WORLD LITERATURE ESSAY

ENGLISH A- LITERATURE (SL)

How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work

developed through the interactive oral?

The amalgamated ideas discussed in the interactive orals gave me a modified vision of an

adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone, which was reworked by Jean Anouilh in 1944, to intensify

the significance of freedom in the hearts of French people against the Nazi colonisation.

The time and place when the drama, Antigone was reworked by Anouilh, made it easy for us to

understand the tragic tone of it and the resistance showed by the characters who worked as

metaphors for the natives of France. Initially, it was difficult to understand the psychic

complexities of Antigone and her actions but since it is a development of Greek theatre so it

well-informed us about the facet of the man-god-society matrix which made us understand the

actual motive towards Antigone’s protest which was against the patriarchal surroundings and the

sole purpose of shunning the fundamental quality of being a subdued woman, which is well

represented by Ismene.

Even though the drama is not contemporary but certain highlighted issues relate to our own

culture like the stereotypical definition of “beauty” within a girl. Unlike the “fair-skinned” and

“lady-like” Ismene, Antigone did not conform to the conventional norms of beauty because she

was “dark-skinned” and lacked “feminineness”. Unfortunately, our society is still a part of such

an orthodox ideology. The constant conflict of oneself with the idealistic conventional beliefs of

society like that of Antigone’s with the “law of state”, still prevails and resonates with the

individuals of the present times.

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The Greek mythology discussed in the interactive oral gave us an insight to the culture, where

we came to know about the facets which are viewed as moral and immoral; for instance, proper

burial of a corpse is an act of morality but considering oneself to be equivalent to gods is an

immoral characteristic.

This interactive oral has been considerate in developing hubris, as a topic of interest for me

which is an example of the literary term, hamartia and has been used as a motif throughout the

dramatic irony. The dramatic technique of dialogues between Antigone and Creon reflect their

understanding of morality and immorality which soon transforms into autonomy making them

extremely self-certain and puffed with excessive pride. Hence, the culture and its underpinnings

made me explore and develop the context of the drama.

Word Count: 381

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TITLE

Hubris is one of the most significant attributes of a mortal which prompts the annihilation of

relationships and life. Legitimise in the light of Antigone by Jean Anouilh.

A mortal possesses a plethora of characteristics which are all unseamed onto this unfathomable

path of life. Hamartia is one such flaw within the personality of a mortal which ultimately causes

the downfall of one’s life. The Greek mythology rightly describes ‘hubris’ as an example of

hamartia and states it to be a conventional personality flaw of a haughty person who belittles the

truth of this entire cosmos to a degree which leads him into an unknown space of obliviousness

and belief of him being equal to the gods. Jean Anouilh approaches the idea of hubris with

extreme ingenuity and clashing ideas. His representation of the drama highlights the deficits of

hubris leading to the destruction of relationships and life. Hence, compelling the readers to

question the extent of denialism of reality, utmost self-proclamation and exhibiting non-

conformance towards morality when masked with hubris.

Antigone and Creon, the two flag-bearers of hubris approach this flaw following an

individualistic path. The two characters are an epitome of pertinacity, self-certainty and

intransigency towards opinions. These three attributes account as building-blocks for the hubris

attained by the two characters. The character of Antigone is afflicted with hubris which is

wrapped over a person having the finest insights and on the contrary, Creon approaches it with

the legerdemain of carte blanche but both meet analogous inevitable tragic end.

The duo of Antigone and Creon unlock the pessimism of obstinacy when engaged in a

conversation with each other. Antigone remarks Creon to be “wrong”, this irks him because he

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doesn’t like to be proven atrocious so he twists Antigone’s arm firmly and terms Polynices to be

a traitor to give a perspective to his decree of prohibiting proper burial to Polynices. Alike Creon,

even Antigone mirrors persistence by not indicating one sign of pain. She doesn’t fall prey to

Creon’s antics and states that she doesn’t care about the political outlook and Creon’s paltry

affairs. Keeping aside the actual nature of a decision or a subject she states that, “I can still say

no to anything I don’t like”, symbolising her linearity of thought and pertinacity. She questions

Creon’s credibility as a king, her stubbornness is well supported by the colloquy where Antigone

mentions that she doesn’t want to understand because she’s not here to understand but saying no

to Creon and dying is her only prime goal. Subsequently, Creon begins to have a play of words

with Antigone whilst giving a justification of his actions and asks Antigone to live a life which

promotes happiness. This is the moment where she becomes ambiguous of her true motives and

now she’s only determined to demean and humiliate Creon, cast aspersions at his flagitious

nature. Her eccentric behaviour gets fueled and she starts considering Creon to be out of her

league and quotes, “I’m speaking to you from too far away now………...that fat around

your waist!”. Antigone heaps reams of insults onto Creon, she showcases utmost contempt and

scorn towards him and malign him to be “a dog crouching over a bone.” Her arbitrary views

stimulate her conscience to be critically imprudent about the world and scenario she’s

encompassed by. As pellucid as it reads, Creon states, “Someone has to say yes. Someone has

to steer the ship.”, but both seem to hold onto their respective decisions, showcasing veracity

and doggedness.

This obstinacy is followed by being reluctant to a person’s perspective which Antigone and

Creon display in a heightened manner. Ismene, oblivious to Antigone’s attempt of burying

Polynices, tries to convince her to not be a part of this heinous crime because it will result into

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their tragic end. She states, “Polynices is dead, and he didn’t love you. Forget him, Antigone,

as he forgot us”, Antigone refuses to listen to any of the arguments offered by Ismene because

she believes in the equity of conventional conviction, mortals of god and thinks that everyone

has a right to be subjected to a proper burial. Ismene further tries to bring in Creon’s viewpoint

under Antigone’s notice, she says that, “I’m older than you, and not so impulsive. You do the

first thing that comes into your head, never mind whether it’s sensible or stupid.” Antigone

retaliates in a sharp tone and states that it is unimportant and unneeded for her to think and

consider Creon’s perception. In her conversations with Creon, Antigone never listens to

understand but to retaliate and she even reverts to Creon who asks her to listen to him, saying, “I

needn’t if I don’t want to.” Creon is no less in depicting the aforementioned. After Antigone’s

verdict is passed, a component of a conversation between Creon and Haemon turns heads

towards Creon being ignorant about Haemon’s love for Antigone and his prerogative of opinion.

Creon’s haughtiness takes over where he turns a deaf ear to the chorus which warns Creon about

the repercussions of his decree, they state, “don’t let her die, Creon! We’ll all bear the scar

for thousands of years!”. Neither of the character gets swayed away by the offered sentiments.

The sole belief of morality and individualistic understanding conspires for Antigone and Creon

to be against the conventional norms. Antigone establishes an ardent desire of giving her brother

Polynices, sacred burial rites because she believes that no law is above the law of god. In a

conversation with Ismene, she states, “Antigone, self-willed little beast, does the first thing

that comes into her head!.................And serve her right! She should do as she’s told”.

Ismene tries to talk Antigone into the world of practicality which seems like an illusion to her.

Antigone categorically states, “I don’t want to understand!” because understanding leads to

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thinking about the pros and cons of an action and she doesn’t want to get into the analysis of her

action. Antigone starts to think that her choice of righteousness is misconstrued so instead of

discussing her decision with her fiancé Haemon, she dictates her order of not marrying him.

Antigone says to Haemon, “Promise you’ll go without even a backward glance………..It’s

the last foolishness you’ll have to forgive me” because she believes that Haemon is subordinate

to her opinions and will not come to terms with her thought process. Antigone’s hubris is at peak

in a conversation with Creon where she is utterly blinded in the labyrinthine of noble-

mindedness, she states, “I alone am the judge”. This like-mindedness of self-certainty is

equally contemporary in the portrayal of Creon’s character. He is a leader and a patron of art

who succumbs to the monumental idea of hubris causing his labefaction when he showcases

defiance to the laws of god. His state of oblivion is such that when Antigone makes him realise it

to be sinful in the vision of the gods to not bury a corpse because as she says, “People who

aren’t buried wander for ever in search of rest.”, he defies the solemnity of this act and

counters her by saying, “Do you really believe in this burial business?”. He blatantly denies

any roots of such a system. These evidences, showcase that these two characters lack perspective

and become unyielding to understand the repercussions of their actions. Knowledge and

understanding are two distinct affairs for Antigone and Creon. It is a natural human tendency to

believe that once they have acquired almighty’s gospel truth, they have developed a niche with

god’s personality hence it puffs them with the idea that their will is equivalent to god’s desire.

Creon and Antigone’s lack of judgement, propensity for not tuning in to other people, believing

themselves to be virtuous and high-minded and considering their dogmas to be equivalent to god

is the facet that reflects hubris as a part of their character which lead to their downfall. This

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excessive pride makes them lose all their relationships. Antigone loses the solicitous love of

Ismene and contended life of unconditional amour with Haemon. Creon’s haughtiness leads him

nowhere, his son suicides, his wife Eurydice slits her throat leaving Creon to suffocate for the

rest of his life in utter solitude. “Empty palace where Creon will begin to wait for death”

sums that hubris results in suffering and at times situations worse than death.

Jean Anouilh portrays a drama which is more than just a mortality play. He imparts the readers

with a moral which states that hubris is an evil which will inevitably be punished regardless of

the path followed to attain it. This evil will dismantle the core relationships and one’s life.

Antigone’s insights made her sightless and Creon’s actions and tendency to consider himself the

greatest, ignoring the sanctity of an idea took away too many innocent’s lives. At last he’s left

alone lamenting, waiting for death with an uprooted life. Both became their own doom.

Anouilh’s, Antigone is an amalgamation of the essence of hubris and its prolonged peril impact

on the people touched by it. “The mighty words of the proud taught us wisdom and

importance of adequate self-assessment”.

Word count: 1492

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Bibliography:

Cover page:

• “Sisters of Misery. Sophocles' Antigone, Summary.” Pirates & Revolutionaries,

piratesandrevolutionaries.blogspot.com/2010/08/sisters-of-misery-sophocles-

antigone_09.html.

Book/PDF:

• Anouilh, Jean. Antigone.

Other sources:

• "Antigone's Flaw". Nhinet.Org, http://www.nhinet.org/lines.htm.

• “The Psychoanalytic Study Of Antigone English Literature Essay.” UKEssays.com,

www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/the-psychoanalytic-study-of-antigone-

english-literature-essay.php.

• “Creon as a Tragic Character in ‘Antigone.’” Adam Cap,

adamcap.com/schoolwork/2349/.