Antigone English paper pdf
Pearce 1
Camille Pearce
Ms. Kettle
IB English Period D
12 October 2014
Antigone; A Martyr Who Dies for the Wrong Reasons
Pearce 2
Antigone as a strong and determined tragic hero who presents herself as a powerful woman who will not be defined by a man. Antigone is steadfast in her decision to disobey the law and bury her brother and dose not hesitate to take fully responsibility for her actions even if it means death. Unfortunately, Antigone does not consider the effect her death will have on her family and friends. She is confident and prideful and will not allow anyone to “lessen” her death.
Finally, Antigone feels she has a duty as a woman to stand up against Creon and to define herself by her actions not by her gender. Antigone is brave in her decision to uphold her beliefs in god’s law, but she did it for all the wrong reasons.
In The Oedipus Cycle, Sophocles portrays Antigone as a character who wants to appear as a tragic and selfless martyr. In reality, she is only concerned with how she will be remembered. Instead of surviving as long as she can in the cave and hoping the gods will help her or someone with come rescue her, she immediately kills herself so she will be known for her heroic deed. Antigone believes that because she is Oedipus’ daughter and sister that she is also destined to have a tragic fate. She blindly clings to the idea of dying for her brother to fulfill this belief. Antigone does not consider how her death may effect others. Antigone chooses to die for her already dead brother rather than live for her other siblings and fiancé. Haimon is so distraught and hysterical after he finds her dead, he first tries to kill Creon. He misses, and instead, stabs himself over the grief of losing Antigone. The messenger describes the scene to
Creon. He says, “Creon shrank back, the blade missed; and the boy, Desperate against himself, drove it half its length Into his own side, and fell. And as he dies He gathered Antigone close in
Pearce 3
Camille Pearce
Ms. Kettle
IB English Period D
12 October 2014
Antigone; A Martyr Who Dies for the Wrong Reasons
Pearce 2
Antigone as a strong and determined tragic hero who presents herself as a powerful woman who will not be defined by a man. Antigone is steadfast in her decision to disobey the law and bury her brother and dose not hesitate to take fully responsibility for her actions even if it means death. Unfortunately, Antigone does not consider the effect her death will have on her family and friends. She is confident and prideful and will not allow anyone to “lessen” her death.
Finally, Antigone feels she has a duty as a woman to stand up against Creon and to define herself by her actions not by her gender. Antigone is brave in her decision to uphold her beliefs in god’s law, but she did it for all the wrong reasons.
In The Oedipus Cycle, Sophocles portrays Antigone as a character who wants to appear as a tragic and selfless martyr. In reality, she is only concerned with how she will be remembered. Instead of surviving as long as she can in the cave and hoping the gods will help her or someone with come rescue her, she immediately kills herself so she will be known for her heroic deed. Antigone believes that because she is Oedipus’ daughter and sister that she is also destined to have a tragic fate. She blindly clings to the idea of dying for her brother to fulfill this belief. Antigone does not consider how her death may effect others. Antigone chooses to die for her already dead brother rather than live for her other siblings and fiancé. Haimon is so distraught and hysterical after he finds her dead, he first tries to kill Creon. He misses, and instead, stabs himself over the grief of losing Antigone. The messenger describes the scene to
Creon. He says, “Creon shrank back, the blade missed; and the boy, Desperate against himself, drove it half its length Into his own side, and fell. And as he dies He gathered Antigone close in
Pearce 3
Cited: • Fitts, Dudley, and Robert Fitzgerald. "Antigone." The Oedipus Cycle: An English Version. New York: Harvest Book, 1949. N. pag. Print. (pages 191, 225 and 241 only)