How does Creon’s misogynistic character lead him to a tragic abandonment?

Antigone Essay

Cathy VO

After Haemon’s entrance in the play, Creon’s long speech to him consists of two main things; men are better than women and Antigone must die. In the beginning of the play, we have the sense that Creon is a misogynist but it is only till now that the reader can see the extent to how much he despises women. The first advice that Creon gives to Haemon is to “never lose your sense of judgement over a woman” – this is appointed to all women in general and how Haemon should not be any less self-assured around a woman’s presence or love. Next, Creon says he “caught her in naked rebellion” which’s clearly directed at Antigone only. ‘Naked’ and ‘rebellion’ contrast each other when put in the same sentence because ‘naked’ symbolises fragility and defenceless while ‘rebellion’ has connotations of fearless, bravery and heroic but when put together, Creon shapes what Antigone did to be an embarrassing revolt rather than a courageous one. Though, one might interpret it differently and say that it doesn’t sound embarrassing but more like a triumph because ‘naked’ suggests that Antigone is not afraid to be unprotected and go out there by herself to do what she believes is right. Hence, this thought suggests that Antigone’s sexuality actually intimidates Creon and that she might be braver than he can ever be so in his self-driven motivation to be the strongest and most powerful man in Thebes, he has her killed to eliminate his ‘competitor’. Sophocles’ use of emotive language builds up tension throughout the play and for the reader, it creates an expectation that something tragic will happen to Creon, like the proverb, “A man’s character is his fate” by Heraclitus; hence Creon’s misogynistic character will be the cause of his abandonment.

Moreover, Creon’s determination to have Antigone killed is so strong that he would “let her cry for mercy, sing her hymns to Zeus who defends all bonds of kindred blood”. In Greek beliefs, everyone deserves to have a proper burial and if someone decides to go against it, the Gods will be angry and punish that person. In this case, Creon is doing what exactly is considered to be disrespectful to the Gods, yet he isn’t scared of the consequences. If Zeus is provoked, he would use his lightning to punish Creon but it is as though Creon is challenging him to that and going against his rules. This foreshadows how Creon will be penalised later on. Also, the fact that he would let a princess “cry for mercy” even though what she did was right; it highlights how Antigone’s gender makes her ‘crime’ even worse and her punishment the worst. The mentioning of Zeus here is very significant as it acts as a prophecy to the ending of the play where the ‘bonds’ of Creon’s ‘kindred blood’ are all broken and Zeus as a defender of that should stop it from happening, however, he does not help Creon.

Finally, the extent to how misogynistic Creon is is shown through the phrase “...there are other fields for him to plow.” A misogynist is a person who cultivates a hate for women, usually displayed by their beliefs, actions and use of language hence this quotation has a sexist tone to it and it is ironic how there are actually no other fields for him to ‘plow’ as he died with Antigone. Sophocles’ use of powerful diction increases the dramatic tension between each character and foreshadows how that tension will rupture causing destruction to the noble family.