What would you do if a new law was passed saying that you can not do anything, even breathing, without paying a fee per action? Most people would go and essentially break the law because this law would be claimed as unjust. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, we see the character Antigone break the law by burying her brother who was denied a burial. In this play the story starts by Antigone and her sister, Ismene, return to Thebes in the news that their brothers died, the leader of Thebes is their uncle and he denies one of the brothers to get a proper burial and makes it a law to not bury him. Antigone disagrees with the law and takes it into her own hands deciding to bury her brother, when the uncle finds out he is outraged and throws Antigone in jail. When confronted by …show more content…
We can also see many comic book characters break the law for justice within their law system. The way to bring justice into an unjust system is by breaking the law and standing up for that cause. In many comic books we see how people take the law into their own hands and essentially break the law, but it is to stop an injustice caused through their societal unjust laws. Most of these comic book characters are called vigilantes within their societies and they are believed to be unjust, yet these “vigilantes” have the better idea of justice. The vigilantes will have the better idea of justice because of the ideals they carry with them and because they are the main character of the story, if they did not have the better sense of justice they would not be the focus of the story. Most people who read the comic books will call these characters heroes. In Antigone, we see Antigone say “My brother, and yours, though you may wish he were not. I never shall be found to be his traitor” (line 56). In this scene Antigone is talking to her sister, Ismene, about their brothers’ deaths and how only one has been buried.
Sometimes the law is not on our side and we have to choose whether to abide by the government’s rules, our religious beliefs or our personal morals. In Antigone, Antigone decides to disregard the law and do what she, and the vast majority of the people in the city, believe to be right. From the onset of the play, we are shown that Antigone does not fear authority and is wholeheartedly willing to die for her brother. Antigone says, “At least he is my
Disobedience always comes with a reason, some do it to go against something that is wrong others do it for attention or because they do not care about the situation. When there is an unjust law that is putting someone down or is oppressing it, people will begin to go against the law and not stand around while everyone including themselves gets hurt. Just Laws are to help and to keep everyone safe and unjust laws are made for minorities to stay away from the high-class group who want nothing with them. Sadly today there are still unjust laws to put people down but they are not standing around to let it happen. Martin Luther King could not watch his brothers and sisters be constantly put down so he went against unjust laws to stand his grounds. Antigone shared similarities when she went against king Creon rules rule to not bury her brother Polyneicês, she knew the consequences but paid no minds and stood her ground and kept doing what she has planned to do.
Law, principles, and regulations are established in a community in order to create peace and order for the people. But is every law placed- morally correct? Is there anytime when breaking an unjust law is acceptable? Through Sophocles novel, Antigone, he illustrates to his audience regarding to breaking an unjust law and that no matter how high a ruler might see himself as, the Gods will always be stronger and higher than the mortals. He designs one of the first examples of a conscientious objector, Antigone, one who breaks a law that is, to her, unjust. Defying Creon’s law with her beliefs that god's law overrules man's law, she goes against him by burying the body of her deceased brother, Polynices. In spite of the fact that Antigone knew the consequences that had the power to threaten her life, she still decided to honor her brother’s memory and satisfy the gods. When being captured by the guards she had not deny the fact that she was indeed burying Polynices, in fact she stated that she did and took the consequence, even though her life was at risk. To her burying her brothers body meant more than her own life, restoring moral balance and satisfying the gods led her to disregard a law created by man. Many should consider that breaking an unjust law is not wrong, a law that is morally unjust. The law was created to protect the people and their beliefs, yet as we see through the three Theban plays we learn that one's beliefs and morals go against the law, but it's not the
In this moment, Antigone knows that her moral law should be above the decree of the king. Antigone shows this when she says, “What Creon says is quite irrelevant. He is my brother. I will bury him (Sophocles 4)”. Antigone is set on the fact that she will bury her brother even if it is against the law.
What do people do when their personal beliefs conflict with the laws of their society? Most people have their own opinions in relation to the laws placed in their society. Whether one supports or opposes a law due to their personal beliefs coming into conflict with it, the person has the decision to do something or to do nothing. Within the ancient Greek play Antigone by Sophocles, multiple characters had to chose if they should do something about an unjust law that went against their person beliefs; the law enacted made it illegal to bury Polyneices, a previous partial-ruler that tried to retake the throne of Thebes. The consequence of breaking the law was death by stoning. Most decided to follow the law in fear of Creon, the King of Thebes, and their belief to follow the laws of society regardless if it was moral or not. However, there was one brave enough to break the law because it went against their personal beliefs; this person was Antigone, Polyneices’ niece. Antigone believed this law was unjust and unsacred to do so, for the people of Thebes had strong beliefs in their gods. To connect, the ancient play Antigone as well as modern controversial issues in the world today, both have a related underlying argument: When people feel their personal beliefs are in conflict with the laws of their society, most of the time they will defy authority, protest and/or simply follow the law.
Antigone defies the law of King Creon to honor her brother with a proper burial. She willingly goes against the King to follow the law of the gods’ regardless of the consequences, doing what she believes is right. Similarly, Martin Luther King travels to Birmingham to march and protest the injustices towards Black people because he believed it is the right thing to do. Although Antigone was not afraid to die for what she believed in, Martin Luther King’s method of civil disobedience was more effective because Antigone failed to promote negotiations and just accepted her punishment freely. King believed that to properly have a nonviolent approach towards injustice you must be able to speak peacefully to gain understanding for negotiation. Urging people to create tension in the form of civil disobedience to promote awareness of the injustices.
Actions speak louder than words in the case of civil disobedience just actions speak louder than unjust written law. When it comes to civil disobedience there are many examples of it throughout history. There are times when it has made things better and times when it had made things worse. However what exactly is civil disobedience and when is the appropriate time to use it. It is an act by someone in order to get the message out of something they believe is wrong. In most situations civil disobedience is used to fight an institutionalized law that is unfair to a certain group. However some people miss use civil disobedience or just have poor timing or no plan for how to enact it. Some may say that these act of defiance against the government
The play entitled Antigone was written by a man named Sophocles, a scholarly author of philosophy and logic. The play Antigone is probably one of the most prominent interpretations of a tragic drama. The two main characters of the play are Antigone and Creon. There is much conflict between Antigone and Creon throughout the play, both of them having their own ideas and opinions regarding divine law versus human law. The theme that I am going to analyze is the conflict of divine law vs. human law. The reason for this is because this theme seems to control the whole play. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon's and Antigone's acts were justifiable.<br><br>The play Antigone can be summarized by the following: King Creon
In our society filled with social injustice and violence, is it safe to protest unjust actions by the public? As seen in many current events and fictional representations, the world around us still suffers many social issues. When people are faced with injustice, every individual has the should protest and fight for their rights, but not without considering the consequences.
Humanity is often faced with ambivalence towards law; at once, we find it a necessity in attempting to deal with a world which is constantly in some type of chaotic turmoil, and also as a glaring flaw in our society, which can at times result in more chaos than was originally had. This conflict is no more obvious than in Sophocles’ Antigone. Antigone, the character, represents half of the struggle between what the law says is just and what we inherently deem to be morally upstanding – Creon represents the opposing side which views law and power as the ultimate dictator of life’s unraveling. Though Antigone is ultimately thwarted, she is on the side of justice rather than blindly following the law. Antigone’s empathy while breaking the law
It has come to my attention that our nation is in the middle of earthweek. At a time when we all stop, as Americans, and take a look at all of the great accomplishments we have made that we could have possibly overlooked while running around with our busy schedules. We recognize our efforts to create powerful industries and production plants that produce endless chemical compounds and new materials. The discovery and use of fossil fuels, of which has fed our automobiles and at times added a protective coating to our shores and beaches. The men and women who clear the land and provide the materials for our homes. And what about electricity? The greatest discovery of all time. We must not forget about the men
Both were oppressed by laws that they had no control over, and both fought against those laws with the reasoning that morality is more important than the words of men. Rather than obeying Creon’s decree, Antigone chose to display the respect she had for her brother. King placed his political and social goals for equality in America over his personal safety. Consequently, both Antigone and King paid the ultimate price for their actions and beliefs—with their lives. While Antigone’s motive for breaking the law was more personal, and King’s was more politically inclined, the ideas they shared in regards to the morality of breaking such laws were similar: a morally unjust law is not truly a law at
Civil disobedience is the purposeful violation of a law to show that it is unconstitutional or morally defective. In the plays, Antigone and Trifles, the female main characters commit an act of civil disobedience. The plays are respectively written by Sophocles and Susan Glaspell. Antigone, the main character of Antigone, protects her dead brother's honor as she disobeys the laws of King Creon. Mrs. Hale, the main character of Trifles prevents a neighbor from being charged with homicide as she breaks the law in front of two lawmen-The Sheriff and the County Attorney. Both characters' crimes are similar; however, their differences lie in how they handle their violations. Antigone
In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, King Creon created a law that denied proper burial rites to anyone who invaded or betrayed the city of Thebes. Antigone defied this law by burying her brother, Polynices, after he was harshly accused of being a traitor. Both Creon and Antigone showed a tenacious passion toward their perception of justice, unwilling to accept that honoring the law and honoring the individual conscience were both justified in different ways. The stubbornness that they shared led them both to meet their downfalls, which conveyed the idea that being too proud to accept guidance from others ultimately leads to dire consequences.
The abuse of power is a rampant problem in our world today and has plagued society since the dawn of government. In Antigone by Sophocles, this issue is a prominent theme. One of the main characters, Creon, rules over the people of Thebes, but does so selfishly and unjustly. These same actions can be seen in our modern world by those in authority. Creon’s abuse of power is reflected in today’s governments through law-making, punishments, and the removal of opposing perspectives.