Rosa Chung 2.13.12
Antigone
Essay Ms. Basel
Q. How
Sophocles develops the POV of how Creon’s tendency to be misogynistic links to
his paranoia of damaging his ego, and the effects on the audience.
Within
Antigone, (the third tragedy of a Theban trilogy, written by Sophocles), Sophocles
explores the link between Creon’s misogynistic mindset and his damaged pride through
the use of threatening diction towards Antigone. This creates empathy towards
Antigone, contrasting the consequential growing antipathy towards Creon.
Sophocles also uses the build-up of tension through structure and anaphora to intensify
the conflict between Creon and Haemon, climactically leading to verbal
misogynistic outbursts by Creon; this ultimately portrays how the use of
hurtful phrases towards the female gender acts as a selfish defence mechanism
to protect Creon’s ego.
A
misogynist is one who cultivates hatred for women, shown through his beliefs,
actions, and language. From lines 536-554, Creon delivers a lengthy speech
admonishing Antigone’s attempt at providing burying rituals for her brother,
Polynices. Sophocles amplifies the hateful tone of Creon’s dialogue after
Antigone directly recognizes Creon’s faults as a leader to the public, claiming
that he is a “mere mortal…a fool….(with) wounded pride”. These words are
exchanged in a straight-forward manner, with no hint of respect, as if
Sophocles implies that Antigone feels that Creon is not worth her full effort
and does not feel that he should be treated as his status suggests he should
be. Therefore, it seems as though Antigone is mocking Creon’s rule, rather than
attacking him to justify her actions. This “insolence” infuriates Creon in that
a woman of lower status has not only disobeyed his rule, but has ridiculed his
actions as well. The fact that Antigone has gone against him in public also
puts pressure on Creon as his unnatural concern for his portrayal by the Thebes
is heightened- especially because Thebes is driven by patriarchal ideals, so
the idea of a socially weaker woman challenging a man of power would emasculate
the man if no action was taken.
To
avoid this personal humility, Creon shields his vulnerability with anger, as
Sophocles begins his counter-attack with a provocative, yet rhetorical
question, “No?”, to highlight Creon’s inability to directly respond to Antigone’s
speech (in a way, the diction “no” is a filler to veil Creon’s
speechlessness-implying that Creon recognizes/feels the power of Antigone’s words).
Perhaps this shows that Creon somehow realizes that her words are true, but
refuses to believe so, due to his excessive pride. Therefore, the rest of the
speech is aimed to accuse Antigone of going against Thebes rather than his
private beliefs, explaining to the audience how “this girl…overrode the edicts
WE made public…mocking US”. The use of collective pronouns “we” “us” allows
Creon to assure himself and the audience that he is not personally offended (that his pride is intact), as showing to the
public that one is personally offended/hurt would be considered weak to a man
of high rule and believer of patriarchal ideals, Creon.
Perhaps
the use of Thebes’ power along with his own is to show that Creon himself
cannot go against Antigone alone, but Sophocles hides this weakness with
strong, hurtful diction, as Creon highlights Antigone’s stereotype in a
patriarchal society by calling her a “slave…” (line 534). This word is very
strong and shows the contempt Creon holds for Antigone not only as a woman, but
a sub-servant human, purposely assuring that she is not a risk to his ego
(however this excessive concern suggests Antigone IS somewhat of a risk). This
personal threat is further implied when Creon’s character shames Antigone, “I
am not the man, not now: she is the man”. This phrase isolates Antigone from
the norm of society, entailing that she cannot even be classified as a
woman-that she does not belong in this social order and therefore should be
eradicated as a threat from his ego. Because Antigone does not fit the woman’s
stereotype, Creon may not know how to handle someone who goes against his
patriarchal thought process, and therefore responds in anger to hide his
helplessness. Her crime is also emphasized as it is compared to a crime capable
by a man, inferring that men are able to commit harsher offenses and can
therefore achieve further goals than the average woman in Ancient Greek
culture, as woman are not only stereotypically weaker, but restricted by LAW
from carrying out certain tasks. Therefore, Creon once again stresses Antigone’s
failure to comply with his rule, treating her like a criminal for going against
her womanly stereotype.
However,
the reference of Antigone’s crime being “man(ly)” may hint at the growing
threat Antigone is becoming to Creon. Sophocles’ intentions of giving the title
of man to Antigone and not Creon may be to depict the true power she holds over
Creon in a patriarchal society, as what Antigone has done is stronger and more
intimidating than what Creon wants Thebes to think of his actions. To specify,
Antigone has broken Creon’s very first law of banning Polynice’s burial, and
this may cause Creon to fear Thebans questioning the legitimacy of his rule if
a woman has broken his first edict, as the first ruling is
equivalent to a first impression-Thebans could forever view Creon as an
unsuccessful leader. Therefore, Antigone as a threat to Creon’s pride increases
the paranoia Creon holds of maintaining his status.
The
growing paranoia is paralleled with Creon’s misogyny and anger towards Antigone
through the structure of the continuous dialogue between his character and hers.
As the argument progresses, dialogue between the two becomes shorter,
intensifying the stress of the situation and Creon’s attentiveness to “win”
over Antigone’s responses, as he believes them to be attacks to his ego rather
than valid answers (“brother, yes…) to Creon’s rhetorical questions (Wasn’t
Eteocles a brother too-cut down…?”). Creon’s arguments seem more alert and
without any wholesome meaning (“so disloyal!”), acting as devices to protect
his pride from Antigone’s replies, which are only aimed to consistently argue
her own belief (“not ashamed…to honor my brother…”). Therefore, Creon does not
directly answer Antigone’s questions, but shifts her meaning to an offense at
Creon, responding with misogynistic insults, “no woman is going to lord…over me”,
implying that these insults are only used when Creon feels that he is
threatened and needs to maintain his ego. This contrast of purposeless anger
with passionate resoluteness allows the audience to feel empathy towards
Antigone and antipathy towards Creon.
Creon’s
paranoia is heightened in lines 724-848, when Sophocles creates a dialogue
between father and son (Haemon). At this point, Creon seems desperate in trying
to regain his pride by attempting to persuade his son to follow his father’s
ideals, advising Haemon to “never lose (his) sense of judgement over a woman….it
all goes cold…a worthless woman…” This advice has no clear justification to it,
and is quite biased and illogical. Sophocles may have implied that Creon
becomes more illogical to contrast with the notion that Ancient Greeks founded
the term “logic” and its basis. To go against one of the frames of Ancient
Greek society, Creon’s illogical behaviour suggests that HE does not belong in
his position, much like how he believes Antigone does not fit in the female
stereotype (his pride is hurt by being compared to someone Creon despises) Therefore,
Creon’s paranoia has caused him to become misogynistic without clear reason,
other than to selfishly protect his deteriorating ego (and not, to simply help
his son succeed in his future), leading to a distortion of what aspects to
prioritize (such as family or ego).
However,
Creon’s attempt at influencing Haemon to side against Antigone seems to fail,
as the intensity of misogynistic insults increases as Creon helplessly tries to
make the opposite sex as undesirable as possible, describing Antigone “a misery
in bed…spit her out, like a mortal enemy...I’m going to kill her!” These words
portray women in general as pests rather than people, only providing ephemeral
bouts of pleasure before “it all goes cold”. To call Antigone a “mortal enemy”
implies that Creon is not actually speaking TO his son, but outwardly
confirming his own beliefs-to motivate himself to “kill her” and eradicate his
threat. The use of anaphora “she she… never…never” emphasizes the contempt
Creon holds for Antigone, as if his character is meant to be stuttering out of
anger. The stuttering could also symbolize Creon’s fears, as he personifies “anarchy”,
something Creon thinks of as the “greate(st) crime in all the earth”, or
something he hates and fears, as a “she”. This links the idea of Creon’s
contempt or fear for something with his hatred of women.
The rest of the conversation’s structure
resembles the argument between Antigone in Creon, suggesting that father and
son disagree as much as Creon and Antigone, in that Haemon eventually declares
his loyalty to his fiancé (Antigone) and threatens Creon that “her death will
kill another”, or Haemon himself. As a response, Creon breaks all family
connections and accuses Haemon of being a “woman’s slave”, putting his own son
below what Creon believes is “worthless” (a woman). This accusation is linked
to the devastation that Creon feels in realizing that his own son, a MAN, has
sided with the “mortal enemy”, a woman. This implies that Antigone has
overtaken Creon’s control by winning over his son, a symbol of a father’s pride
in Ancient Greece (therefore at this point, Creon’s pride has been hurt). The
repetition of “slave” (line 534 and line 848) portrays the unwavering
misogynistic behaviour Creon portrays when his ego, in which he is willing to
prioritize his pride over his family.
In
that sense, Sophocles’ descriptions of Antigone and women in general, as told
by Creon, seem to become more exaggerated as dramatic tension within the scene increases,
between Creon and Antigone, Creon and Haemon. This tension is depicted through
the use of harsh diction and anaphora, providing stark contrasts between the
characterization of Creon and his opposers (Haemon & Antigone). Perhaps the
use of misogyny not only acts as an artificial and superficial assurance of an unscathed
ego, but also reveals the fragility of such a supposedly powerful leader, too
consumed in his own pride to understand the harm he commits his own behalf.
