Monday, September 03, 2007
Antigone: self-righteous and pitiable
Like father, like daughter? or is it more like brother, like sister? See how complicated and chaotic things get when incest is involved? Anyway, similariies between Oedipus and Antigone. There are a lot. Mostly, hubris. They've both got a lot of hubris. However, they have different varieties of hubris. Oedipus is full of hubris in his skills: skills at leading, solving riddles etc. Antigone's hubris is wrapped up in self-righteousness. What really struck me is her self-comparison to Niobe. The text has a footnote that explains the Niobe myth, but it misses some things. The reason Niobe's children were killed was that she boasted that she was more of a woman than Leto, a goddess, because she had more children than Leto. The gods killed her kids and had Niobe cry until she turned to stone. Not only does the stone foreshadow Antigone's stone prison, but in some accounts of the myth Niobe hung herself. Either way, Antigone was extremely proud, just like Niobe, but she doesn't mention Niobe's pride. But was it wrong that she knew that she was right? I think the part where her righteousness crossed over from good to bad is when she rebuked Ismene. In that exchange, I got the impression that Antigone wanted to be a sacrifice. She wouldn't let Ismene join her. Antigone had to be the sole victim. She enjoys wallowing in self pity veiled in self-righteousness. You know what I'm talking about- she likes playing the poor victim. We all know people like that. I don't know if I consider Antigone a good character or a bad character. She seems more like a pitiable character. Wait, there's that magic word, pity. So I guess it works out as a tragedy in the end.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I can only comment on blogs, not post them. Since this is the blog I am rebuking, I thought it only made sense to post under it.
*Pretty in Power, NOT Pity*
(Nick - don’t take this personal)
Antigone is not the victim of this story, nor is she presented as an attention seeker. The story is about a new kind of woman, a feminist who’s willing to stand up against the power and authority of the state on account of her personal beliefs of the divine state. How can you name a woman willing to put her life on the line for the sake of her convictions and her family loyalty “pitiful”? “Committed, strong-willed, and even emotionally complex,” are all respectable words that can be better used to describe her nature. But not “pitiful”, never “pitiful.” You make it sound like Antigone stood up to Creon, defying female conventions, as part of a publicity stunt. If that’s so, why weren’t more Greek women following in her example and trying to make their names known. Why did they all stay quiet?
Before my claims are refuted, I must explain Antigone’s long wail to Creon before her death which might have appeared pitiful to some readers. I cannot deny the fact that she lamented about never being a bride. However, she never actually used the name of her betrothed. With this said, I believe Antigone was simply using tactics on Creon that might keep her from death. The girl simply knew when to pull out the “damsel in distress” card as you might call it. She didn’t want to die. None of us do. She was simply trying to talk her way out of death. This doesn't make her weak, but merely human.
The way Antigone died solidifies her title as a self-sufficient woman and heroin rather than a victim. Yes she is punished at Creon’s orders, but she died by her own hand, of her own free will, and without a man’s assistance.
Nick I liked your blog and the connection you made with the god, but I don't completely agree with what you said about Antigone. I'm sorry but I agree more with how Alex viewed her than how you did. First off I do agree that Antigone had hubris just like her father, but unlike her father I felt her pride was a more positive effect than a negative. Although she knows her family is all cursed, she still loved them all. Even though her brother Polyhecies had gone against his country, she still loved him and was proud of him. She wanted nothing more than to give him the honor that he deserved. I felt her going against the law showed her as a stronger character then Creon who let his pride tear him apart such as Oedipus had. Creon was too scared to show weakness to the crowd and to proud to do so. Antigone though said exactly how she felt. She was proud of what she did because she did what she felt was the just thing to do.
Also you mentioned that you felt Antigone was just trying to take all the fame when she denied Ismene as being a part of the act. Again I saw this differently. I saw Antigone as protecting Ismene just as she had tried with her brother. Although she was angry that she had not tried to help, she still loved her and wanted to protect her. I felt this way after i read lines 144-145. Antigone says "Save yourself. I shall not envy you. There are those who will praise you; I shall have honor too". To me I thought Antigone was playing a big sister role and was just trying to say that she forgives her and would rather see her live then have to die like she does.
Wow, a double attack from both DW and Al. What was I thinking. Anyway, about what I WAS thinking. Allow me to explain. I am not saying that Antigone did the wrong thing in burying her brother (I actually think it was the right thing), but I don't care if it was the right thing or not. It's not even a question of why she did it. She did it because she loved her brother and thought Creon's edict was unjust. It is, however, a question of why she did it the way she did it. Why make such a big show of it? Why not try to reason with Creon? The answer is that she wanted to undermine the state. This is the only answer because with any other motivation different avenues would have been available. Now the question is of course, why did she want to undermine the state? My answer, and this is my opinion, because she wanted to be pitiable. She wanted the feeling that everything in the universe is against her. In her monologue (not a soliloquy because it was addressed at someone ;) ) she talks about how pitiable her situation is. She says how she is going to an unjust death completely abandoned by everyone in the world. Well, she's not really completely abandoned. She has a fiance that adores her so much that her kills himself out of grief of her death. She has a sister that loves her immensely and wants to die with her. That is pitiful (notice the difference), she is so self absorbed that her entire perception of reality has been altered to coalesce with her self image of herself as righteous, self-sacrificing victim. Now why is she like this? My diagnosis, and I'm not a doctor or anything, is that it all goes back to the daddy (brother dearest) problem. (Oh, just something I thought of that I want to throw in now so that I don't forget it. This is either in response to DW or Al, whichever one said that Antigone not letting Ismene die too was done purely out of wanting to save her sister's life. Remember, during the prologue, Antigone wants Ismene to come and help her. Antigone knows that it is basically a suicide mission. She didn't have reservations about Ismene's life then. I guess this kind of shoots me in the foot though about Antigone wanting to be the sole victim. Avast! I can explain.)(Oh, another comment, or more of a clarification, when I say that Antigone is pitiable, that is something completely different from pitiful. Pitiful is an insult. The definition of pitiful is ". evoking or deserving contempt by smallness, poor quality, etc.: pitiful attempts" while the definition of pitiable is " evoking or deserving pity; lamentable" the former of which I think definitely applies to Antigone. If not for the reasons that I said, then at least for the simple fact that she died a brutal death for a just cause. That is pitiable.)
And I think that does it.
Okay I guess this was the blog that most people chose to comment on because it was so interesting (which they usually always are Nick) but what I wanted to talk about is described throughout Nicks blog. I didn’t like Antigone when I started reading and I really didn’t like her at the end. I thought that she was selfish and did what she thought would make her happy and look “good”. However I see where Jenny and Alex are coming from in saying that she had pride in her family and wanted to support them. I can understand that because I would want anyone in my family to be honored and respected. You can’t judge them off of an anger streak that took place after what happened to their father. Although I did agree with Nick because I thought it was weird that she didn’t want her sister to join her. After reading the first couple pages I would’ve guessed that she would’ve put the blame of the whole thing on Ismene. Then after reading through Nick’s blog it made sense that she would try and make herself a sacrifice. She didn’t care about Ismene as a sister or as a friend. She solely wanted to make herself look better and appear to be a sacrificial offering for her family and deed. Antigone just seemed to be self-centered and wanted people to “pity” her. Jenny’s quote on how she told Ismene to save herself and she wouldn’t envy her to me seemed sarcastic. I didn’t think that Antigone truly meant it. I saw it was more of a sarcastic remark and a way for her to look “better” to the rest of the city.
Post a Comment