisions without considering the consequences. In Sophocles'' version of the play, Creon becomes paranoid and cruel. When talking to Antigone he talks about how laws are made by kings and they must be upheld while he breaks those laws by not burying Polyneices showing his disrespect towards the gods.
" To overrule the unwritten unalterable laws of gods and heaven, you being only a man. They are not of yesterday or to-day, but everlasting, though where they came from, none of us can tell. Guilty of their transgression before god I cannot be, for any man on earth. I knew I would die of course" (Sophocles 138)
Antigone is referring to the gods laws and how Creon is only a man. Creon should realize that he is not above the gods. Antigone has support from the citizens of Thebes for burying her brother while Creon questioned about his decisions. Antigone is then saying how she must follow the gods laws and for no man can break them and be guilty before god. knew she would die for what she did. Creon shows his irrational nature by not listening to what Antigone reasoning. Creon should have realized that Antigone was right and bury Polyneices. Similarly, Antigone does care about Creon reason for not burying Polyneices in Anouilh's version. Creon tries to save Antigone' s life by trying to convince her not to bury the body again, Antigone hubris causes her to disregard what Creon is saying.
"Tell me, Antigone, do you believe all that flummery about religious burial? Do you really believe that a so-called shade of you brother is condemned o wander forever homeless if a little earth is not flung on his corpse to the accompaniment of some priestly abracadabra? Have you ever listened to the priests of Thebes when they were mumbling their formula?- skipping half the gestures required by the ritual, swallowing half their words, hustling the dead into their graves out of fear that they might miss lunch" ( Anouilh 45)
This quote shows the state of Thebes at the time, it illustrates how even the priests are not doing their jobs properly. Creon knows that it is wrong not to bury Polyneices but can recognize that it the burial process already is wrong. Abracadabra represents how Creon sees the gods and priests and just an illusion. The quote shows the Creon hatred for men of god who also have power in Thebes. Antigone agrees that Creon is right but her hubris causes her to not care and remain stubborn. Sophocles and Anouilh prove that people need to be rational when making decisions and question their choices. Antigone and Creon show that by being impulsive with decision lead to despair, Antigone kills herself while Creon loses his family. Irrationality combined with impulsive behaviour can lead to despair. In both versions of the play Creon ignores what his son says, and does as he pleases. In Sophocles version of the play Haemon begs Creon to not kill Antigone, at first Haemon does his best to respect his father, Haemon mentions how the people of Thebes support Antigone in burying Polyneices, but Creon shows his selfish
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