Romeo And Juliet And Antigone Analysis

In 1856, Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic Henri-Frédéric Amiel said: “Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark”. As human beings we can choose to be either like the flint and prudently wait for a spark to come along, think about the consequences, weigh out the pros and the cons only to discover when we have reached our conclusion, the flame has already died out. It we can ignite ourselves with passion, but unfortunately far too often the passionate burns time. Too often we see reflections of this theme in our everyday life. For example, we see civil rights leaders such as Malala Yousafzai or Martin Luther King Jr., being shot for standing for what they believe
The playwrights however disagree about whether or not it is good to be passionate and act on your beliefs. Sophocles believes that it is better to die from an excess amount of passion and die knowing you fought for what was right than sitting around Antigone. Lady and thinking about things while life passes you by, whereas Shakespeare believes that being too passionate is foolish and often ends in catastrophe.

In both Romeo and Juliet and Antigone, familial love is a theme that overshadows and interferes with all themes. The preponderant nature of the parents is used to show Shakespeare and Sophocles’ opinions on the actions of the youths, Juliet, Romeo, and Antigone. Lady Capulet is a mouthpiece to show Shakespeare's negative opinion of Juliet's passionate actions. The entire play, Lady Capulet and Juliet have a strained relationship; throughout the whole play she was not a fraction of the motherly figure that the nurse was. We even hear Juliet call her mother ‘madam’ (Shakespeare I, 3, 7). When Juliet choses to ignite herself with passion by expressing her unwillingness to be married to Paris, her mother’s