Antigone’s tragic flaw is that she is too passionate and strong-willed for her own good. She insists on burying her brother, Polyneices, even when the king forbade it. When asked why she ignored his demand Antigone replied, “I dared. It was not God’s proclamation” (783, 64-65). Antigone is telling Creon that rather than listen to his man made laws that she would rather follow the higher authority of the God’s.
In Sophocles’ Antigone, the main character Antigone chose to disobey Creon’s edict and bury her brother. She did this because she wanted to respect her brother’s dignity and rights as a human being. Antigone states that she would rather be caught betraying her king than betray her dead brother. She shows her loyalty when she states that “I won’t be caught betraying him… I’ll do my duty to my brother.” (Antigone 58-59) After hearing Antigone say this – her sister, Ismene, states that they should not disobey the king and not go through with burying Oedipus. Ismene’s argument was that “we must remember that by birth we’re women, and, as such, we shouldn’t fight with men.” (Antigone 77-78) Antigone with such a passion of honoring her brother states that no matter what, she will follow through with her mission.
As Antigone fights against the authority to bury polynecies she comes into conflict with her uncle, Creon. Creon decides that she is to be punished even though she is family. He also gives her a chance to say that it wasn’t her, but she takes pride in the honor of her brother, and pride in the struggle that she went through to stay faithful to her family. This leads to conflict between her and Creon which diminishes their relationship “I intend to give my brother burial. I’ll be glad to die in the attempt,-- if it’s a crime, then it’s a crime that God commands.” This is stated by Antigone and it is showing that she would give her life to stay loyal to her family and to give her unburied brother the proper
Jocasta’s Beliefs: Jocasta does not want to believe that Oedipus is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Her belief in the idea that man can change his fate is challenged as she discovers that Oedipus is truly her son and he in fact killed his
Antigone believes that without burying her brother he will not have a good after-life. Antigone even goes as far as burying him twice. Antigone is more admirable in that she is not selfish. She cared for her brother so much that she would go through all this trouble to give him a good after-life. She wanted to marry Haimon but sacrificed this to bury her brother.
Ismene wants Antigone to accept Creon's decree regarding their brother. In her opinion, women should not interfere with man's laws and that a subservient mind is best applied to men in general which she bases on the “fact” that men are stronger than women. Antigone, being the strong willed woman that Ismene isn’t, ignores her sister and continues on her objective. Even though Ismene is disregarded by Antigone, she still attempts to help her (she does not help in burying the body, but she insists on sharing the blame with Antigone. Ismene's conflict revolves around both her sister Antigone and Uncle Creon.
The first thing we experience as an audience is the burial controversy. Although the proper burial of her brothers body was forbidden, Antigone’s moral standards would not allow or such a thing. Her sister, Ismene warned her it is not her responsibility as a woman to “aim too high, too far.” Antigone admitted to her guilt with honesty which might just have been her tragic flaw. And she did not allow her sister to take blame neither, sparing one life. Perhaps, because she saved one life, the rest would have to fall.
Creon cares about his son so much he doesn’t want Haemon to marry Antigone just because she broke the law. Creon says, “You will never marry this side of death.”(646) Creon cares mostly about his family and don’t Haemon to marry a women that did something bad. Creon is doing the right thing for his son so he can live a better life than marrying a woman that broke the law. Creon also says, “No son of mine shall web so vile a creature.”(486) Haemon tries so hard to convince her father to let him marry her but Creon is stopping him. He cares about her wife, Eurydice, as well because Creon wanted to suicide when he saw his son and wife died in scene 8.
Laertes is Claudius’s right hand man and if he got hold of the information that Hamlet is faking insanity, he would unquestionably report it to the king and that will foil Hamlet’s quest for revenge in the future. Ophelia always complies with her father as she follows his advice in matters of Hamlet as she denies Hamlet’s visits and refuses his letters. Thus, Hamlet should make Ophelia believe that he has lost his sanity for his plan to work out and that wouldn’t be possible if he marries Ophelia. To add on, Ophelia’s devoted obedience to her father makes Hamlet allege that Ophelia is deceptive and unfaithful. Hamlet is angry with Ophelia and in rage, he tells her that her beauty is dishonest and that he did love Ophelia once and at the same time, he never did.
Should he comply with the patriarchal order, he must either oppose his mother and take the throne, or dishonor his father by accepting his uncle as his mother’s husband. By accepting Patriarchy he must acknowledge that Ophelia can never be his because her father demands it, or accept that Ophelia should not think or feel or do anything for herself. In essence, he can lover her and not be with her or he can hate her and own her. 1.) Welshimer Wagner, Linda.