History about passion in antigone english literature essay

Akeem PeeleProfessor KoopmanEnglish 101Research EssayPassion in AntigoneThe stage play ” Antigone” written by Sophocles is the perfect example of the portrayal of passion through a play. The play revolves around Antigone and her desire to bury her fallen brother Polyneices against the order of her equally passionate uncle Creon. Antigone is willing to denounce her only sister, disobey the law, and even die to give her brother Polynieces a proper burial. What makes Antigone so passionate about the proper burial of her slain brother? Antigone is currently experiencing a series of unfortunate events in the play. Her father, Oedipus, the former Emperor of Thebes, inadvertently fulfilled his doomed prophecy by unknowingly killing his father and marring his mother, ultimately producing four children with her. Once he found that the prophecy he tried to so hard to bypass came to past, out what he had done, he gouged both of his eyes out. His wife and mother, Jocasta, ended her life when she realized she committed incest. For these crimes against God, Creon sent Oedipus, along with his two daughters Antigone and Ismene to live in exile at Colonus. Antigone’s two brothers Polyneices and Eteocles then battled for the throne of Thebes killing each other in the wicked process. Antigone is passionate because her love. The love of her family drives her to go beyond what’s necessary to prove her affinity for them. Her passion comes from the love of her brother. (Insert quote) Also Antigone may have been distraught from the knowledge of what happened with her father and mother, trying to give her family one last shot of spiritual redemption by properly barring her brother. She is passionate beyond the point of adhering to the law and listening to her sister’s advice, threating to disown her sister if she does not help by exposing Antigone’s crime to all of Thebes. I also get a sense of rebellion against a government that her father used to control. If the moral standard of that time was not to bury fallen ones, I believe Antigone would do everything in her power to dig her brother up from the ground. Through-out the play Antigone confesses her love for her fallen brother Polynieces: ” Be as you choose to be, but for myself/ I will bury him. It will be good/ to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, / loving him as he loved me…” (Lines. 81-84). In this quote she displays her willingness to sacrifice her life so she could be next to her brother for eternity. Antigone driven by her passion informs her sister that if she does not tell Thebes of her rebellious crime she will no longer call her sister: ” Oh, oh, no! Shout it out, I will hate you still worse/ for silence – should you not proclaim it/ to everyone” (lines 99–101). Ismene will go from a sister to an enemy: ” If you talk like this I will loathe you/ and you will be adjusted an enemy/ justly – by the dead’s decision.” (lines 109-111). Even after losing four family members in a series of unfortunate events, Antigone will willingly disown her sister if she does not bring her to troubled justice. Driven by the strongest forces of love Antigone is blind to the fact that if she commits this crime, she will go against the law and the direct orders of Creion: ” Ismene: would you bury him, when it is forbidden in the city?/ Antigone: At least he is my brother – and yours, too/ though you deny him. I will not prove false to him.” (Lines 50-53). Antigone knows the dangers that will be bestowed upon her for the action she wishes to commit, but that does not deter her from completing it. Antigone reminds me of a hopeless romantic, a person who is deeply enchanted with someone to the point where reality is no longer a factor for them. They will say anything and do anything to please the person that enchants them. The love and spiritual respect Antigone has for her family is almost unreal. ” Like father like daughter, passionate, wild…she hasn’t learned to bend before adversity” (Lines. 525-527). Antigone’s desire to bring justice to her brother’s death is overwhelming to her sister, Ismene, who is insistent about staying in line with the rules of Thebes and the standards of women. Ismene tries to calm her sister’s impulsive behavior but is unsuccessful as Antigone is uncompromising about her plans to give her brother proper burial rites. During their conversations, Antigone’s persistency becomes apparent while Ismene’s submissiveness is undeniable. Antigone says, ” Die I must, I’ve known it all my life—how could I keep from knowing (Lines 511-12)? . . . If I had allowed my own mother’s son to rot, an unburied corpse—that would have been an agony (Lines 520-22)!” Ismene replies, ” we must be sensible. Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men . . . I must obey the ones who stand in power (Lines 74-80).” Antigone feels that if she stands up for what she believes in, then dying for that cause will bring good and justice to her family, it brings her glory. According to Antigone, to die for what she believes in is the ultimate means of glory. In the mist of staying true to her beliefs, Antigone forgets about those who care about her and instead, focuses on herself without realizing how her actions may affect those around her. It is not until Antigone is caught and given her death sentence, that she starts to have compassion for the ones that care about her, in particular, her sister. Ismene comes forward to Creon saying how she should be punished with her sister because although she did not take part in the act, she feels responsible for her sister’s actions. Also, Ismene does not want to live without her sister because as she explained, ” What do I care for life, cut off from you (618)?” Antigone refuses her sister’s desire to die with her. At first it seems that Antigone only wants her sister to live so she bask in all her glory alone but, later it seems more that she does not think her sister should die for something she didn’t do. Antigone shows some this compassion and remorse when she says, ” Save yourself. I don’t grudge you your survival (624).” Although Antigone never really regretted her actions or was ashamed of them, in the end, she did realize that she might have gone about it in the wrong way—a way that deeply hurt her sister and her husband. Before her death she proudly says, ” if this is the pleasure of the gods, once I suffer I will know that I was wrong. But if these men are wrong, let them suffer nothing worse than they mete out to me—these masters of injustice (1017-1020)!” In these words, Antigone exemplifies the tragic character in that in their tragic moment, when they have been brought down my some tremendous flaw, there is a deep realization or understanding of things. For Antigone, instead of blaming Creon until the end for her death, she accepts that it might just be the fate that the gods have given her. When we have emotional, physical, and spiritual reactions in response to a death or loss, it’s known as grief or grieving. People who are grieving might: feel strong emotions, such as sadness and anger, have physical reactions, such as not sleeping or even waves of nausea have spiritual reactions to a death — for example, some people find themselves questioning their beliefs and feeling disappointed in their religion while others find that they feel more strongly than ever about their faith (Lyness 2010). This is what I believe Antigone was going through when she was trying whole heartedly to bury her brother. Some people may approach situations differently after a loved one dies. Typically they deal with things a lot more consciously and cautiously (Alicia 2012). With the death of Antigone’s brother looming over her head, she may have approached his burial as a burden that could not be lifted. After the illegitimate burial of a family member, it is common that people may experience a feeling of making accommodations for their own family. Therefore they can eliminate the burden for their loved ones (Alicia 2012). In conclusion I believe that Antigone has every right to want to bury her brother. The law should not, and obviously did not keep her from committing the act. Creon implemented the law out of spite and hate for his sister’s brother/husband. Although he may have had a reason to dislike him, his reasons where not solidified in causing the deep heartache of his niece. The passion Antigone possessed in this play is one that many people do not realize they have. It’s a passion that no man or situation can take away from you. It takes the fear of death and makes it non-existent. When death is no-longer a factor to you, you’re able to do anything it is that you want. Because you do not hold a concept of what it means to ” end”.