Antigone's Condemnation

Antigone condemns herself to death at the very beginning of the play. She knows the penalty for burying her brother. Her words and actions make me wonder whether she even wants to get away with it. Even when Ismene promises to keep the deed a secret, Antigone tells her to spread the news to everyone. This brings about the question of her motives. I believe that she has deep faith in God and she is eager to move on to the afterlife. This faith also creates her severe desire to bury her brother. Another motive surfaces when she is talking to Ismene at the beginning of the play. After Ismene expresses the importance of obeying civil law, Antigone asks her how she can even stand to live in this world so filled with evil. This shows that she yearns to escape this life and the corruption associated with it. One more possible motive that I observed deals with honor, pride and reputation. Antigone says that if she has to she will die before her time because she does not fear death. By dying young with all of the people on her side, she turns herself into an idol. No woman has ever died the way she was sentenced and her bravery awed all those around her. From the very first lines of the play the audience is able to see that Antigone’s death is eminent and she welcomes this fate.