A high proportion of the most dramatic scenes in the plays of all ages are scenes for precisely two characters. Choose a scene from Anouilh’s “Antigone” and explain what makes it dramatic

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Jean Anouilh - Antigone

"A high proportion of the most dramatic scenes in the plays of all ages are scenes for

precisely two characters. Choose a scene from Anouilh's "Antigone"

and explain what makes it dramatic"

I have chosen the scene of confrontation between Antigone and Creon as the most dramatic and throughout the duration of this essay, I will attempt to assess what aspects make it dramatic. The reason I chose this scene is because is it the scene that the whole play leads up to after the chorus' speech at the beginning of the play, causing this to be the scene that the audience anticipates, as the outcome of this scene affects the lives of the characters at stake.

The positions of Antigone and Creon are conflicting, due to King Creon's views of a political nature contrasting his niece Antigone's views on religious duty, whilst both managing to retain the belief that they are in the right. Based upon this knowledge, the most dramatic scene is therefore going to be the confrontation between these two characters. Leading up to the fatal confrontation, there are many aspects of the play, which set the scene of conflict. The opening speech delivered resoundingly from the chorus triggers off the presence of tension in the atmosphere and can be sensed immediately by the audience. The chorus lays down the story of Antigone, who wants to bury the body of her dead brother Polynices but it is Creon's contrasting views on respecting the dead body of Polynices that makes the story so engaging. As the audience, we can only anticipate the most dramatic scene will therefore be the confrontation between these two characters when Antigone is arrested.

In the opening tableau, the chorus notifies the audience of the fate of Antigone which is unusual as rather than waiting for the story to unfold, the audience can only await what they already know will happen. Rather than wanting to know what will happen next, the audience are more concerned with how something will happen due to the information delivered from the chorus. This device creates tension very early on in the play continuing as a theme throughout as the speech made by the chorus at the beginning of the play makes things inevitable causing the audience to anticipate the development of what they know will happen.
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Creon's initial response to discovering that Antigone defied his edict is to question whether or not she actually did it by asking whether what he has heard is true. As he asks, "Is it true?" you can sense that he doesn't want to believe that his niece would be capable of defying him, almost wanting her to lie and deny the truth of her actions yet he instinctually knows she disobeyed him without needing to ask. Antigone answers simply yes to his question, unashamed of her actions - the threat of death not seeming to phase her. Creon ...

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