Antigone

For the most part, I adore Antigone. Surely she is a symbol for feminism in her clash against her misogynist uncle Creon. And certainly, Antigone should be admired for her role in becoming a martyr and giving up her womanly duties to take on a more masculine role, something Creon cannot handle. Plus, the poor girl is giving up her wedding and her wedding night which I think is terribly admirable. However, there is one line in Antigone that absolutely ruins it for me.

As Antigone enters into her great speech of her last goodbye she addresses her brother she is dying for and says, "I would not do [this] for a child, were I a mother, not for a husband either. Let them lie, putrefied, dead; I would not defy the city at such cost for their sake."(905-908). I cannot understand this! Sure, Polyneices is her brother, family, but her husband and child should be considered the same. Furthermore, the child would be born from her, her flesh and blood, and I do not understand this dismissal. I understand it is just one line but one may argue that Socrates' famous "an unexamined life is not worth living" quote is also merely one line when we all know it certainly is not.

This is my one fault with Antigone.