Conflict, Climax and Resolution in Sophocles Antigone Essay -- Sophoc

Conflict, Climax and Resolutionin Antigone Sophocles tragic drama, Antigone, presents to the reader a full-of-the-moon range of conflicts and their resolution after a climax. In Antigone the protagonist, Antigone, is humble and pious before the gods and would non tempt the gods by leaving the corpse of her brother unburied. She is not humble before her uncle, Creon, because she prioritizes the laws of the gods higher than those of manpower and because she feels closer to her brother, Polynices, than she does to her uncle. The drama begins with Antigone inviting Ismene outside the palace doors to tell her privately What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Antigones offer to Ismene (Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?) is apace rejected, so that Antigone must bury Polynices by herself. The protagonist, Antigone, is quickly developing into a rounded character, while Ismene interacts with her as a foil, demurring in t he face of Creons threat of stoning to death as punishment for violators of his edict regarding Polynices. The main conflict thusfar observed is that which the reader sees taking shape between Antigone and the king. Antigone is a religious person who is not afraid of death, and who respects the laws of the gods more than those of men Nay, be what thou wilt but I will bury him well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living in that world I shall plump for for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have established in honour. Ismene is unmoved by the reasoning and sentiments of... ...e pervading themes in Sophocles is the justice of the universe. We are to understand that, in some sense, cosmic justice ultimately prevails (718). WORKS CITED Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York Harcourt Brace College Publish ers, 1999. Segal, Charles Paul. Sophocles Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone. In Sophocles A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by R. C. Jebb. The Internet Classic Archive. no pag. http//classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html Sophocles In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984. Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York Penguin Books, 1974.