Essay/Term paper: Antigone: civil disobedience

Essay, term paper, research paper:  English Literature Essays

Antigone: Civil Disobedience


The short play, Antigone, was written in 441 B.C. by the Greek playwright
Sophocles. It deals with some of the most basic problems that affect a society.
One of them is Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience both a right and
responsibility of a person to fight an unjust law.
Government is given the right to control a group of people by the people
composing the group. If an individual has a problem with an injustice they feel
has been placed against them, then they have a right to convey this. Civil
Disobedience allows one to convey their thoughts and ideas in a passive,
nonviolent way. It can be used when one believes that they are morally right,
and that others will agree with them. Antigone conveys this thought when she
tells, "No one will ever convict me for a traitor" (Page 61). In a nonviolent
from, Civil Disobedience is a basic human right.
Often society has laws that individuals feel is immoral, or unjust.
Antigone decided to bury Polynices, for she was obeying the gods, even though it
was declared illegal by Creon. "Look on me, you noble sons of Thebes- the last
of a great line kings, I alone, see what I suffer now at the hands of breed of
men- all for reverence, my reverence for the gods!" (page 106) This quote
illustrates how Antigone believed that the power of the gods was greater than
the power of any king. If she had obeyed Creon, she would have disobeyed the
stronger power of the gods which could have had more of a devastating result on
her.
Antigone shows us, thru Civil Disobedience, that breaking some of
societies laws is both a right and responsibility.