Creon And Antigone: A Comparative Analysis

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For millennia, men have held roles that are characteristically higher status, more public and more powerful than the roles women held. It’s apparent from the times of Antigone all the way to the times of Trifles that women are expected to maintain roles that focus on domestic duties. In both cases the men in power view the women’s duties as less important than their own. Because of the patriarch’s devaluing views of the women’s roles, the women are able to use those views to change their situations; Minnie wright escapes a painful marriage, and Antigone reforms the society's rule through Creon. The outcomes for the women as individuals differ because of how the leaders view the domestic tasks that they do. Creon rejects the domestic duties…show more content…
Creon acknowledges that what antigone has done is seen favorably by the public, and is in line with divine law, but maintains that his law trumps both. This is outlined in the passage said by Antigone “They see it just that way / but defer to you and keep their tongues in leash.”(Sophocles Antigone line 569) where she speaks about the public, to which Creon responds “And you, aren’t you ashamed to differ so from them? So disloyal!”(Sophocles 571) One interpretation is that he is not listening to Antigone and is claiming that she differs from the public in belief of what is right, but it is more likely that he is implying that she differs from the public by failing to keep her tongue in leash (Sophocles 570). This is evident by the lack of objection from Creon and instead his continuation of her point. It is clear then, that the public believes that Creon has made a mistake by making his burial decree, and he is aware of that. This is why he has Antigone killed. Creon’s recognition but rejection of the divine and domestic realms is the principal reason for the difference in fates for Antigone and Minnie…show more content…
Because Creon has absolute power in his society, the way to bring about social change regarding the importance of the role of women is to change his mind. As Creon says to Haemon “The city is the king’s - that’s the law!”(Sophocles line 825). As he holds absolute power, his conviction is indispensable to incite change. To convince him, tragedy strikes his family by Haemon committing suicide, which is characteristic of the form of greek tragedy. The men in Trifles hold more power than the women, but do not hold much more, if any more social status than the other men in the public sphere. It is illustrated in the way the Mrs. Hale speaks of John Wright, saying “he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and Paid his debts.” (Glaspell page 246). He was a man who held about as much power in the public domain as others. Therefore, convincing the lawmen that Minnie Wright’s murder of her husband was just wouldn’t have offered much public leverage even if they decided to go against their professional motivations. The reason they withheld the bird was because they had reached a mutual understanding that these kind of situations would only improve if women took power in the margins that they have been put in. As Suzy Clarkson Holstein points out “Of course, the women's choice to adopt an alternative model of perception can succeed only in silence, but it is

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