Antigone Role of Women
Taylor Fleming
Professor Stoner
English 1301
October 16, 2012
Antigone Essay Throughout history, cultures from around the world has set hat standards for women to abide to. Up until the twentieth century, women were viewed as second class citizens by society and had less freedom and rights than their male counterparts as compare today in the modern world where women can be more involve in society. Although women still face discrimination such as the glass ceiling in the business corporate world, the quality of life of the western woman today has drastically improve from what women used to face on a daily bases for example a Greek woman from the classical era of the tragic play Antigone by the Greek writer, Sophocles. Antigone portray the role of women of in a Greek society by having two opposing characters, Antigone and her sister, Ismene, with two different contrasting perspectives of morality vs. law on opposite sides of the spectrum in addition having a male view of how women should and should not act .
Sophocles accurately shows how much power women held, which was little to non-exist, during his lifespan. A Greek woman at the time Antigone was written were not considered citizen, therefore they could not participate in politics let alone vote. They would have to stay inside their house unless it was a festival and be accompanied by a guardian. For Sophocles to have a bold resilient character such as Antigone, many people at the time were most likely astonish by Antigone behavior and her resistant to powerful men such as Creon. Antigone went against want society thought she should act. Antigone was determined to obey the law of the gods regardless of the consequences she would face including death. “I’ll still bury him. It would be fine to die while doing that.” (Sophocles, 89-90) Antigone is very religious and rather die an honorable death than to live knowing her brother did not require a proper burial. The fact
Professor Stoner
English 1301
October 16, 2012
Antigone Essay Throughout history, cultures from around the world has set hat standards for women to abide to. Up until the twentieth century, women were viewed as second class citizens by society and had less freedom and rights than their male counterparts as compare today in the modern world where women can be more involve in society. Although women still face discrimination such as the glass ceiling in the business corporate world, the quality of life of the western woman today has drastically improve from what women used to face on a daily bases for example a Greek woman from the classical era of the tragic play Antigone by the Greek writer, Sophocles. Antigone portray the role of women of in a Greek society by having two opposing characters, Antigone and her sister, Ismene, with two different contrasting perspectives of morality vs. law on opposite sides of the spectrum in addition having a male view of how women should and should not act .
Sophocles accurately shows how much power women held, which was little to non-exist, during his lifespan. A Greek woman at the time Antigone was written were not considered citizen, therefore they could not participate in politics let alone vote. They would have to stay inside their house unless it was a festival and be accompanied by a guardian. For Sophocles to have a bold resilient character such as Antigone, many people at the time were most likely astonish by Antigone behavior and her resistant to powerful men such as Creon. Antigone went against want society thought she should act. Antigone was determined to obey the law of the gods regardless of the consequences she would face including death. “I’ll still bury him. It would be fine to die while doing that.” (Sophocles, 89-90) Antigone is very religious and rather die an honorable death than to live knowing her brother did not require a proper burial. The fact