Anouilh's Antigone, 4

motivation of characters:

Each tragic character is motivated by something different. Oedipus is motivated by his curiosity to know the truth about his past. Antigone in Sophicles' version is motivated by her commitment to her family in honoring them and dying with them. This motivation is similar to that of Antigone in Anouilh's version. However, Medea is motivated by her own emotions, her lust for revenge and her desire to show her dominance over Jason and the city.

fate is what controls the characters:

Oedipus is the obvious example of fate; he cant alter his foreseen future. Medea on the other hand seems to have that power but regardless of her actions she is still destined to a life of pain and grief. Both Sophicles' and Anouilh's Antigones are controled by a diffrent kind of fate. They make the choice to bury their brother and there for are destined to die but they see no other alternative and believe it is their duty to go through with it. There isn't any other option so in that sense they are controled by a fate outside of their control.

Anouilh's Antigone, 3

• During Creon and Antigone's argument Anouilh uses the idea that the townspeople are seen as animals or beasts from Creon's point of view throughout the passage. This characterizes Creon as a king and also shows his idea about how he should lead the people. The metaphor suggests that the people are belittled and viewed as unsivilized by Creon. It also suggests that Creon has the power to control them and that they are not cappable of seeing through his lies.

character discription

The Gaurd:

He is motivated by two things: greed and his fear of death. The gaurd who speaks to Creon first is portrayed as a cowerdly boy who only came because he lost a coin toss. "We flipped a coin and i came right over" (22). The fact that the three garuds flipped a coin to decide who would tell Creon the bad news indicates that they are all scared he will kill them for their insubordination and that they are scared of death. Later we see the gaurd's selfish side when he pleads to Creon that he would not be punished if the two other gaurds spoke about the body being buried. He didn't seem to care about whether or not the other gaurds were punished as long as he would be spared from the punishment.

The motivation of the gaurd serves in characterizing him in the story. It contrasts his selfish views with those of Antigone's to add depth to the story.

Anouilh's Antigone, 2

4 Literary Techniques and their Effects (or how they Affect the play)

1. Imagery/Metaphors of Antigone and cute-harmless things: "A little young for what, my kitten" (14). The use of a kitten to describe Antigone is how Anouilh characterizes the nurse and her view of Antigone. It can also be a portrayal of how the city people view Antigone; A harmless little baby, fragile, and cute.
2. Metaphor of Ismene as fruit: "She's like fruit" (17). This metaphor portrays to teh audiance how Antigone views her sister. She compares her to fruit to make her seem sweet, desierable, and beutiful.
3. Parallel Structure: "We love you, we are alive, we need you" (19). Draws atention to Ismene's words and creates a depth and structure to the rebutal of Antigone's desire to bury her brother. Ismene uses the ideas that Antigone's family loves her, that they are smart and still alive, and that they need Antigone, they dont want to live without her. This literary technique is used to get the audiance to sympathize with Ismene's point of view.
4. Metaphor of tragedy and a machine: "The machine is in perfect order; it has been oiled ever since time began, and it runs without friction" (23). The image of a machine in context with the topic of tragedy portrays it as unstoppable, inevittable, and purposful.

Anouilh's Antigone, 1

In the 1940's Europe was either in one of the biggest and most destructive wars in history or in the economic depretion which followed the destruction of the infustructure in many of the countries. The Nazi's views and methods of control lead Europe through a very dark period of time. People followed the Nazi party's beliefs because if they didn't they knew that they could be very severely punished. There was a lot of fear and deception in Europe and it took the rest of the world's combined efforts to stop the Nazi reign and fix the problems.

Europes history will probubly influence the characterization of the central characters (Creon more dictoral, Antigone more rebelious, etc...). It may also influence how these characters make their dicisions and what they decide to do. The plot may also be shifted in certain minor ways to reflect that period of time.

Antigone, character cast

Antigone:

• "He has no right to keep me from my own" (61)
• "For my dear brother" (63)
• "I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone" (87)

actor: Mrs. Frizzle (from The Magic School Bus); She would wear traditional greek clothing and have long, brown, braided hair.

personality: Strong morals, looks out for the people she cares about. Also fearless and will do anything for the people she cares about.

Ismene:

• "But defy the city? I have no strength for that" (63)
• "Oh my sister, think" (62)
• "What do I care for life cut off from you" (87)

actress: Looking for a slender female with a loving heart but not strong will power. Relys on the people close to her for happiness and guidence but beleves firmly in the law of the land and not breaking the rules.

Creon:

• "Never lose your sense of judgment over women" (93)
• "The city is the king's- thats the law" (97)
• "Don't flatter me with father - you women's slave" (99)

actor: looking for a heavy set male in his thirties who believes in male dominace and specific gender rolls. Also a fearless leader who enjoys being in control of a group of people. Someone who believes in justice and that their word is justice, not afraid to punish rebels.

Haenmon:

• "It isn't a question of age but of right and worng"
• "Its no city at all, owned by one man alone"

actor: Obama; he is loyal to justice and his country. Respects authority but believes in a people's country. Loving of his family and if he was younger it would work perfectly.

Antigone, 2

Knowlege:

1. Who is Antigone's husband?
2. What was Antigone's sentence for the crime?

Comprehension:

1. How is Creon related to Antigone?
2. Why was the Sentry so happy to turn Antigone into Creon?

Application:

1. What makes Creon say that Antigone is not acting like a women and more like a man?
2. What is Creon trying to accomplish in killing Antigone and Ismene?

Analysis:

1. What is Ismene's motivation for claiming she commited the crime with Antigone even though she didn't and had originally refused to?
2. How is Antigone a tragic character? how is Haenmon a tragic character?

Synthesis:

1. How do Antigone and Oedipus relate? How do Haenmon and Jocasta relate?
2. How does the author use the leader/ chorus to evoke pity and fear in the audiance?
3. How does the author use character contrasts and plot to develop the idea of gender rolls?

Evaluation:

1. What insight about Sophicles' outlook on Gender Rolls is portrayed through character foils in Antigone? How does this relate to other greek plays and their outlooks on gender rolls?
2. Contrast themes in Oedipus and Antigone; what idea does the author portray by contrasting these themes?
3. How does Oedipus' fate relate to that of his sons and his daughters? Is it the same or diffrent and how? What idea does this create?

Medea, 3 and Antigone, 1

Medea and Oedipus:
Both in Medea and in Oedipus the authors use similar tagic heros as the main characters. Medea is similar to Oedipus in that they both bring on their own downfall. Medea made a bad decision when she chose to leave her home with Jason and killed her brother in order to do so. By abandoning her home she left herself without a place to return to and by murdering her brother she rid herself of any firends she had in her native land. Oedipus brought on his own downfall when he left what he thought to have been his parents and on his journy killed a caravan of people of which unbenounced to him his real father was a part.

The two plays are also similar in that they are designed to purge their audiance of certain emotions, in particular fear and pity. They do this by arrosing the emotions through the play's plot and characters and setting an example of what certain emotions can do to a person. They make the expiriance of fear and pity a painfull one for the audiance. Because it is a painfull expiriance it discourages the emotions of fear and pity.

Antigone literary devices and effects (pg 59-76):
1) Motif seperating the dead from the living: The effect created is that still have purpose and significance but are thought of and treated diffrentely.
2) Metaphor of the country being a ship raveged by the gods on the high seas: idea that they are controled by fate and the city is in their troubles together. Powerless to make changes or decisions about the future.
3) Isemne says, "not since the two of us were robbed of our brothers" (59): The word choice of the verb robbed implys that the brothers were taken by someone or something in a literal or figurative way. Its interesting because we know that they killed each other so Ismene must be blaming something: fate, the gods.

Medea,2

In the greek tragedy Medea the two contending characters have two very different outlooks on the role that gods play in their lifes. Medea who is the daughter of the son of Helios the god of the sun believes that she is closser to the gods than other people and talks to them as if she could influence their decisions and actions. Jason however speaks of the gods and fate as if is at their mercy like most other people of Greece.
Medea seems like she has control over her decisions and her future because of the way she talks to the gods. The first example of this is when she refrences Zeus, "O Zeus, remember the author of this crime" (43). She is refering to Zeus as a judge and trying to convince him to think the way she wants him to. She is trying to persuade him that Jason is the one at fault. The second example of this behavior is when she rejects the gods, "O you gods-not for me-ever" (52). Medea believes she is in control of her own future and she is rejecting the idea that the gods govern her life. Unlike other characters she does not blame the gods for choosing an evil fate for her she blames the decisions she made in the first place and the people who betrayed her.
Jason and his new family see the gods in a diffrent light. They think the gods chose their fate and therefore use them as scapegoats for blaming their trouble on. Creon runs his daughters side as she dies and says, "O gods!... let me die with you, my daughter" (70). Creon is asking the gods to manipulate his fate not trying to convice them to do so. He does not believe it is in his power to change his future and therefore he must ask for it to be changed. Jason thinks of the gods in the same way as his new family, "and the gods have unleashed the fiend in you on me" (74). Jason blames the gods for his troubles not his decision to find a second wife.