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The Antigone

I. Sophocles’ novel, The Antigone, expresses a feminist victory over a male dominant society.
A. Sophocles makes Antigone a rebellious woman.
B. In the time period, male chauvinism is prominent.
C. Creon is punished for penalizing Antigone.
II. Antigone is rebellious.
A. She knowingly breaks a law her uncle put in place.
1. “Abandoning her loyalties and love for the living in favor of those below, Antigone upsets the balance between upper and lower worlds,” (Segal 172).
2. “When Creon hat forbid? ‘Tis lawlessness,” (Sophocles 19).
B. She doesn’t repent for her “wrong-doing”.
1. “[Creon:] Didst know this burial was by law forbid?/ [Antigone:] I knew. How could I help it? ‘Twas not hid./ [Creon:] And that low, knowing, thou didst dare to break?” (Sophocles 37).
2. “I deny nothing. I avow my guilt,” (Sophocles 37).
III. In the time period, male chauvinism is prominent.
A. Creon tells Haemon that his potential marriage to Antigone is no reason to go
against his father’s wishes.
1. “[Creon:] Enough. She shall not live to be thy wife./ [Haemon:] Know then her life shall cost another life,”(Sophocles 53).
2. “[Creon:] Sick for a woman! Pah, ‘tis infamy,” (Sophocles 53).
B. Other sources reveal a male chauvinist belief.
1. “What is important for the Antigone is that the distinction between paternal and maternal lineage is a line issue for audiences of mid-fifth century Athens,” (Segal 181).
2. “As the drama unfolds, it becomes clear that Kreon is a paranoid autocrat, and Antigone was right to transgress against the role expected of a woman in fifth century Athens, and bury her brother herself,”(Ewans 82).
IV. Creon is punished for penalizing Antigone.
A. Haemon kills himself.
1. “Away with a life most vain!/ My son, thee have I slain,” (Sophocles 80).
2. “O sins of a darkened brain Hard and death-fraught! Atone/ Ye see us,
father and son, Slayer and slain,” (Sophocles 76).
B. His wife kills herself.
1. “The Queen is dead, true mother of the dead/ Thou holdest, this new blow hath bowed her head,” (Sophocles 77).
2. “O Haven of Hades, thou/ Unclean, insatiable,/ Is there no mercy now?/ Alas, herald of ill,/ Caster abroad of woe,/ What tidings bringst thou? Oh,/ The cry of a woman slain/ Life given where life was ta’en,/ Clingeth, and will not go,” (Sopohocles 77).
V. Conclusion
A. The Antigone represents a feminist triumph in male dominant society.
B. Creon is punished for penalizing Antigone in a time when male chauvinism is significant and her rebellious nature is frowned upon.