For many decades, books present us with different characters that impact the course of history and literature. These personas all come with different and unique perspectives that add meat to a story in unexpected ways. Usually the characters with the biggest impacts are the major characters of a story; however, as seen Antigone by Sophocles and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, that concept may not always be the case. Both stories create a unique way of developing their plots: by utilizing their minor characters. The play and the book provide their minor characters, Obierika and Teiresias, impactful roles in the way they serve as the wise, reasonable, and sane personalities that hold the voice of reason in society. No matter how impossible a conflict …show more content…
Things Fall Apart depicts this when Obierika questions why the clan would make “a man suffer so grievously for an offence he had committed inadvertently?” (page 92). During all the rampage of the clans, keeping a sane mind able to think rationally seems entirely impossible. Still, Obierika serves as a light in the darkness that consumes everyone in Umuofia. In a culture led by the impulsiveness of men, a sane mind may come too far in between. Sometimes sane minds are nonexistent in family groups such as the one in Antigone. Teiresias becomes the only person capable of keeping their sanity by the end of the play. In the end, the blind prophet decides to let Creon “waste his fine anger upon younger men,” and let him “learn at last,” (Antigone sc. 5 Lines 877-888). The rational Teiresias choose to leave now and stay sane, rather than chatter with a blind fool. Wise men like Teiresias serve as the characters who are able to think clearly and logically at all times. The normal and sane minds that both minor character posses keep the major characters in the stories from completely destroying
Audience response to a character is key to the true meaning of plays and novels. Through the characters, authors teach valuable lessons. Novelists usually enlist the help of their own voice or a narrator’s voice to guide audience response to a certain character. Writers of plays however rarely use this technique. Euripides for example, who wrote the complex and morally troubling play Medea, uses the setting, comparable characters like Jason and Medea, and a moral compass such as the nurse to guide the reader’s response to Medea and her actions. Even as controversial and evil as Medea seems, Euripides enlists some interesting techniques to make the judgement of Medea much harder than one would expect.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
There were several instances when the characters are given a chance, or experienced humaneness from a stranger. For example, when Gabi was chosen to help Herr Furst, a German engineer, pave roads, Furst noticed the conditions Gabi faced and decided to help Gabi out even if it meant he would be punished for it. He left part of his meal for Gabi almost daily, so that Gabi would have something with nutritional value to eat. According to Gene himself, to this day, he credits his survival to this man, even though he does not know his actual name or anything about him. In another instance, when the girls were walking through the town to their factory, they would often be mocked or made fun of by the townspeople. One day, a man stood up for them, and this gave the women,
In the play Antigone, Creon’s actions contribute to his role as a tragic hero throughout the play. His stubbornness and power is shaping him as a character and develops a plot. Creon fits all the traits of a tragic hero, which is someone from a noble structure who makes a mistake which leads them to their destruction. Antigone the child of Oedipus, has conflicts with Creon and her decision to bury her brother upsets him.Creon has too much power and stubbornness, pride to think right and bumps heads with Antigone in the play, that issue develops a theme throughout the play. Antigone thinks differently and her words, actions contrast with Creon and contributes to Creon as a tragic hero. Antigone decisions and her relationship with Creon develops a central theme.
The play “Antigone” tells a classic Greco-Roman tale involving the pursuit of love and power. The two most prominent characters (Antigone and Creon) both have a great desire- an end goal. Creon strives to be the most dominant and beloved ruler in Thebes, whereas Antigone wishes to undermine his power and receive justice for her brother. Their “love for the impossible” conflicts each other, and these desires prove to be the downfall of each character.
When the title of a play is a character's name, it is normally assumed that the character is the protagonist of the play. In Sophocles' Antigone, most people probably believe Antigone to be the tragic heroine, even after they have finished watching the play. It may be argued, however, that Creon, not Antigone, is the tragic character. When we examine the nature and concept of the Greek Tragedy and what it means to be a tragic character, it becomes clear that Creon is indeed the tragic hero of the play Antigone.
In the modern play @Antigone and Oedipus the king “ the author uses some literary elements and techniques to make the play mysterious and obscure.
Antigone is one of the greatest Greek tragic plays by Sophocles. The play portrays two main characters, Antigone and Creon, who undergo tragedy in the play. Various arguments have been put forth regarding who amongst the two characters is the actual tragic hero in Sophocles’ Antigone. A number of people are for the idea that Creon qualifies since he does possess the real characteristics of what tragedy is all about, while numerous others believe that Antigone is the actual hero in tragedy because Antigone is the title of the play. Critic Robert Heilman defines “tragedy” as “the situation in which the divided human being faces basic conflicts, perhaps rationally insoluble, of obligations and passions; makes choices, for good or for evil; errs knowingly or involuntarily; accepts consequences; comes into a new larger awareness; suffers or dies, yet with a larger wisdom”. Basing on this exemplified definition of tragedy, Antigone happens to be the perfect example of tragedy in the play. Antigone is a character who has tragic flaws that assist in her downfall, however with strong will and braveness.
Unlike most Greek tragedies, Antigone is not essentially about the opposing powers of good and evil. Instead, the play demonstrates the conflict between one’s duty towards their family and their country and social expectations. “Antigone presents a conflict between family loyalty and loyalty to the state, between demands of the state and the will of the individual” (MacKay, 166). The king
In Auburn University’s production of the play Antigone by Jean Anouilh, the cast depicts the story of the young and spirited girl, Antigone, and her journey to death. While the story line of the famous Antigone is an intriguing one, I am here to talk about the concepts and ideas I found behind this particular production. Some of the aspects that made a memorable performance include the settings, design, and dialogue.
Perspective. It is something you see through your glasses. It is also something that depends on your peripheral vision. It is something that either speaks truth or spills lies. But most importantly, it is something that is perceived and interpreted differently in anyone’s eyes, open or shut, wandering or still, at any place, and at any time.
Sophocles’s tragedy, “Antigone,” was originally written around 441 B.C. and is the third of his three Theban plays. However, after considering the elements and themes depicted in the play such as power and the role of women and femininity, we came to the consensus that theses aspects can be pertinent in modern society. Thus this play can be modernized and can be enhanced utilizing several creative approaches like the use of technology or indulging in contemporary sensibilities that allow an audience to understand the essence of the play through a modern lens. King Creon of Thebes embodies the theme of power and its ability to corrupt an individual. When Oedipus dies his brother inherits the throne of Thebes and the authority that comes with
The literary pieces that I chose for my Final Project, I am the classic play written by Euripides, Medea by Euripides constructed in 431 B.C. and All My Sons written by Arthur Miller in 1947. The propose of this paper is to analyze the classical work of Medea and the contemporary work, All My Sons, for their particular storytelling components, themes and the assessment and narrative choices that the authors utilized as it connects to the literary convention of their time period. In addition, I will discuss the likenesses and differences of these two plays with respects to characterization, narrative choices, themes, and literary conventions.
Just about everyone has heard the cliche that violence is never the answer, but some literature brings it to new heights. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about a village in west Africa of Igbo people who eventually become taken over by the British. The story is mainly told through one of the central characters, Okonkwo, whose hotheadedness and lack of understanding for other’s faults lands him in a world of hurt, ending with his suicide. The theme that forceful actions rarely have positive outcomes is strongly expressed throughout the novel from the very beginning to the final pages. Achebe presents this theme through the use of three literary devices: point of view, conflict, and setting.
Antigone and Alceste are both eccentrics gifted on changing social morality. Throughout their individual plays, both characters demonstrate through the tone and structure of the plays their thematic ideas that they stand for. Throughout this essay, I will dig into the plays and display how the plays and their themes help make them effective characters as well as I like.