Term paper: Research five critics, explain their perspectives on the character of Antigone. Includes outline, endnotes and bibliography.

OUTLINE

I. Antigone - A Complex Character

A.Committed to Absolute Values

B.Hero and Victim

C.Faith in Religion

D.Persistent Feminist

E.Courageous

II. Antigone - Examined

A.Committed to Absolute Values

1.Refuses to compromise with state

2.Forces father of fiancé to order her execution

B.Hero and Victim

1.Defies Creon

2.is a woman

C.Faith in Religion

1.Wants to obey divine law

2.Puts divine law above human law

D.Persistent Feminist

1.Disobeys regent

2.Never loses hope

E.Courageous

1.Accepts death to prove point

2.Never weakens

III. Antigone - A Final Look

INTERPRETATIONS OF ANTIGONE

In the play "Antigone," written by Sophocles, the main character is named Antigone. Over the years, critics have been divided in their interpretations of her personality and ideals in both negative and positive ways. This term paper discusses many analysis of Antigone through the eyes of various critics.

Charles Seagal views Antigone as a character that not only fights for personal honor and glory, but for the faith she has inside of her, the faith that urges her to give a formal and proper burial to her family members no matter what.

Nikiforos Lytras, Antigone in front of the dead Po...

Antigone by Frederic Leighton, 1882

Oedipe et Antigone

The critic points out that Antigone's choice to bury her brother and the "manner of her death"1 both "constitute a trial of her heroic nature."2 He stresses how she wants to give up her life to defend "the value of family ties."3 The author claims that Antigone strongly believes that family comes first and that her "loyalties are to the family, and to the religious usages in the proper treatment of the dead." 4 Seagal emphasizes her "stubborn, suicidal determination" 5 in defying King Creon. He shows how through the whole ordeal Antigone was strong, and even as her last moments arrive, she seems to use what little fight she has left...