Conforming to Gender Roles in Antigone
Human nature dictates that conformity is a safer choice than expressing individuality. When placed in a situation where one must either speak their mind and face severe consequences, or remain silent, there is much less risk in taking the second option. Sophocles, the Athenian tragedian from the fifth century BC, confronted this theme throughout one of his most popular works: Antigone. In the play, the title character must decide if she should honor her brother and die, rather than saying nothing and leaving his dead body unburied outside the city walls. In the present day, most Americans don’t experience those exact circumstances, but this battle between conformity and individuality directly reflects
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In Antigone, Sophocles examines gender roles and expectations of Ancient Greece through the contrast between conformity and individuality.
In Ancient Greece, the strict social hierarchy held men and women to certain expectations of how they should behave and act. The ideal Athenian man’s main goal in life was to be strong, dominant, and honorable, and any other quality was considered feminine (“Greek Attitudes”). Ismene, Antigone’s sister, represents every expectation of women at the time; she obeys the law even if it means that she dishonors her brother by not burying him. When Antigone proposes the idea to properly bury Polynices, Ismene refuses in fear of facing punishment by urging Antigone, “Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men. Then too, we’re underlings, ruled by much stronger hands [...] I must obey the ones who stand in power” (Sophocles 74-80). At this time in Greece, women were in charge of the oikos, or household, and men treated them like property (“Greek Attitudes”).
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In Creon’s case, he is rewarded for speaking his mind, as the chorus shouts with hope upon his arrival, “But look, the king of the realm is coming, Creon, the new man for the new day” (Sophocles 173-174). Yet Antigone is punished and sentenced to death for doing what she believes is right simply because of her role in society as a woman. In addition, Creon epitomizes the role of men in Greek society through his blatant opposition to individualism: “Anarchy - show me a greater crime in all the earth! [...] we must defend the men who live by law, never let some woman triumph over us. Better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hands of a man - never be rated inferior to a woman, never” (Sophocles 752-761). While the citizens revere Creon for his boldness, Antigone is sentenced to death for standing up for what she believes in, Antigone’s unavoidable fate is the consequence of refusing to fill the gender
Gender and its roles are exposed in the story of Antigone as the central themes. Roles and rules are set and followed by several people in this era, this is appreciated in this text. Ideas of contradiction to these rules were not explored. In Greek mythology, several women held positions of power, but none of these women were human, making the idea of a powerful woman godlike and unattainable, as if to keep woman in their place, which of course, was always under the rule of the superior gender, the male. To challenge a patriarchy with feminism was dangerous, for both sexes were equally protective of it, leaving the challenger desolate in the battle against it. To rely on women to help other women rebel against this social norm was not probable, in the contrary, women held each other accountable for complying to these rules and punished those who didn’t. Women were their gender’s prevalent critics and suppressors, not only because they feared the repercussions, but since they didn’t have the means to rebel against it.
For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.
“No woman shall seduce us. If we must lose, Let's lose to a man, at least. Is a woman stronger than we?” (Sophocles.II.3.539-540) says Creon, King of Thebes and uncle to the disobeying but brave Antigone in Antigone by Sophocles. A patriarchal society is a community in which male domination over women, Sophocles explains the journey of Antigone in getting her brother buried and yielding against the laws of Thebes in a man dominated city. Antigone portrayed in the play is loyal and stubborn, she would do anything that feels ethical and honest to her even if that disregarding the laws created by men. She responds to the standards of King Creon by going against her own blood, not believing that women should subjected to the rule that they
“A woman is like a tea bag- you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”(Roosevelt). Mayella is the opposite of this. Is it because she's a woman or is it because of her incredibly low class? What makes Mayella Ewell Unpowerful? Mayella Ewell is a part of the Ewell Family. A very low class white family that is even frowned upon by other white families. Mayella Ewell is not powerful in terms of class, gender, and race because she is a white woman of a very low class
The play Antigone by Sophocles is a Greek tragedy set in Ancient Greece. The play depicts a young woman, Antigone, who chooses to disobey the king's law by burying her brother, Polyneices, which simultaneously, is obeying her god's law. King Creon punishes her for choices. Sophocles’ Antigone and its’ depiction of an, arguably, proto-feminist is, also, an accurate portrayal of women and men’s roles in Ancient Greece. Sophocles uses Creon to portray male dominance and Antigone and Ismene to portray female archetypes in Greek Culture.
Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society, Sophocles’ Antigone portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. Antigone, the tragic heroine, rejects the traditional role of women. As such, Sophocles punishes Ismene for embodying traditional attitude. Moreover, Creon is punished for misogyny. Sophocles, accordingly, uses characterization to promote feminist ideas.
Just as one stone removed can break a bridge, one flaw can bring a man to ruins. The flaw of one man cannot bring down an entire kingdom, but rather one outlook of the king can lead to the demise of the whole. In Sophocles' epic tragedy, Antigone, a strong gender bias is present throughout the tragedy, and is partially responsible for the downfall of the king.
In Sophocles’s Antigone, we can see that the deeply misogynistic society of ancient Greece has manifested itself into Creon, a despotic ruler, despising dissidents, traitors, and especially women. His hatred of women manifested into several examples of misogyny throughout the play: He assumed that the criminal who buried Polyneices was a man, he looks down on Antigone’s defiance as improper defiance of a mans order by a woman, and he virtually disowns his son Haemon for disagreeing with him and listening to a woman.
King Tutankhamen ,or King Tut, was one of the youngest kings to reign over any country. “The Boy King'; is best remembered for his magnificent funeral treasures, including his elaborate golden burial mask. King Tut achieved a measure of immortality through his glittering burial treasures.
Gender Roles and Pride in Antigone Throughout Greek Mythology, pride and hubris has been loathed by the gods, such that they deem it punishable. In Antigone, the trait of pride is apparent through the character Creon, who is the ruler of Thebes. Creon’s begins to misuse his power as he creates a law because he believes it is his right as ruler. Creon declares that the body of Eteocles will be buried, while the corpse of Polyneices is left out to rot; anyone who attempts to honor his body with a burial will be stoned to death. This action is a display of punishable pride because no human should ever create a law that is equivalent to or greater to those of the Gods as they conflict with each other.
As the tragedy concludes, the chorus issues its final words: "Pray for no more at all. For what is destined for us, men mortal, there is no escape," demonstrating how justice remains impartial to the prejudice of men; those who make imprudent judgments will ultimately suffer from the consequences of their actions. In Sophocles' Antigone, these prejudices notably surface in the form of paternalism as demonstrated through Creon's government, highlighting the importance of gender roles throughout the play. Therefore, analyzing the motif of gender roles and its effect on the definition of justice through the perspectives of Ismene, Antigone, and Creon enables the audience to understand how Sophocles' macroscopic analogy to humanity's
In Antigone, a play by Sophocles, the sisters Ismene and Antigone make bold and unwavering decisions. Contrary to most male characters in Greek plays, their male counterparts do not exhibit many masculine traits. Despite the fact that Ismene and Antigone are Greek women, they show more traits that are stereotypically masculine than their male counterparts such as decisiveness, fearlessness, and defiance.
Media has a great influence in the everyday lives of people. Media influences us on how we see ourselves and the world as a whole on a daily basis. There are many types of media including television shows, movies, radio, magazines/newspapers, billboards, internet etc. Within all of these media examples, men and women are represented in many different ways. Gender representation in media affect the perception of many people throughout the world of what a man or woman should be. I will be analyzing gender representation in the television series Sex and the City. These series show different types of gender representation by the four main characters challenging
The different portrayals of female characters Antigone and Lysistrata illustrate the fundamental nature of the proper Athenian woman. Sophocles' Antigone allows the reader to see that outrage over social injustices does not give women the excuse to rebel against authority, while Aristophanes' Lysistrata reveals that challenging authority in the polis becomes acceptable only when it's faced with destruction through war. Sophocles and Aristophanes use different means to illustrate the same idea; the ideal Athenian woman's ultimate loyalty lies with her polis. This Greek concept of the proper woman seems so vital when considering Athenian society because both a tragedy and comedy revolve around this concept. The differing roles accorded to
In Sophocles’ Antigone, gender roles are a major conflicting theme throughout the entire play. The setting of the play was written during the Greek mythological days, around 442 B.C. During these days, men were dominant and held all of the power, so women were automatically treated as less. Antigone and Creon portray the conflicting sides between male and female, and Ismene and Haemon portray opposing sides to Antigone and Creon’s actions. Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haemon each show differences in behavior due to their sex versus the actions each character chooses to take. Antigone tells Ismene about her plans to bury their brother, Polynices, which is going against Creon’s orders. Antigone and Ismene, have contrasting perspectives on