Conflict In Antigone

In the prologue, Antigone tries to convince her sister, Ismene, to agree to

In the first moments of the play, Antigone is opposed to her sister Ismene, because she was afraid Antigone wanted

To begin with, Ismene could be eliminated from “Antigone” because she does not affect the story a lot. In line 53, Ismene says to Antigone “You’d bury him when a law forbids the city?”. She only tries to convince Antigone to not bury Polynices, but she does it anyways. Without Ismene, Antigone would have still buried Polynices. Ismene is a character in the story that would not affect the story if he were to disappear.

In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"

Ismene believes a woman shouldn’t fight authority, especially if death is the penalty. When she was first asked to participate in the plan she said, “What? You’d bury him when the law forbids the city?” (Antigone 61).

Have you ever wanted to make a situation right for someone else, so much that you would do anything to fix it for them? When a person cares a lot for someone they love, a family member for example, they often times would sacrifice anything for them to be happy again. In Antigone by Sophocles, the main character Antigone gets sentenced to death by the King Creon after disobeying him for giving her brother Polyneices, a proper burial that she believed he deserved. Creon thought he should be left out in the sun for his body to rot, to make up for his act of treason. Antigone made a sacrifice for her brother that she also tried to convince her sister Ismene to join in on.

“I shall be hating you soon,” (193). Antigone then transitions into a more emotional form of persuasion, by threatening the relationship between them if she is to not join in on her plan. This targets the guilty conscience of Ismene which is normally what tends to push people to agree with the arguer, although it can be seen as a slightly manipulative tactic. Despite Antigone’s passive aggressive argument with Ismene, she fails to convince her to join the burial and carries out her mission on her own. However, the sentry Creon sent to spy on the grave spots her and brings her to Creon as the guilty

She has a heroic and courageous personality. Throughout her quest to bury Polyneices, Antigone encounters many hindrances along the way. The death of her father Oedipus led to her greatest disputant being given power, her Uncle Creon. He would show her no mercy for breaking his laws, until it is too late. Even when her sister Ismene states “Our own death would be if we should go against Creon And do what he has forbidden!

In the play, Antigone, Sophocles reveals a story of a character who responds significantly to an injustice. After a war between brothers’ Eteocles and Polyneices, both brothers are slain, but Creon, Antigone’s uncle, refused to bury Polyneices due to him fighting against the city. Antigone, the main character, decides to bury her brother against Creon’s orders, resulting in a conflict between the already cursed family. With the unjust refusal from Creon to not bury Polyneices, Antigone decides to stand up against this injustice, even if it means losing her life. Sophocles writes about a stubborn Antigone who believes she is following God’s law, in order to create justice between the cursed family and solve the unjust created by Creon, to

In the Greek tragic drama, Antigone, by Sophocles Ismene is a foil of her sister. There are many characteristics that exhibit this, such as, Ismene’s lack of courage, how she chooses to follow civil laws over the laws of the gods, and finally, how Ismene cannot stand up for herself. There are many instances in the play where these traits are are exhibited. One way that Ismene is a foil of Antigone is because she lacks courage.

“How could I live on alone, without my sister.” (Sophocles, page 32) She tries to take credit for the burial with Antigone. Ismene is distraught when Antigone rejects her and so she tries to appeal to Creon, asking him how he could kill his son’s bride-to-be. When Creon brushes off her pleas, he sentences her to be sent to the dungeons with Antigone.

In this particular story I would think that her idea of justice is wrong. In real life, I would say that we should obey the law of the land made by the King or President. But in The Antigone, Ismene's biggest fear is challenging King Creon and the laws of the state which prevents her from her sister's bold plan. Ismene’s states, “Now look at the two of us, left so alone…think what a death we’ll die, the worst of all if we violate the laws and override the fixed decree of the throne, its power – we must be sensible. Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men.

Ismene trembles in feat because her life could also be in danger for being the sister of Antigone. Throughout all the family drama if Antigone dies Ismene will be the only descendant from Oedipus alive. Ismene is worried and says, “Antigone I am so afraid for you” (3) because she knows Antigone will die soon. Ismene tells Antigone to be intelligent about her actions and not eager to respond to situations.

Ismene has an internal conflict for not trying to help her sister when first asked, which is the reason for her trying to take some blame in the acts Antigone had done. Antigone and Ismene are both to be put to death but Creon relents on the executing off Ismene. Before Creon did so, Ismene is scorned by Antigone for her late attempt for trying to be righteous. Ismene has always believed in loyalty and has always been loyal to her family. Even though she made a late decision and it is rejected by Antigone she is still loyal to her family by offering her help after she denied it to Antigone the first

How violence is applied in Antigone According to Foster, violence is one of the most personal and intimate acts between humans, and can also apply cultural and social implications in literature. Foster also points out that literature that has violence within it, may be seen as a metaphor. All of this can be seen and established in Sophocles tragedy, Antigone. Throughout Antigone, we see many different elements of literature that Foster establishes in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, however, none is seen more than violence. Foster states in chapter thirteen of his book that, “violence has to have some sort of meaning beyond the mere mayhem.”