Drama Analysis Essay of

Antigone as Tragic Heroine

In Sophocles' play Antigone, the titular character, like her father Oedipus, may be seen to fulfill the requirements to be considered a tragic hero or heroine in the Aristotelian sense, but only if one is willing to expand the concept of the tragic flaw beyond the common notion of hubris or pride. This is not an instance of changing a definition to fit a particular phenomena, however, because Antigone's tragic flaw suits her particular character as a tragic heroine in the same way that hubris works as a tragic flaw for a tragic hero. In short, Antigone's flaw is her over-investment in the standards of the patriarchal society in which she finds herself, and in particular her superstitious insistence on burial rites for her brother at the expense of her own life. However, before considering how Antigone's character flaw ultimately leads to her own downfall, one must consider the other facets of her character which reveal her status as a true tragic heroine.

Antigone obviously fulfills some of the more basic requirements for tragic heroism, as she is the daughter of the former king (albeit a disgraced one) and niece to the current ruler, Creon. Furthermore, her nobility of character is revealed in her inability to let her sister Ismene die in her place, when she tells her "Don't try to share my death or make a claim / to actions which you did not do. I'll die -- / and that will be enough" (lines 624-6). It is worth noting that only Antigone's attention to her sister's life is mentioned here as evidence for her noble character, because her devotion to her brother after his death is actually an instance of Antigone's own tragic flaw, rather than evidence of her generosity or nobility of character. This is due to the fact that as a woman in a markedly patriarchal society, Antigone's flaw could never be the kind of hubris or pride seen in male heroes, because she actually has little to be proud of. Instead, her flaw is in her support of and reliance on these male-dominated social standards, and this unwarranted devotion to the corpse of her brother leads to her inevitable death.

Although readers have undoubtedly been tempted to side with Antigone in her argument with Ismene regarding the former's decision to bury their brother, one must acknowledge that at this point in the story, Antigone is still under the influence of her tragic flaw, and thus her arguments must be read with an eye towards tragic irony. Thus, when she harshly tells Ismene that she will "do my duty to my brother -- / and yours as well, if you're not prepared to. / I won't be caught betraying him," she is actually revealing the extent of her ignorance and fantasy (56-58). Polyneices is already dead, and even if the birds and worms have not yet started feasting on his corpse, the fact remains that the person that Polyneices is gone and all that remains is a mass of flesh and bone, already decomposing.

It is not necessary to entirely condemn Antigone to necrophilia, although she does claim that she will "lie there with him, / with a man [she] love[s], pure and innocent," but rather it suffices to acknowledge that all of Antigone's "noble" rantings about her devotion to her brother must be read with awareness of their folly as one reading Oedipus' unaware self-condemnation in his own story (90-1). Thus, the nobility of Antigone's character lies in her reluctance to condemn her sister, whereas her tragic flaw lies in her fanatical devotion to the men in her family, to the point that she wishes to lie with her brother's corpse.

Antigone's fall comes when she is caught burying Polyneices' corpse, and the fact that her subservience to patriarchy is the precise reason for this fall is revealed in Creon's response. When Creon condemns Antigone to her early grave, but before Ismene enters in her attempt to claim responsibility, Creon tell Antigone that she should "Then go down to the dead. If you must love, / love them. No woman's going to govern me" (599-600). Thus, it is Antigone's devotion to honoring men which gets her arrested, and it is the cultural patriarchy of her society which condemns her to being buried alive, perfectly illustrating how Antigone's own tragic flaw results not only in her fall but in the over-the-top severity of her punishment. It is her own fault not only for caring so much about her brother's corpse, but also because she has consistently supported the very patriarchal society which condemns her in the form of Creon.