Skip to main content

What are some quotes that show Antigone's stubborn nature?

Antigone shows her strong-willed nature throughout the play, never wavering in her resolve to do the right thing. She is willing to die for what she believes in and won't give in or allow anyone to sway her with illogical arguments. In the beginning of the play, she approaches her sister Ismene to ask for Ismene's help burying their brother Polyneices. Ismene refuses due to her fear of disobeying authority, especially when that authority is male. Antigone replies:



ANTIGONE: If that is what you think, I should not want you, even if you asked to come... 
But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down
With him in death, and I shall be as dear
To him as he to me. 



She expresses her belief in the innate sanctity of her decision to bury Polyneices. Antigone believes she is following the laws of the gods and allowing her brother's spirit to journey into the next world, and she will not allow the king's law to stop her, even if it means certain death. 


Later on in the play, Creon orders Ismene's arrest. Once Ismene is captured, she jumps on the bandwagon and professes to have a share in Antigone's crime. Antigone responds by saying that Ismene has no right to say she had a part in this, showing her strong-willed nature. She won't let Ismene take credit for something Ismene wanted no part in.



ANTIGONE: No, Ismene. You have no right to say so. You would not help me, and I will not have you help me.



Creon asks Antigone whether she heard his proclamation forbidding anyone to bury Polyneices. She replies that she did, and tells him that he was wrong to issue this command against what the gods would have wanted. Throughout the play, she remains strong-willed and steadfast in her certainty that her act was according to the will of the gods. Antigone refuses to give in and pretend that she thinks she did the wrong thing to try to gain favor with Creon and save her life. She was ready to die for her actions, and does not give in even when she is being led to her death. 



CREON: And yet you dared defy the law.


ANTIGONE: I dared. It was not God’s proclamation. That final Justice
That rules the world below makes no such laws.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more