There are many elements of tragedy in Sophocles's play Antigone. The most obvious are the characters dying by their own hand. Eurydice, Haimon, and Antigone all kill them selves. Kreon is taken away, presumable to die. This is the obviously tragic portion. Another instance of tragedy occurs when Kreon fails to realize that he has made the wrong decision when Tyresius tells him. He becomes desperate which is very pathetic and tragic. This play is wrought with death and destruction, but what remains intact throughout is the readers emotional connection with the characters. While you may not fully get behind the character's choice to commit suicide, you can understand why they are doing it. You can feel the emotion that is going behind that decision. The emotional aspect, in my opinion is one of the most important aspects of a tragedy. The ancient play is widely regarded as a classic, and the scene where Haimon and Antigone died actually reminded me a lot of another tragedy: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is a lot of death, mostly suicide, in both tales however, you can understand why the events transpire because of the tragic emotion the authors inserted.
RSS Feed