Post by jqueller9 on Sept 28, 2011 11:22:41 GMT -5
Antigone ultimately welcomes her death in Scene IV of Antigone because it grants her the opportunity to expose the pride and unjustness of Creon’s rule. By capitalizing on the common man’s grief about her death, she attempts to manipulate the common man into resenting Creon. Immediately after Choragos proclaims that he cannot “keep back [his] tears,” Antigone calls attention to herself, saying, “look upon me, friends, and pity me.” Her command for the public to look at her employs visual imagery to highlight the emotions attached to a woman being led to her death; this tactic is an attempt to invoke indignation that a man could force a woman to “that cold shore.” Antigone is trying to save herself, but if she is to die, she would endeavor to transform tragedy into triumph by taking her perpetrator with her; she later says, “May [Creon’s] punishment equal my own.”
However, even when Antigone realizes the Chorus is unsympathetic to her case, she continues to decry Creon, claiming he “unjustly judged” her. As tensions build between Antigone and the Chorus, the Chorus asserts that “strength lives in established law.” This statement signals the end of Antigone’s pleas for mercy and the beginning of her requests for imminent death; Antigone now accepts her death, as she recognizes that despite Creon’s prideful laws, the common man’s obedience to the king is absolute and she does not have the power to amend his loyalty. Yet she continues to criticize Creon, which demonstrates that her interests extend beyond simply preserving her life. Though she is about to die, Antigone assumes the role of the reformer and continues to appeal to the common man when she says, “As men’s hearts know, I have done no wrong.” This is Antigone’s way of encouraging the common man to rebel against unjust human law, as she did. Though she initially hoped to survive, Antigone recognizes that her death will permanently embed her rebellion against common law into the common man’s memory. “You will remember what things I suffer, and at what men’s hands.” Her death also forces Creon’s brutality to be immortalized. After giving her best efforts to empower the common man and expose Creon’s dictatorship, Antigone can “wait no longer.”
However, even when Antigone realizes the Chorus is unsympathetic to her case, she continues to decry Creon, claiming he “unjustly judged” her. As tensions build between Antigone and the Chorus, the Chorus asserts that “strength lives in established law.” This statement signals the end of Antigone’s pleas for mercy and the beginning of her requests for imminent death; Antigone now accepts her death, as she recognizes that despite Creon’s prideful laws, the common man’s obedience to the king is absolute and she does not have the power to amend his loyalty. Yet she continues to criticize Creon, which demonstrates that her interests extend beyond simply preserving her life. Though she is about to die, Antigone assumes the role of the reformer and continues to appeal to the common man when she says, “As men’s hearts know, I have done no wrong.” This is Antigone’s way of encouraging the common man to rebel against unjust human law, as she did. Though she initially hoped to survive, Antigone recognizes that her death will permanently embed her rebellion against common law into the common man’s memory. “You will remember what things I suffer, and at what men’s hands.” Her death also forces Creon’s brutality to be immortalized. After giving her best efforts to empower the common man and expose Creon’s dictatorship, Antigone can “wait no longer.”