Friday, September 21, 2007

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What is the role of love in the play?

The power of love is one of the main mechanisms that drives the story along. It has an immense effect on the conclusion of the tragedy. Antigone knows she is sacrificing her life if she gives her brother, Polynices, his last proper respect. Despite the consequences, she still buried her brother. The motive of her action is out of the love and compassion she reserves for Polynices. Antigone’s death reflects a domino effect to the rest of Creon’s family. His son, Haemon, ended his own life when he heard that his fiancée committed suicide. Haemon must feel empty without his fiancée. The absence of her love left a hollow space in his heart. This loss will clearly affect him in a negative way as he says, “Then she will die…but her death will kill another” (99). After finding news on Haemon’s death, his mother decided to join in his footsteps. She secretly killed herself. It is obvious the reason for her action is the agape love she attains for her son. The three deaths also represent the different types of love in human beings. The loves of all human’s heart desire include the following: a mother and son, a sister and brother, and a husband and wife love. The fact that Creon is left alone, with no family member, reveals how love has abandoned him.

Is Creon’s punishment as fair as that of Oedipus?

The story of Oedipus Rex concluded with Oedipus destroying his eyes. He hopes to isolate himself from the rest of the world. He also lost his mother, the person whom he loves very much. His punishments include the following:

First, Oedipus has to endure the physical pain he has inflicted on himself.
Second, he lost his mother/wife, the most important person in his life.
Third, he has to live in remorse for the nefarious deeds he has committed.

Creon’s punishment does not involve physical pain. He did not inflict physical torturing on himself. Instead, it is his mentality that slowly destructs his soul. His one irrational mistake caused the lives of three people. He lost his wife, his son, and his daughter-in-law. These dear people are his family. As they head into the underworld, they take along their loves. Creon must now live as a loner with no love, sympathy, nor respect. He has to live to blame himself for the destruction of his own family. Another price he has to pay for his actions is the family’s blood line. Now that his only son died, Creon has no successor to carry out his heir. This issue is more excessive than that of Oedipus’s. Although Oedipus lost a family member and his eye sight, he still has his children to continue the ruling. On the other hand, Creon is left with empty hands. In all, Sophycles made a balanced scale of punishment for both parties. One suffers physical pain, while the other endures emotional pain.

(510)

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