نمايشنامه هاي انگليسي Antigone

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The Chorus’ distinction between good and evil is too simplistic in nature, and will soon be proved wrong. The Chorus indulges in moralistic preaching and displays certain prejudices. Antigone may have broken the law of the state, but she is still in the right. Despite the buoyant mood of the choral song in praise of man, the mention of Death’s presence changes the tone. It is a harbinger of things to come. And soon enough, the leader of the Chorus tells of the arrest of the “girl Antigone.” Now the play is on the threshold of tragedy.

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Lines 381- 444
The Second Episode:
The Watchman, Antigone and Creon
Summary
The watchman enters, bringing along with him Antigone, his prisoner. He announces that it is Antigone who has committed the crime by burying her dead brother and now demands to meet the king.
Creon enters and inquires into the matter. The watchman tells him that the first judgment is often proved wrong by subsequent reflection. He had thought that after the threats he received from Creon the first time, he would never again wish to come to the palace. But now he has come willingly, bearing Antigone as his prisoner. She has been: “Caught in the act of caring for the dead.”
This time there was no need to cast lots, and the watchman came voluntarily to bring the news to Creon. He asks Creon to examine and judge Antigone. The watchman wishes to be free and to get away from “ the bad business” that he has become a part of because of his duty as a guard.

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At first Creon cannot believe that Antigone is responsible for the deed, but he is soon persuaded by the watchman’s detailed explanation as to how Antigone was apprehended. After the burial that took place on the previous night, the guards had once again laid bare Polynices’ body, according to Creon’s orders. While they were keeping watch over the corpse in the heat of the noon, there suddenly arose “a whirlwind from the ground.” A dust-storm ensued and the sentinels were forced to shut their eyes to keep out the dust. When the storm had ceased and the sentries had opened their eyes, they saw the girl, Antigone, who cried aloud “in high and bitter key” when she saw that her brother’s body was, once more, laid bare. Antigone cursed the guards for undoing her deed of the previous night. Then she took a jar of brass and from it poured three libations (offerings of liquid to the gods), in honor of her dead brother.

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When they saw this, the guards rushed towards Antigone and seized her. They charged her with the “crime” of attempting to bury her brother’s body. Antigone denied nothing, recalls the watchman. He is now both delighted and saddened: delighted, because he has escaped Creon’s wrath and is now free to go, and saddened, because he has drawn “a friend” (Antigone) into distress. However, he concludes that his own well-being is more important to him than that of anyone else.
Creon asks Antigone whether she will confess to the deed or deny it. Antigone asserts that it is she who has done this deed. Creon bids the watchman to depart. He readily does so and seems quite disconcerted about his role in the tragedy.

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Notes
The plot moves with renewed vigor in this scene. Antigone has been arrested while trying to give her brother a decent burial for the second time. The watchman at first claims to be delighted to have discovered the real culprit, for he is now absolved of the charge of breaking Creon’s law. The real “culprit” is Antigone. Even Creon appears to be amazed to find that it is Antigone who has broken his law. He obviously did not expect a mere girl to defy him.

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Once again the watchman plays the part of a messenger, reporting to Creon (and the audience or readers) how Antigone came to be arrested. The sand-storm that descended on the sentinels at noon is taken to be a sign of the rage of the gods. It is, in the watchman’s own words, “the God-sent evil.” After the dust had settled, the watchman recalls how Antigone made a dramatic appearance near the corpse and attempted to bury it in accordance with the religious rites of ancient Greece. Antigone had obviously come well-prepared for the rites of burial, for she carried with her a brass jar containing holy water. She submits meekly to the guards once they discover her.
Towards the end of his speech, the watchman admits that he is sorry to have brought in Antigone as a prisoner, for she is “a friend in distress.” Antigone is obviously admired and well-liked by the watchman, but he prefers not to speak out against Creon and escapes with his own life. Creon soon dismisses him, but not before he has begun the interrogation of his niece, Antigone

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Lines 445-523
The ‘Agon’ OR Debate between Antigone and Creon
Summary
This scene continues the action of the previous scene without a break. Creon and Antigone are the two main characters left on the stage along with the Chorus. After Creon has sent away the watchman, he turns to Antigone and asks her if she was aware of his decree concerning Polynices’ body. Antigone curtly responds in the affirmative. Creon then demands to know why she dares to disobey the edict he had laid down.
Antigone replies that the law Creon has made is not the law of heaven, nor is it a law that is in any way just. She asserts that the gods have laid down laws for human beings to follow. Antigone does not believe that Creon, a mere mortal, can issue edicts that defy the “infallible, unwritten laws of Heaven.”

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Antigone reminds him that the laws of heaven have been in existence from time immemorial. Nobody can claim to know when they were first framed and set down. Antigone does not want to incur the wrath of the gods by breaking their divine laws only because they clash with the man-made laws of the state. She is aware that she has to die one day, and it does not matter if she dies young. In fact, she prefers an early death, as she has lived a life of “boundless woe.”
Antigone is not afraid or saddened by the prospect of her own death. However, she declares that she could not allow her “own mother’s child” (her brother, Polynices) to lie in the open without a proper burial. She taunts Creon by telling him that if he calls her a fool for committing the deed, then she is foolish only “in the judgment of a fool,” the “fool” being Creon

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The Chorus admires Antigone’s fierce resolve and courage in the face of calamity. But Creon is confident that Antigone’s self- assurance will soon break down. He asserts that the strongest bar of steel which has been hardened by a long process in the fire is often shattered to pieces afterwards. He brands Antigone a criminal and remarks that she has added insolence to her crime by laughing off her offense and appearing to “glory in it.” Creon declares that he cannot let Antigone go free on the pretext that she is a woman. He must prove his manliness and new-found powers by punishing her for the “crime” she has willfully committed. Nor will he spare her because she is his sister’s daughter

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Creon now states that Ismene, Antigone’s younger sister, is a “co- partner in this plotted funeral.” He considers her equally guilty of the “crime,” and he summons Ismene to appear before him. He claims to have seen her recently, walking around the palace in a frantic manner, like a person who is scheming to undertake some devilish plot. He believes that Ismene’s disturbed spirit is a sure sign of her guilt although she has not been caught in the act of committing the deed. Creon promises that the two sisters shall surely be given the “worst of deaths” by the state.
Antigone asks Creon whether he wants more from her than her life. When Creon replies that he claims only her life, Antigone requests that she be given death immediately. Nothing Creon says can change her mind now. She believes that she could find no greater honor than in burying her own brother. She tells Creon that the men of Thebes approve of her deed but are unable to speak out openly because they fear Creon’s power. Antigone sarcastically remarks that being a king has its benefits, the chief of these being the ability to do as one wishes