Antigone By Sophocles: Play Analysis

The struggle balance between what is right and wrong has been taking place for many centuries. While the conflicts have differed over the years, the the war between what is right and wrong has always been about perspective. One example of this is shown through the play Antigone by Sophocles. Within the play there are two characters who foil each other for what they believe is right. Therefore, they believe that they are self justified, while the opposite party views there actions negatively. This is similar to how our current culture views the actions on past leaders and figureheads. The main theme of the perspective of what is right in the play Antigone is similar to how our culture reacts to the choices of world leaders. This is shown through Antigone's view of
Antigone proudly claims that she broke the law for her brother (Sophocles 366). She even claims that she new what the law was and what the punishment was for breaking said law (Sophocles 371-409). What Antigone is doing is similar to the concept of civil disobedience. In that, Antigone is breaking a law on purpose and committing to the punishment, in order to prove that the law is unjust. One example of this is through salt march of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi believed that the Salt Act of 1882 was unjust towards the Indian people (Bloch). This act prohibited the making of salt unless they were authorized by a British national (Bloch). So, similarly to Antigone, Gandhi purposely broke the law and committed to the punishment. Both Gandhi and Antigone believed that they were self justified in their actions. Therefore, they believed that their reasoning was correct. Also, in the end Antigone is only punished is viewed as correct by some people of Thebes. Similarly, Gandhi repealed the Salt Act of 1882 (Bloch). However, they still broke the law. So, through another perspective they could be considered