Character Analysis: Creon and Antigone in Sophocles' Tragedy

The Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, presents characters that can be explained as terrible heroes. This catastrophe has the character confront with a remarkable reconciliation. Creon, among the main characters in the play, is a significant awful hero since of his individual characteristics and the actions he made. There were 3 particular characteristics that can be described to explain Creon's character. He was ignorant, rude and insecure. Creon had a natural practice of being oblivious of others. He refuses to notice other individuals's viewpoint, suggestions and viewpoint.

Creon thinks that since he was the king, he can make decisions without troubling to discuss it with others. Creon refuses to listen to the smart words of Teiresas about letting Antigone bury Polynecies. He does not follow the recommendations soon enough and suffers with a disaster of the death of his cherished child and spouse. This completely reveals Creon being ignorant considering the reality that Teiresas' assistance is always the finest and is taken by numerous other kings.

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Another example of Creon being oblivious in this disaster is when Haemon gently persuades his dad that jailing Antigone would not be the finest choice, especially since he is engaged to her. However Creon refuses to listen and does not realize there is a significant relationship between his son and Antigone. He simply follows through with what he thinks is right. He likewise does not take notification to the point of view of the citizens of Thebes and how they disagreed to that fact of Polynecies not being buried.

Considering he is the king, everybody's expectation is that he would listen to the people of the nation, but Creon's oblivious behaviour does not let him do the right thing. The realization to conquer his lack of knowledge does not come in quickly adequate to save his household. Another character trait the King of Thebes has is his show of rudeness. Creon had an egoistic way of seeing things. One example of him being rude was when he accused Teiresas of accepting bribery because Creon just can't accept it when Teiresas tells him that nature itself is rebelling against Creon's double sacrilege. Accusing the seer of bribery is disrespectful because, he only said that for his own benefit of believing he was right and Teiresas was wrong. Teiresas was a seer and therefore deserved more respect than what he was given. Creon was being self-absorbed and not seeing that Teiresas was trying to help him. Creon’s verbal language likewise is very hurtful to others. When Haemon talks to Creon about Antigone, Creon says “If she’s a bitch, you’ll feel a coldness as she lies beside you. Can there be anything worse than giving your love to a bitch that doesn’t deserve it?” (pg17). Considering the fact that Haemon was engaged to Antigone, and Antigone is Creon’s niece, this was a rude remark for Creon to make. He had no respect for the relationship between them. While speaking with Antigone, Creon also added, “Oh, go to hell, -you and your marriage with you”. Many of the times, Creon would make rude remarks about others without realizing the affect of his words. One of the main reasons Creon had so much arrogance was because of the insecurity hiding underneath his personality. Even though he seemed powerful on the outside with all his fame as being a king, he was in reality, insecure. This tragic flaw leads to the death of many people and also to his own downfall. Creon feels everyone is not in favour of him and therefore takes actions so people can take him more seriously. He takes actions so people would get the point that he is not somebody to be taken advantage of. An example in the play can be seen when Creon disregards other’s advice. When he refuses to listen to Teiresas’ advice, he is too insecure to even realize that the guidance given was principled. When Creon finally came to the realization of what he had done, it was too late; his insecurity had already destroyed him. All of these characteristics of Creon had a massive impact on the outcome of the plot of the play. Creon’s ignorance, his rudeness and insecurity led him to take actions that were not always right. It leads to his own suffering and the suffering of others. When realization finally hits him, it is too late to save his family members from losing their lives. In the final scene he blames himself for all the tragedies.

Antigone Character Traits and Analysis

Antigone braves through all her hardships and decisions together with her morals and set of values. She died with pride and she had no regret what so ever in what she did. Antigone is clearly a tragic heroine, and she believes that family is vital and that they come first. She is willing to surrender her shiny future and her existence and disobey the edict of her uncle and bury her deceased brother. As a young woman, with a whole life beforehand of her, some other girls would maintain the death of her brother in the beyond and consciousness on their marriage and children.

Whilst Ismene (Antigone’s sister) attempts to influence her sister into not burying Polynices, she doesn’t concentrate because she feels in her coronary heart that if she didn’t do it that it'd be the wrong component. “Take me and kill me- what extra do you need?” (Sophocles, 565), “And thus far me meeting this destiny won’t bring any ache.” (Sophocles, 527-528). Antigone believes that burying her brother is the right thing to do and nothing is going to change her mind due to the fact it's her “fate”.

But, she in advance did now not experience lots of remorse for what she did due to the fact she changed into doing what she felt obligated to do. All of this to her turned into very “meaningful” due to the fact she became giving her life up for what her brother deserved. All of these feelings and actions create an experience of feminism, which during this time it wasn’t significantly widely wide-spread in performs and or writings like this. All through this time, women had been commonly known as weak and powerless in story’s and weren’t that important and also didn’t stick out. Antigone’s representation of women was so different compared to anyone or anything else. Her boldness, bravery, and unyielding morals play a vital role within the play. “but you chose life- it was my choice to die” (Sophocles, 634). Antigone knew that burying Polynices was going to be a sentence to death however it became a risk that she took.

The character of Ismene, acts as a foil to her sister because of the alternative characteristics. “but if you’re gone, what is there in life for me to love?”, (Sophocles, 627). Ismene could in no way attempt or do what Antigone did however she cares a lot, she risked her life. In the long run, sadly Antigone didn’t make it, she will continually be one of the most powerful women in this play. She died having no regrets and that’s what makes her so important. Despite the fact that Antigone didn’t change in character for the duration of the plot, due to her overbearing traits and her relentless. Antigone is a strong woman who is aware what matters in life and is willing to surrender her promising future to follow her morals.

References

• Antigone | Shmoop
• SparkNotes: Antigone