Women's Role In Antigone

Antigone explores a contrast between the behavior expected of women and the reality of their role in society. In this society man equals power. Creon expects men to be the primary actors in society and women to take a secondary and somewhat “obedient” role. Antigone challenges these beliefs as she takes action and presents intimidating challenges to the men around her, making her masculine. On the other hand, Ismene is entirely of this society, the object of all men's desires. She acts like a stereotypical women of this society, meaning she’s obedient, and just a secondary figure in this world. Do to these reasons, Antigone proves to be a masculine character. In the first moments of the play, it is evident that Antigone is a masculine character.
In the following sentence we see Antigone’s sass, and how she’s willing to defy Creon’s laws in order to do what she thinks is right, no matter the consequence. This clearly shows some of Antigones’s masculine traits. It also shows that being a woman is not an issue in Antigone’s mind. She thinks the issue is believing in a cause, of "foolish plans.” It shows that she believes in something more “otherworldly” than the everyday condition of men vs. women. Antigone does not spend time arguing about female empowerment. Instead, she seems to challenge the beliefs that women must act a certain way, or stay on the sidelines. As she takes action and presents intimidating challenges to the men around her, it shows that she’s masculine. We see this again in the following line: ”worry for me; straighten out your own life,” (Sophocles ). This line reveals Antigone's fundamental argument is that they shouldn’t be locked in gender specified roles, if they passionately hold beliefs in what they see as right and just. Here we see Antigone become more than a feminist. Here she embraces her masculinity and the idea that contingency and condition does not define human beings, regardless of gender. By taking action and presenting intimidating challenges to the men around her, we see that she is masculine, and not a stereotypical women of that