How Does Antigone Cause Creon's Downfall

From the beginning of the play until her unfortunate death, Antigone is shown as a very determined young woman. In Ancient Greek culture, women were not expected to be as powerful as men. Antigone breaks that stereotype, however, and it makes Creon paranoid and he is in disbelief that a woman could defy his power. Therefore, the fact that Antigone is a determined and powerful woman makes Creon paranoid and ultimately causes his downfall. To start with, Antigone’s femininity is something that surprises Creon. During the period that Antigone was written in, women were treated of lower class than men. Creon does not expect a woman to defy a man in power, as this has never happened in his time before. Women are expected to bow down to men. Ismene is shown to follow this rule. She is an example of a stereotypical women in Ancient Greek times, as shown when she says “We are only women, / We cannot fight with men, Antigone! / The law is strong, we must give in to the law / In this thing, and in worse. I beg the Dead / To forgive me, but I am
When put in a difficult situation, Antigone is shown to keep her composure, while Creon panics and does not stay calm in an argument. Creon and Antigone have an argument after she is discovered burying Polyneices. Antigone stays calm during the situation, while Creon slowly starts to lose his temper. Creon ends the argument when he says “Go join them, then; if you must have your love, / Find it in hell!” (Sophocles, 2.419-420). This is an example of how Creon can easily lose his patience and doesn’t know how to intelligently handle an argument. Although Antigone is a teenage girl, she is more emotionally stable than an adult male. This proves to be Antigone’s advantage when arguing with Creon, and he eventually loses his sanity completely by the end of the play, after losing everyone that he