AP Lit Prompts Antigone - 998 Words

Introductory Paragraphs for Antigone 2. Antigone violated the laws set forth the land of Thebes by her uncle Creon and planned to defy Creon’s order and bury Polynices. Antigone possesses a remarkable ability to remember the past. Whereas her father Oedipus defies Tiresias, the prophet who has helped him so many times, and whereas he seems almost to have forgotten his encounter with Laius at the three-way crossroads, Antigone begins her play by talking about the many griefs that her father handed down to his children. With such acknowledgment, readers cannot help to sympathize for Antigone. Sympathy not only divides the people of Thebes to want sympathize for the Antigone but want to support the principles of society but also the†¦show more content†¦But Haemon the humanitarian believes that a commitment must be dropped if it goes against the will of the gods and if it results in widespread suffering, pain and misery. 8. Sophocles uses The Chorus as device to evoke certain emotions and reactions in response to the actions of central characters: a direction for the audience. The Chorus reacts to events as they happen, generally in a predictable, though not consistent, way. The Chorus seeks to maintain the status quo, which is generally seen to be the wrong thing. The Chorus is not cowardly so much as nervous and complacent—above all, it hopes to prevent upheaval. a) The chorus questions the wisdom of Antigone’s actions in Antigone (909–962). The final chorus of Antigone, seems on the surface more hopeful as compared to the Chorus of Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus but is actually much more ominous and ambivalent. Antigone ends with a hope for knowledge—specifically the knowledge that comes out of suffering. The audience can agree with and believe in a statement like â€Å"Wisdom is by far the greatest part of joy,† and perhaps feel that Creon has learned from his suffering, like Antigone seemingly did at the beginning of the play. b) The Chrous convinces Creon to set Antigone free and bury Polyneicdes free. Creon agrees yet this â€Å"noble† act is what marks this story a tragedy- even after this