Evaluate whether Antigone of Sophocles is more a political, or a psychological drama.
Evaluate whether Antigone of Sophocles is more a political, or a psychological drama.
Sophocles is one of the great innovators of theatre. He wrote three Theban plays, Antigone being one of the first. Antigone is one of the first heroines in literature. She is a woman who fights against a male power structure, exhibiting greater bravery than any of the men who scorn her. Sophocles's tragedy Antigone introduces classical readings that investigate the conflict between the claims of the individual and those of the community. However before one can decide whether Antigone is more a political or a psychological drama, one must define the two dramas, and see how they differentiate from one another.
In Antigone, Sophocles creates Antigone, the tragic hero of the play. Antigone, the main character of the story cannot accept her dead brother Polyneicês not being buried. Going against the orders of Creon, her uncle and the King of Thebes, Antigone buries her brother. She follows her own morals and her heart rather than the laws that people abide by. Antigone's stubbornness not only influences the choices she made throughout the play; her actions also cause the demise of herself and many others in the kingdom of Thebes. Thus, leaving Creon to live a life of misery because of his blind heart.
A political drama can be defined as a play, film, or television programme that has a political component. This can reflect one of two things; the first being the political opinion of the author, and the second being a description of political events. On the other hand, a psychological drama can be defined as a piece of drama, as mentioned in the forms before, that contains elements relating to psychology, and that may have risen from the mind or emotions of the protagonist within the play. As to which category Antigone belongs is still ambiguous.
Claes Ryn's definition of politics can certainly not be applied to Antigone. He says that politics are "the peaceful settlement of disputes". Ryn correlates politics at its best with community. In the play, there is a settlement but it is far from peaceful. The relationship between Antigone and Creon is turbulent. The characters are as stubborn as each other, and therefore the audience, once they had learned about the nature of the characters, immediately knew that the outcome of the play would never be peaceful. Although Ryn's criticism on political drama suggests that the peaceful conduct of affairs ...
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Claes Ryn's definition of politics can certainly not be applied to Antigone. He says that politics are "the peaceful settlement of disputes". Ryn correlates politics at its best with community. In the play, there is a settlement but it is far from peaceful. The relationship between Antigone and Creon is turbulent. The characters are as stubborn as each other, and therefore the audience, once they had learned about the nature of the characters, immediately knew that the outcome of the play would never be peaceful. Although Ryn's criticism on political drama suggests that the peaceful conduct of affairs would require some sort of agreement on the rules. However, Creon's regard for the laws of the city causes him to abandon all other beliefs. He feels that all should obey the laws set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise. Antigone, on the other hand, holds the beliefs of the gods in high reverence. She feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed above all others, especially when in respect to family. This is where the psychological drama can be introduced into Antigone.
A psychological aspect of the play can be seen when studying the relationship between Antigone and her brother, although the audience never actually meet him. The loss of a brother is greater to Antigone then the loss of any other kind. She says, 'For had I lost a son, or lost a husband, Never would I have ventured such an act Against the city's will. And wherefore so? My husband dead, I might have found another; Another son from him if I had lost A son. But since my mother and father Have both gone to the grave, there can be none Henceforth that I can ever call my brother.' To Antigone this is another reason to honour her brother; as she honours her brother she is honouring her mother and father as well, therefore she is doing what her mind tells her to without thinking about the rules set.
Politics and psychology become intertwined as a result of the beliefs of Antigone and Creon. Creon has a very strong opinion about the laws of the city and the laws passed by him. His method of enforcing them is very strict. Creon orders that Polyneices will not be buried because of his dishonour towards Thebes. Furthermore, if anyone is caught burying him they will be killed for disobeying his order. This proves to be problematic for Antigone because Polyneices is her brother, and she values family too much to be able to leave his corpse to rot. Antigone is passionate about what she does, and there is no reasoning with her. Her sister, Ismene, tries to talk her out of burying her brother because of what could happen to her if Creon found out that she was going not only against him, but the entire state. Ismene says "We must obey them.....I yield to those who have authority". Antigone is aware of the consequences, however she cannot stop herself from following her heart and listening to her head. This could question whether or not Antigone was sane. For example when she says: "Say I am mad and give my madness rein To wreck itself; the worst that can befall Is but to die an honorable death." Antigone dies a proud woman.
According to Aristotle, tragedy requires, among other things, a character whom we admire greatly, but who possesses a flaw, a hamartia, or some error in judgment. He falls from happiness into misery as the play progresses through what is sometimes translated as 'serious action'; action which is complete, noble, and poetical. Antigone does not seem to fit the Aristotelian formula. In the Poetic's sole reference to the play Aristotle offers Antigone as an example of a 'poor plot for a tragedy'. The least tragic plot, he avers, 'involves a character who resolves to do a fearful deed and does not do it.' His example is Haemon who seems ready to slay his father, Creon, and does not. This is a psychological aspect of the play. Although there are elements of politics to the consideration of Haemon killing his own father, he knows in his mind that the offence would be too high on both his conscience and his penalty for doing so. Instead, he kills himself. Whilst this is obviously distressing for Haemon's character, the conflict between Haemon and his father does not stir our emotions as much as the conflict swirling around Antigone. Again, reinforcing the psychological drama of the play.
Some may interpret Antigone as a noble and wise young woman who fights for the justice of traditional belief, while a tyrannical Creon fights for a right based on might. However, Irving Babbitt has suggested a more subtle variation of dialectic theory, hailing Antigone as the 'perfect example of the ethical imagination' in contrast to her sister, Ismene, who knows merely 'the law of the community.' Both Antigone and Ismene are ethical, but Ismene lacks ethical imagination. As Babbitt sees it:
'This law, the convention of a particular place and time, is always but a very imperfect image, a mere shadow indeed of the unwritten law which being above the ordinary rational level is . . . infinite and incapable of final formulation.'
This interpretation is reasonable as it uncovers layers of meanings within the play. It titles Antigone to a play of morality, which is a direct link towards psychological drama, rather than political.
The chorus is often the character who will reveal the truth to the audience, in the work of Sophocles. From the beginning of the play the audience learn of Antigone:
'The girl is bitter. She's her father's child.
She cannot yield to trouble; nor could he'
This adds a sense of foreboding to the play, but does not give any clue whether the drama will be political or psychological. However, when the chorus turns to Antigone and tells her:
'You showed respect for the dead.
So we for you: but power
is not to be thwarted so.
Your self-sufficiency has brought you down'
It becomes much clearer that the basis of the drama will be based on the psychological turmoil she suffers. The political elements of the play are more subtle than the psychological. Antigone disregards the rules set by Creon from the very start, therefore indicating that she does not think they are important.
Throughout the play, Antigone and Creon talk much about friends and enemies. Their charcters show similarities, in the sense that they both want to fully support their claims and what they believe in. Antigone and Creon tend to use the same words but mean different things by them. For example, Antigone refers to being a 'traitor.' This is a political term meaning someone who betrays his country by committing treason; but does Antigone mean a traitor to the city, or to the family?
As Antigone defies Creon's law, she is cast into a pool of danger between what she believes is right and what the state's law decrees is right. Antigone stands noblest and most heroic among all the characters, defiant of man's rule and insisting on God's justice. Whether this makes the play a political or a psychological drama remains unclear, and is dependent upon the opinions of the reader.
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