"ANTIGONE" (SOPHOCLES).   Term Paper ID:23181 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analyzes character of Greek heroine, morality, symbol of female strength, effects of her relationships with her father Oedipus, Freudian theory.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analyzes character of Greek heroine, morality, symbol of female strength, effects of her relationships with her father Oedipus, Freudian theory. Paper Introduction: The story of Antigone has been told by many poets, playwrights, and others over the centuries. The relationship between Antigone and her father, Oedipus, and the conflict between Antigone and Creon, point to various aspects of the social roles of women in Thebes at the time this play was written. The tragedy of Oedipus echoes through the generations, affecting his children and determining the course of their lives for them, and Antigone can be examined using this Freudian view, much as Willbern does when he writes, Such a focus will therefore be one-sided, viewed through paternal eyes--the patriarchal perspective. Freud sometimes characterized the daughter's perspective, but he was naturally more familiar with the father's (Willbern 75-76). Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The social value of compliance conflicts with the equal values ofcourage and loyalty, and Antigone is loyal to her brother but transgressesagainst the legal injunction of the state. Gilligan makes theinteresting observation that the traditional view would have women developonly to a certain point and then stop rather than going on to "adulthood"as do men: The repeated finding of these studies is that the qualities deemed necessary for adulthood--the capacity for autonomous thinking, clear decision making, and responsible action--are those associated with masculinity but considered undesirable as attributes of the feminine self (Gilligan 279).All of these characteristics are seen in the actions of Antigone, and thereaction of Creon is at least in part a reaction against what he sees asmasculine attributes and actions on her part. Antigone does challengethe natural order in the state even though she is right, and so she ispunished even though we might find that she has good reason and so is notculpable. For me, the doer, death is best. "In a Different Voice: Women's Conceptions of Self and of Morality." Harvard Educational Review (1977), 481-517.Grene, David (tr.). This is not so in the Greek view. London: Karnac Books, 1988.Gilligan, Carol. Gilligan considers the general developmental perspective and thenapplies it to women. She is also required tolive up to the laws of society, and even tough the two conflict, theindividual is expected to live up to both. She shows masculine tendencies towardaggression and self-assertion, for instance, and her development would bejudged as warped by the father-daughter relationship. Heilbrun sees something similar when she discusses the roles to whichwomen have been assigned and the criticism leveled at them when they stepoutside those roles. Freud sometimes characterized the daughter's perspective, but he was naturally more familiar with the father's (Willbern 75-76).Any analysis of Antigone must also deal with the Oedipus myth and with therole of the father, as Benjamin indicates: For Freud, the tragedy of Oedipus was the key to our unconscious desires and our inevitable sense of guilt (Benjamin 141).Yet, Benjamin further notes that Freud's approach does not take intoaccount the father's transgression, namely the sin of Laius when he triesto murder Oedipus in his infancy, and Benjamin finds that putting Laiusback into the story makes this a tale of a father's transgression.Feminist theorists similarly find that Freud's emphasis on other issuesshifts the role of femininity in a certain direction and ignores elementsthat would offer a different perspective. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.----------------------- 6 Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter (Heilbrun 18).This is what Antigone seeks to such an extent that she excludes her sister,a more traditionally-minded young woman but one who has also developed astronger moral sense than many of the men of her time. Friend shall I lie with him, yes friend with friend, when I have dared the crime of piety (Grene 161).Antigone is betrothed to Creon's son, but Creon is more interested inasserting his prerogatives than in being just. Gilligan specifically discusses the issue in terms of the developmentof a moral sense, and Antigone's actions are certainly those of anindividual who has a strong moral sense and who intends to assert thatmorality at all costs. She would agree that women have developed into manyof the traditional roles because they have been denied participation andhave thus failed to develop a certain sense of responsibility in socialaffairs: The true representation of power is not of a big man beating a smaller man or a woman. In the Greekview, there is always divine retribution for sin. Even though Oedipusappears to be the victim of a series of circumstances so that what happensto him should be no fault of his own, in the Greek view this is not thecase. Gilligan agrees with Freud that the moralsensibility of women differs from that of men, though she differs from himin terms of her view of the origin of this difference. He says that his son canfind another wife, but Haemon tells his father that even though this is awoman defying the king, the whole town is behind her: But in dark corners I have heard them say how the whole town is grieving for this girl, unjustly doomed, if ever woman was, to die in shame for glorious action done (Grene 183). Writing a Woman's Life. Her act is all the more dramaticbecause she is a woman and is expected to take a lesser role, a role morelike that of Jocasta, who asked no questions and stood by as tragedystruck. Works CitedBenjamin, Jessica. Gilligan seesthe development of a distinctly feminine moral sense in the way women aretreated in society more than in their working out of an Oedipal problem andthat women are excluded from direct participation in society. The Bonds of Love. Her relationship with hermother is secondary and indeed only sketchily formed at all in the contextof the myth. Flowers. The structure of the three plays by Sophocles shows that Oedipusshould have known even if he did not and that his stubbornness in the faceof growing evidence as to his crime leads to his downfall. Antigone's wisdom contrasts with the stubbornness of Creon and thecowardice of Ismene, but Antigone will be destroyed even though what she isdoing is the right thing according to the gods. Oedipus is the central figure in this family, the central figurein the myth, and the central figure in Freud's psychological evaluation ofthe myth and its relevance in the development of the psychology of theindividual. The tragedy of Oedipus echoes through the generations,affecting his children and determining the course of their lives for them,and Antigone can be examined using this Freudian view, much as Willberndoes when he writes, Such a focus will therefore be one-sided, viewed through paternal eyes--the patriarchal perspective. We must remember that we are two women so not to fight with men (Grene 161).This conflicts with what Antigone feels the gods have ordered her to do inthe name of her brother, and she is not willing to have what she knows isright swept aside by the admonition that she is only a woman. "Father and Daughter in Freudian Theory." In Daughters and Fathers by Lynda E. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.Chasseguet-Smirgel, Janine. One role for women in a society such as Thebes is to mourn for thedead, the men killed in battle, and this is all that she is trying to do.As such, she is standing up for the prescriptions of the gods, and in truthCreon is challenging the gods, not this girl. Sophocles I. Even a superficial reading of the Antigone and an examination of themythology behind it points to the fact that Antigone's character has beenformed from her relationship with her father. For this she is destroyed. Freud explains itin the construction and resolution of the Oedipal problem. "Feminine Guilt and the Oedipus Complex." From Female Sexuality: New Psychoanalytic Views by Janine Chassuguet- Smirgel. Boose and Betty S. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988.Willbern, David. Ismene, Antigone's sister,suggests that she comply with the order of Creon because that is what isexpected: We'll perish terribly if we force law and try to cross the royal vote and power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954.Heilbrun, Carolyn G. The essence of the Oedipus myth revolves aroundpersonal responsibility in the Greek conception. Clearly, though, Antigone goes beyond the usual role of women inTheban society because she does have her own moral sense, a very strongone, strong enough to challenge Creon. She notes first that developmental theory takes theindividual from infantile dependence to adult autonomy and traces a pathcharacterized by an increasing differentiation of self from other alongwith a progressive freeing of thought from contextual constraints. In Antigone, we have a womanwhose role is to remind the arrogant males that the gods rule and not men,and Antigone does what is right for the woman protecting the honor of herfamily. Antigoneappears with her father in the three plays by Sophocles in the second,after her father's crime has been revealed, and she offers her loyalty andaid to this blinded old man who has no one else on whom he can depend. Death requires acknowledgment,and this is why Antigone insists on burying her brother, from respect.Creon suffers for his sin as well by the death of his son. The story of Antigone has been told by many poets, playwrights, andothers over the centuries. Shenotes, though, that this approach is largely male oriented: The men whose theories have largely informed this understanding of development have all been plagued by the same problem, the problem of women, whose sexuality remains more diffuse, whose perception of self is so much more tenaciously embedded in relationships with others and whose moral dilemmas hold them in a mode of judgment that is insistently contextual" (Gilligan 278).Antigone behaves in a way that would not be defined as feminine by hersociety and that would also be classified as masculine from a traditionalpsychotherapeutic standpoint. It would be well to consider the relationship between Antigone andOedipus for what it says about the development of femininity, here in theview of Sophocles. She says toher sister, Be what you want to: but that man shall I bury. The relationship between Antigone and herfather, Oedipus, and the conflict between Antigone and Creon, point tovarious aspects of the social roles of women in Thebes at the time thisplay was written. Chasseguet-Smirgel feels thatFreud believes the father to be much more important in general for the boythan for the girl, but she also finds that Freud never intended his viewsto be final and always encouraged his disciples to continue to explore. Chasseguet-Smirgel offers a clear statement of one aspect of theissue that Freud glosses over: It is troubling to note that Freudian theory gives the father a central role in the boy's Oedipus complex but considerably reduces that role in the girl's (Chasseguet-Smirgel 88).She notes that Freud may even suggest that the girl's positive Oedipuscomplex does not exist at all, and that if it exists, it is an exactreplica of her relationship to her mother. Jocastastands by as Oedipus rules. Jocasta plays a role that is vital more because she is themother as well as the wife of Oedipus than because she is the mother ofAntigone. Gilligan points out that the essence of amoral decision is the exercise of choice, coupled with the willingness toaccept responsibility for that choice: To the extent that women perceive themselves as having no choice, they correspondingly excuse themselves from the responsibility that decision entails (Gilligan 285). Antigone is made of sterner stuff. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.