The Nature of Rebellion in Antigone Play - Essay Example

Rebellion is articulated to be an element that exists in the basic expression of oneself as far as we exist in the world. Sophocles, appearing as Antigone character, enunciates the necessity of individuals in acting towards rebellion which sometimes it is necessary to express. There are three conflicts expressed by the writer namely, conscience against law, individual against state and divine law against human law. Antigone and Creon are predominant characters in expressing the theme of rebellion in the three contexts. The three conflicts demonstrate the nature of rebellion expressed in the play and all has been expressed through actions. Apparently, religion appears as a strong theme in the play since the main character is committed to rebellious actions since the beginning of the play to the end. Individual against State All through the play, Antigone evidently appeared to be intimidating the status quo. She uses the divine law to defend her actions, however, her faith lies in the position of discerning power of individual conscience. Antigone says, “I dared. It was not God’s proclamation. That final Justice that rules the world below makes no such laws” (Sophocles, 360). Here Antigone is using divine laws as to defend her actions and not acknowledging any of the state laws. She is expressing believe on her individual conscience by even sacrificing her life to the principles greater than human law. The events after the death of Polyneices also expressed how individual principles were against the law. Ismene had revealed very crucial information and Antigone feels it was not important to be mentioned. With the death of the brother, girls were taken away into the house and Antigone feels that it was wrong. Creon believes that men were made to be tough and strong, girls are married and takes women’s places in homes. These are laws that do not exist anywhere in divine or state but rather they are crafted from individual context and may rebel the demands of the state laws. Conscience against law All along the play, Antigone was rebellious to Creon ideas. Antigone chooses to abide in God’s laws rather than those of the state and that makes Antigone’s actions to be disputable. She believes that the decision to follow her individual conscience was the right decision she made. However, the most interesting thing is that although she rebels the state, her decisions respected the gods. For example, also during the burial of her brother, Antigone decided to go against the King, Creon and obey gods’ laws. He says…”I am not afraid of the danger, if it means death it will not be the worst of deaths, death without honor (Sophocles, 193). This situation shows that Antigone can sacrifice anything to bury her brother since death with no honor is worse than death. After Thebes’s army becomes victorious against an assault from the Argive army, King Creon issues a decree to prevent proper burial for his nephew, Polyneices who led the assault against the kingdom. He gives Etoecles a hero’s send off, but denies his blood brother a burial and orders the body to be left for scavenging dogs and birds to feast on him because he was a traitor. He exclaims, “... Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial, no man is to touch him or say the least prayer to him…” (Sophocles, 4). Though his errant nephew deserved punishment, the crowd is surprised by severity of the penalty. This is because their customs forbids unduly penalties on dead bodies. The people believe that dead people should also be given at least a burial even if they were extremely sinful. Therefore, Creon rebels against the people’s customs and wishes when he forbids a burial for Polyneices. The king also rebels against the immortal laws of God when he unjustly arrests Antigone for showing compassion to her deceased brother. Teiresias informs him that his pride and utter rebellion will be his downfall, and that the gods are unhappy with the severe punishment he has imposed on both Polyneices and Antigone. He says, “…you have kept from the gods the child that is theirs the one in a grave before her death, the other, dead, denied the grave…” (pg.18). He pronounces judgment on the king, “The time is not far when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh of your own flesh.” The king’s actions undermine family love- between Antigone and Polyneices, spousal love- between Antigone and Haemon, and the only love he sees fit in his rules and regulations (Ashley, 36) Apparently, these events showed that Antigone had destructed everything due to her rebellion. Creon reached a point of choosing death as Antigone’s fate. Antigone says, “The death of mine is of no importance, but if I had left my brother lying unburied, then I should have suffered” (Sophocles, 208). Irrespective of Antigone receiving death penalty as her fate, she is not repentant but still rebel what the law proclaims. She perceived that death as a punishment is not an ethical deed on individual perspective especially in respecting the death. Unlike his brother Polyneices who is rebellious, Etoecles is obedient to his own people and fights in their honor against his brother. Even though Creon holds him in high regards as a hero, he is the culprit behind the war. His insatiable love for power makes Polyneices rebel and leads an army to revolt against him. Creon has deep admiration for Etoecles since he borrows his style of leadership, leadership marred with anarchy and authoritarianism. Coincidentally, both leaders are met with sharp blows for their rogue leadership. It is no wonder Antigone has deep affection for his brother (Sophocles. and Plumptre, 114). She loses everything, her life, her family and her lover to see that her brother is given a dignified burial. Moral/divine against law According to Antigone, divine law will always overpower human law in all situations. However, Creon on the other side remains convinced that since he is the king, what he says should be followed. This rebellion continued even until the death of Antigone’s brother, Polyneices. In this case, Antigone attacks Creon’s articulations and said, “ “It was not Creon that made this proclamations nor was it the justice dwelling with the gods below who set in place such laws as these for humankind nor did I think that your proclamations had such strength, that mortal as you are, you could outrun those laws that are the god’s unwritten and unshakable” (Sophocles, 185). Perhaps Sophocles is expressing the fact that anyone can never escape the will of gods in every situation he or she is found in. Antigone applauded the power of divine law over the human law expression how the rebellion existing between human nature and god’s will defined in the divine laws. Also, when Creon developed a law on his individual context that it will drive the divine will, Antigone on the other side expressed this going against the sincere divine laws. As a result, when the conflict of understanding stirred up, Creon realized that he had done a big mistake. Antigone rebels against Creon’s decree that forbids anyone from conducting burial or prayers for Polyneices. Her sister tries to reason with her, informing her of all the repercussions she would face if she is caught. Antigone however tells her sister that she is not afraid to die for a just cause, she says, “Go away Ismene… For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger, if it means death, it will not be the worst of deaths- death without honor.” (pg. 2) Due to her infallible actions, Antigone is regarded highly by the people and also by the gods to the point that they pronounce severe punishment to the house of King Creon. Haemon informs his father about the admiration the people of Thebes have for her courage: “… no woman has ever, so unreasonably, died so shameful a death for a generous act: ‘She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? Death? She would have all the honor that we can give her’…” (Sophocles, 12) In spite of being loyal to his father, Haemon is forced to rebel against him when he becomes a rogue ruler. By taking away Antigone, Haemon is denied the right to marry the woman he loves. He therefore warns his father that if Antigone dies he will also follow suit, however his father remains adamant. He is indifferent to his father who suffers from chronic hubris, which leads him to believe he is always right and that his words are final. Although Haemon pledges his allegiance to his father and asserts that no woman could come in between their relationship, he begins to resent him after he realizes that his father does not want to be corrected even when he is wrong. He consequently abandons his home only to commit suicide when he finds Antigone dead (Sophocles. and Plumptre, 175). Ismene, just like her sister Antigone decides to rebel against Creon and his oppressive authority. Although initially she was opposed to Antigone, she changes her mind to support her sister when she is found guilty. She does not participate in prayers and burial ritual for her slain brother; however she requests that she be put to death like her sister (Owen and Alonso, 214). Antigone does not like this and she pesters Ismene to save herself as she is not guilty, but her sister refuses. This prompts Creon to sarcastically assert: “Gentlemen I beg you to observe these girls: one has just lost her mind; the other, it seems, has never had a mind at all” (Sophocles, 10). Ismene desires death since she does not find happiness in living; all her kin are already dead and she only has Antigone to look up to, who is about to be executed. Luckily for her, she is spared by her uncle for her initial obedience. Another incidence of rebellion occurs when Polyneices leads the Argive army to attack Thebes. He is however unsuccessful and eventually dies in the war. Since Creon ascends to power after the death of both sons of Oedipus, it can be assumed that Etoecles was the probable king (Owen and Alonso, 223). Polyneices may have been jealous of this fact and decides to form an alliance with a neighboring nation to help him oust his brother from the throne. It may also be argued that both shared power in turns; when it was his turn to relinquish his seat, Etoecles refuses to step aside for his brother. This prompts Polyneices to rebel (McCoskey and Zakin, 216) He however does not succeed and the two brothers succumb to each other’s blade. He is therefore condemned by both the king and the people. When Antigone tries to protect her brother by claiming: “Nevertheless, there are honors due all the dead.” King Creon asserts, “An enemy is an enemy, even dead.” (Sophocles, 9). Lastly, Eurydice and Teiresias can also be viewed as rebellious since they both go against the king. Teiresias pronounces harsh judgment on Creon when he learns of the dreadful act he has committed. Creon tries to bribe him, but he utterly rejects and is offended to learn that the king regards him lowly to try and coerce him into siding with him. Eurydice’s is a special case of rebellion. This can be termed as passive rebellion as she does not protest directly against her husband. Eurydice is deeply saddened when she learns that her son, Haemon has killed himself. As a way to rebel against her husband, who was the root of the problem, she commits suicide. The two deaths serve as a wakeup call for King Creon. In conclusion, rebellion continues even in the contemporary narratives where we have the individual power of protagonists having the same character as Antigone. This paper was based on the rebellion that was more noticeable in the event of Polyneices death. Antigone remains well within the individual conscience leading to the king, Creon, outraging her. Antigone is very rebellious to the demands of the state through Creon. Basically, Antigone is expression the position of a woman when it comes to prioritizing family roles. Her acts would not be perceived as unwarranted rebellion if Antigone was a man despite working within the patriarchal context. References Ashley, Bouque. The Language If Love And Hate In Antigone. Indiana University: Indiana University press, 2002. 2-370. Print. McCoskey, Denise Eileen, and Emily Zakin. Bound By The City. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009. Print. Owen, Hilary, and Cláudia Pazos Alonso. Antigone's Daughters. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2011. 210-229. Print. Sophocles., and E. H Plumptre. Antigone. Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com, 2005. 114-175. Print. Sophocles., Reginald Gibbons, and Charles Segal. Antigone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print. Read More