Gender Roles In Antigone

In the play Antigone, men view women as a threat to their masculinity and do whatever they have to in order to silence them. However, the women find ways to speak out anyway. Gender has profound affects on the meaning of Antigone's actions. Creon feels the need to defeat Antigone more so because she is a woman. Antigone's rebellion is especially threatening because it upsets gender roles and hierarchy. By refusing to be passive, she overturns one of the fundamental rules of her culture.

Gender and its roles are exposed in the story of Antigone as the central themes. Roles and rules are set and followed by several people in this era, this is appreciated in this text. Ideas of contradiction to these rules were not explored. In Greek mythology, several women held positions of power, but none of these women were human, making the idea of a powerful woman godlike and unattainable, as if to keep woman in their place, which of course, was always under the rule of the superior gender, the male. To challenge a patriarchy with feminism was dangerous, for both sexes were equally protective of it, leaving the challenger desolate in the battle against it. To rely on women to help other women rebel against this social norm was not probable, in the contrary, women held each other accountable for complying to these rules and punished those who didn’t. Women were their gender’s prevalent critics and suppressors, not only because they feared the repercussions, but since they didn’t have the means to rebel against it.

Misogyny pervades the picture Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Sophocles paint of Athenian society. In their literature, however, female characters catalyze plot by challenging this picture. Such characters--from Sophocles’ Antigone to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata--face grim consequences for acting independently. Clytemnestra and Cassandra from Aeschylus’s Agamemnon exemplify this archetype of autonomy and destruction. When they confront injustice, male characters perceive them as vindictive and hysterical. This paper will compare the standards of justice Aeschylus’s society imposes on men and women. I will argue that Clytemnestra and Cassandra are protectors of divine justice who reject subservience and thereby transcend the sexism of their society.

Throughout Sophocles’ Antigone and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the use of women within the tragedies displays and enforces the omniscient patriarchal society characterized in the plays. In Antigone the main character is a headstrong and courageous teenager who is always at the forefront of the conflict, whereas In Julius Caesar, women play no significant role throughout the tragedy, though ultimately all women in both works are subjected to and ignored by the more “dominant” sex.

Traditional gender roles have stamped a hard to remove label on how a woman is supposed to act within society, and this makes it difficult for them to be looked at differently for the good things they do versus the “good” things they do. In Antigone, Antigone “steps out of line” with the Theban laws. Antigone declares to Ismene that she thinks Creon’s law has much injustice, and she’s going to bury the body of Polyneices because she thinks that her brother should have a fine afterlife (Sophocles 118). This quote is saying that Antigone doesn’t really care too much about Creon’s civil law because she believes that moral laws have a higher level of importance than civil laws. Also, she believes that it’s what the gods would want her to do instead of having his body unburied in the desert. This quote is implying that Antigone is willing to have a bad girl image put on her, even though she will be looked at it in a negative way by her uncle for burying the body of Polynices. This quote relates to the bigger picture because it is a powerful moment for women because it breaks away from social norms because Antigone is going to do something that most people would be shocked by, especially because it’s a WOMAN who is doing something that a man would normally do. While some women choose to do what society believes is right, versus what is morally right. Ismene gently states to Antigone that they are only women, and that they are unfit to deal with the things that men deal with, and that they have to listen to the law because it is greater than Antigone and herself (Sophocles 119). This quote implies that Ismene believes Antigone should not mess with the Creon's law which states that Polyneices' body will not be buried because he is a traitor. The quote suggests that Ismene believes that Antigone should maintain a good girl image by acting like a typical female, so she won't get in trouble by Creon and be outcasted by society. Sometimes being the

Many people might look at Antigone as a brazen woman who rebels against the government, but others feel that she was just doing what was right. Would we think of her differently if she was a man? And does she deserve her bad reputation? Sophocles was a groundbreaking playwright in many ways, especially with Antigone which shows Antigone as a brave soul seeking justice. In Greece, those viewing Antigone were primarily male, due to the fact that most known plays were during festivals for men, which might prove that Sophocles was a man ahead of his time. Antigone is a play written by a man that seems to hint at a women’s place in society and the sexism she might face through Antigone and her sister Ismene, Creon’s harsh quotes and the general way women are treated and referred to.

Just as one stone removed can break a bridge, one flaw can bring a man to ruins. The flaw of one man cannot bring down an entire kingdom, but rather one outlook of the king can lead to the demise of the whole. In Sophocles' epic tragedy, Antigone, a strong gender bias is present throughout the tragedy, and is partially responsible for the downfall of the king.

Sophocles uses the protagonist Antigone in order to portray women as powerful and capable of defeating the obstacles in society. In particular, Creon restraints Antigone by declaring that Polyneices came to “ravage his native land”. His law is significant since it revoked one of the few basic freedoms women were given during this time period. Antigone’s courageous personality motivates her to fight the constraints of society and secretly “lay [her] dearest brother in the grave”(996).

Sophocles, the innovator in Greek tragedy, once said, “Silence is an ornament for women.” An ornament is a thing used to enhance the beauty of something but has no practical purpose. For this purpose, women in Greek drama were portrayed as passive and obedient, who often had no voice in the patriarchal society. Through the character Antigone, who rejects social norms designed specifically for women, Sophocles encourages the reader to reevaluate the societal status of women in the patriarchal society of ancient Greece. Significantly, Antigone flagrantly defies Creon, especially after the death of her brother Polyneices. As the result, Antigone’s defiance differentiates her from typical

The different portrayals of female characters Antigone and Lysistrata illustrate the fundamental nature of the proper Athenian woman. Sophocles' Antigone allows the reader to see that outrage over social injustices does not give women the excuse to rebel against authority, while Aristophanes' Lysistrata reveals that challenging authority in the polis becomes acceptable only when it's faced with destruction through war. Sophocles and Aristophanes use different means to illustrate the same idea; the ideal Athenian woman's ultimate loyalty lies with her polis. This Greek concept of the proper woman seems so vital when considering Athenian society because both a tragedy and comedy revolve around this concept. The differing roles accorded to

Since the ancient greek era, the position of women in society has always been inferior to men. In the classic Greek play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, gender roles influence the effect of play drastically. Antigone not only set herself apart from other women by advocating what she believed was right, but she was accused of breaking the law by doing so, which in turn lead her to her downfall. Although her death was tragic, her actions were honorable and true to the greek gods and people. As a women who disobeyed the laws of a patriarchal society, she paved the way for many women who believe in equality.

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.

One of the major conflicts in the “Antigone” is the struggle between the males and the females. It is explicit that the two genders are involved in deliberate efforts for dominance. In addition, it is evident that the perception that men were meant to dominate the women is paramount. For example, Ismene tells Antigone that even from birth the females "were not born to contend with men" (75), which depicts the women 's subordinate positions in their interactions with the men. Besides, the phrase describes women obedience and their passive nature in the confrontation of the day-to-day activities in the society. The women are displayed as beings whose role is to observe and to have little control over the unfolding events at a given time. Within

Sophocles’ Antigone is the third of the three Theban plays written, but has been considered the first; the play was written in or before 441 B.C. In Antigone, Sophocles uses women as a strong and independent figure of the society. This play is the first to display women differently in a male dominated society. He also uses this play to describe women as able to make their own decisions and capable of living without the attention of males. The play Antigone shows the personalities of three women in society: Antigone, the strong, independent one, Ismene, the weak, traditional one, and Eurydice, Creon’s wife and an older traditional woman. Each character represents a woman’s way of living and what is expected and expected of women. Each of these women display many differences, some being the fine line between good and evil and life and death. Going into depth with each female character, the reader could tell that the differences in each character is not displayed in the others. For example, Ismene’s weakness and Antigone’s strong will. Although strength can be important in the play, there is the bravery and the passion