Admiration towards Ismene

I admire Ismene the most in the play “Antigone” by Sophocles. The sacrifice which she had made when Antigone, her sister, was caught by Creon. It was because she had buried the body of Polynices which violated his edict. Creon wanted Antigone to be stoned to death in public as what he declared before. When Ismene was caught and questioned by Creon, she admitted that she was part of Antigone’s plan although she knew that her admitting would cause her to die. Her words and actions showed that she loved her sister greatly. Her action and words was so contrasting with the characteristics of hers that we knew earlier in the beginning of the play when Antigone asked her to join the burial. Ismene refused to join Antigone in disobeying the civil war made by Creon. This was because she felt that women are weak. Therefore, women should follow the man’s law without questioning them. Her attitude was greatly different from Antigone. Antigone was brave and outspoken. Ismene was afraid she would die if she joins her sister. Ismene advised Antigone not to disobey the rule. If she insisted, Ismene asked her not to spread her doing because Ismene was scared of death.

“Oh think Antigone! We who are women
Should not contend with men; we who are weak
Are ruled by the stronger, so we must obey….”
(Antigone, Line 61-63)
Besides, Ismene also depicted the gender issue which face by the women across the globe in the past as well as todays world. Women are submissive and passive. Women being outspoken are something rude and being disrespectful to others. Therefore, women are expected to listen and obey to men as men are the stronger gender.

What I feel about Creon in “Antigone” by Sophocles?

Generally a king’s responsibility is to protect the stability and harmony of his country. Therefore, new laws and regulation are declared for the benefit of its citizen. In the “Antigone”, I felt that Creon, the king of Thebes, was also one of the traditional kings in the world. He edicted that Polyneceis’ body should not be buried because he caused the civil war. But Eteocles’ body will be buried in honor because he was killed in the war against Polyneceis. Creon declares that anyone who attempting to bury Polyneceis’ body would be stoned to death in public. Besides, his determination of putting Antigone, who buried Polynecies’ body, to death did not change although his son and Antigone had told him that his decision of not burying the dead had violated God’s law. In my opinion, I felt that his edict was to warn the public that whoever betray the kingdom and go against the king would face the same consequences as Antigone. His main purpose was to protect the stability and the harmony of his country.
I have changed my view about Creon after attending today’s lecture on “Antigone”. Creon is the culprit in the play. I have learned that he caused the outbreak of the civil war. The purpose of the war was to show his power to his people. He wanted to over take the throne from Oedipus’ son, Polynecies and Eteocles. Creon was appointed as the guardian of the throne as Oedipus blinded himself (Oedipus The King) and his two sons were still young at that time. He wanted to maintain his status as the king of Thebes even though the Oedipus’ sons have grown up. After the civil war, he disallowed anyone to bury Polynicies’s body and the body of those who were sided him in the civil war to show his people that his words were law and he was the king. But his arrogance and pride had caused his loved and blood to die.

Context plays an important role in understanding of any literary texts. Context here is referring to the historical setting, physical setting and geographical setting of a piece of literary text. For example, most of the literary texts come together with the author’s background and the context of the literary texts in order to allow readers to understand the texts better although they are from different cultural background or different time zone. I found understanding the context should come first before we start to analyze a piece of text. For example, a few days ago, I learned about the drama “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde. My lecturer read an extract of the drama text aloud for the purpose of looking at how the playwright portrays the characters through their speeches. We were asked to read this drama in the introduction week. But I read the drama text without reading the context of the drama. I think most of us did. As the result, we did not find the conversation between Cecily and Gwendolen was humorous and funny when we were supposed to laugh at the sarcasm that was made Gwendolen towards Cecily’s social status.
Cecily: …… When I see a spade, I will call it a spade.
Gwendolen [Satirically] “I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious
that our social spheres have been widely different.”
On the other hand, I can understand “Antigone” by Sophocles better because I was provided with the context of the play. For example, I had learned about the history of Greek theater as well as the Greek culture and their belief of the Gods and myths. Besides, I had learned before Shakespearean’s plays “The Midsummer Night Dream”. This helps me to understand other Greek plays better.

The first drama I learned was Educating Rita by Willy Russel in my first year of foundation course. We were asked to form group of five. Every group was required to choose two scenes and act out in the class. This was part of our assignment. During the process, we had gone through a lot of trouble especially in finding for the props for this drama because the drama is a closed text. In other words, the playwright had stated clearly the description of the setting which the play took place as well as the position of the furniture. For example, in Act 1, Scene 1, There is a large bay window L with a desk placed in front of it and another desk c covered with various papers and books. The walls are lined with books and on one wall hang a good print of a nude religious scene. This setting is important because every scene is happened in the Frank’s office and it involves the usage of the furniture. Therefore, as the stage director, the position of the furniture has be arranged exactly the same as the description given in the play thus not interrupt the flow of the drama. The second drama that I learned was The Midsummer Night Dream by William Shakespeare in the second year. Although we did not put up the play, we were asked to watch the play individually. As for this play, the setting is not vividly portrayed to the readers. For example, in Act 1 Scene 1, Athens Theseus’ Palace. This is largely depends on the stage director’s decision and creativity on what props are supposed to use in every scene of the play. Any props can be used as long as the props are suitable for the era of time and the setting. This type of drama is called opened text.