Antigone Vs Ismene
³Antigone & Ismene² The personalities of the two sisters; Antigone and Ismene, are as different from one another as tempered steel is from a ball of cotton. One is hard and resistant; the otherpliable, absorbing and soft. Antigone would have been a strong, successful 90ıs type woman with her liberated and strong attitude towards her femininity, while Ismene seems to be a more dependent 1950ıs style woman. Antigone acts as a free spirit, a defiant individual, while Ismene is content to recognize her own limitations and her inferiority of being a woman. In the Greek tragedy ³Antigone², by Sophocles; Antigone learns that King Creon has refused to give a proper burial for the slain Polyneices, brother of Ismene and Antigone. Infuriated by this injustice, Antigone shares the tragic news with Ismene. From her first response, ³No, I have heard nothing²(344). Ismene reveals her passivity and helplessness in
Perhaps it is this rashness, more subdued in Ismeneıs case, that leads both sisters to their own destruction. Ismene heroically takes a stand and shares Antigoneıs crime. ³Let me stand beside you and do honor the dead²(358). Nobility shall live in their hearts forever. To my surprise, there is a strange twist in both sisterıs character towards the end of the play. The two sisterıs were crushed by the vindictive Creon, yet they were winners in spirit, in their determination , they died together, as one. To judge from her attitude towards authority and law, Antigone would probably take on any task to preserve family dignity and human justice. Antigone is a fool, she must learn that such defiance, even when justified, is not conductive to longevity. Ismene is more practical ; knowing the task is impossible, she feels the situation to be hopeless. Antigone, not happy with her sisters response chides her sister for not participating in her crime and for her passivity, saying, ³ Set your own life in order²(346). Ismene definitely seems hasty in her acceptance of personal weakness. Although Antigone is foolish, she is also courageous and motivated by her morals. Thus, from the start, Ismene is characterized as traditionally ³feminine², a helpless woman that pays no mind to political affairs.
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