WOMEN

=//**__ QUOTATIONS:__**//=

not meant in nature to fight against men, and that we are ruled, by those who are stronger, to obedience in this and even more painful matters." (70-74)
 * //ISMENE://** "You ought to realize that we are only women,


 * //Explanation://** This quote reveals Ismene's submissive acceptance of women's role in the current society, and her words suggest that this gender hierarchy is imbedded in "nature" and nothing can be -or should be- done about it.

//**CREON:**// "Go then to the world below, yourself, if you must love. Love them. When I am alive no woman shall rule." (577-578)


 * //Explanation://** This quote shows Creon's condescending attitude towards women and his belief that women are not as capable as men. In the cultural and historical context of the play, women were considered subordinate to men and only played a minor role in society.

//**CREON:**// "Yes, there are other fields for him to plough." (627)... "I hate a bad wife for a son of mine." (629)


 * //Explanation://** Creon dismisses the death of his daughter-in-law to be as he comments that "there are other fields for [Haemon] to plough". Through this use of a metaphor, Creon reveals his belief that women are merely pieces of property that can be exchanged.

//**CREON:**// "Do not, my son, banish your good sense through pleasure in a woman, since you know that the embrace grows cold when an evil woman shares your bed and home." (702-705)


 * //Explanation://** This quote from Creon once again reinforces his belief that women are subordinate to men, and suggests that "good sense" should not be sacrificed merely for "pleasure in a woman".

//**CREON:**// "So we must stand on the side of what is orderly; we cannot give victory to a woman. If we must accept defeat, let it be from a man; we must not let people say that a woman beat us." (731)


 * //Explanation://** Here Creon not only expresses his sexist views but also provides insight into his prideful nature. Creon states that admitting defeat is already shameful, but admitting defeat from a woman is unthinkable, because one could never consider women to be more capable than men.

//**ANTIGONE:**// "...and now [Creon] takes me by the hand and leads me away, unbedded, without bridal, without share in marriage and in nurturing of children..." (972-975).

=//__LITERARY FEATURES:_ __//= = =
 * //Explanation://** This quote comes shortly before Antigone's death, and she laments her fast-approaching death as she was never given a chance to lead a fulfilling life ("unbedded, without bridal, without share in marriage and in nuturing children"). This shows that women were most likely defined by their societal roles, as faithful wives and dutiful mothers, than by individuality and free thought.


 * //CHARACTERIZATION//**

//**ALLUSION:**// Antigone makes a reference to Tantalus' daughter Niobe (886) as she notes that "the god brings [them] to rest" in a similar fashion. According to Greek mythology, Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus (King of Phrygia) boasted of her fourteen children (the Niobids) to Leto, who only mothered the twins Apollo and Artemis. Leto, in reaction to Niobe's gloating remarks, sent Apollo and Artemis after Niobe's fourteen children, and by using poisoned arrows, Artemis killed Niobe's seven daughters and Apollo killed her seven sons. Niobe's husband, Amphion, committed suicide at the sight of his dead children. A devastated Niobe, having lost her entire family within a matter of minutes, fled to Mount Sipylus and was promptly turned to stone. As tears pour from her petrified complexion, she is destined to grieve for the loss of her family for eternity. Although the death of Antigone's family was not the result of a snide or boastful remark, Antigone, too, lost almost her entire family within a short time period and had to face the tragic consequences.

//**CONTRAST**//: The disparities between the dispositions of Antigone and Ismene are revealed in the two sisters' interactions with each other. To Ismene, who views Antigone's decision to transgress the laws of citizenry as an "extravagant action [which] is not sensible" (78), her sister is "headstrong" (53); her own nature is more muted, compressed into demureness and circumspection by forces that "constrain [her]" (76), the most obvious of which is her fate to be "ruled, by those who are stronger, to obedience" (72) because she is "only [a] wom[an]" (70). Recognizing the danger of Antigone's impetuosity and yet unable to dissuade her from flouting Creon's rules, she is compelled by sisterly love and genuine concern to proclaim her fears for her "poor sister" (94) and beseeches her "not to hunt the impossible at all" (106-7), or at least to "bury [Polyneices] in secret" (78). Antigone, however, incited to irritability by her sister's consternation, dismisses Ismene's pleas and warns her to cease, or else she "will loathe [her]" (119). She scorns Ismene's concession to what she perceives as the ephemeral and arbitrary rules of state and emphatically demands that she "shout it [her deed] out" (99), suggesting that a clandestine burial would be proof of submission to Creon's capricious laws.

//**METAPHOR:**// "Yes, there are other fields for him to plough." (627) Creon utilizes this metaphor to dismiss the death of Antigone (his daughter-in-law to be) as he states that "there are other fields for [Haemon] to plow". This not only shows his disregard for women, by referring to them as pieces of property, but also his belief that they have no individuality and are not defined from each other.


 * //PLOT://** The actions and destinies of the different women throughout the play illustrate their hierachial roles in society as well as the level of commitment that they were expected to sacrifice for family. First we see Antigone sacrificing everything in her life (a chance of marriage, mothering children, living a fulfilling life), as well as her life itself, to honor the dead body of her brother, and although Ismene at first refuses to join Antigone in the burial act, she later begs Antigone to allow her (Ismene) to join her (Antigone) in death. Furthermore, we also witness the death of Eurydice by her own hand, who kills herself out of grief for the death of her son (Haemon). Throughout the play, women constantly -and willingly- sacrifice themselves or put themselves in danger to uphold family honor, as if they are only defined by their familial and societal roles rather than individuality.