Family vs. Society in Sophocles\'

Family vs. Society in Sophocles' Antigone

Many dramas show the turmoil within a family regarding the rights course of action. Often, the problem is one where what is good for the family is not good for an individual in the family, or the individual has selfish desires that get in the way of the family's progress. This can be seen in plays like Lorraine Hansberry's a Raisin in the Sun, and in Tennessee Williams' the Glass Menagerie. But the idea of the family as a unit of conflict is much older than these plays and playwrights -- it is as old as drama itself, and probably as old as the family. In Sophocles' ancient tragedy Antigone, one of the central conflict of the play can be seen in many lights, and one of these is the conflict between the duty to one's family and the duty to the State. Civil disobedience is heavily frowned upon in the play, but at the same time the character must protect the honor of her family, and this goes against the ruling of the king. This conflict is central to understanding both the action of the play and the turmoil of the protagonist.

For the Ancient-Greeks, especially the Athenians for whom Sophocles wrote this play, the State and civil society were very important figures, morally and even spiritually. Antigone tells her sister that burying their brother, though forbidden by the king (and therefore the State), would be pleasing to the gods, but Ismene answers "I'm not disrespecting them. But I can't act / against the state. That's not in my nature" (Sophocles, 97-8). The duty to the State, for Ismene, outweighs both the duty to family and devotion to the gods. This shows how powerful a force it is in the lives of the Greeks, particularly the characters of this play. Ismene considers it part of her very nature not to act against the state, as though it is written in her soul that she is utterly incapable of such an act. This belief keeps her from siding with her sister, at first, but eventually the pull of family grows stronger, outlining the conflict.

Though Antigone is certainly the protagonist of the play, she makes her decision very early in the action -- she chooses to bury her brother despite the civil disobedience and disrespect of the State that it shows. Ismene, on the other hand, wavers between the two duties. When Antigone is caught, her sister tries to take the blame with her: "But now you're in trouble, I'm not ashamed / of suffering, too, as your companion" (Sophocles, 540-1). Though Ismene's motives might be somewhat questionable, she is at least claiming a sense of duty and companionship with her sister -- and a desire to honor her brother -- by joining in the guilt of the act against the State. Antigone will not let her, again for reasons that could be put under debate. One possible explanation for Antigone's refusal to let Ismene share the punishment for the act would be her love for her sister. She has no need to share the punishment, and is now the only member of the family left. Her death would mean that Antigone's and her brothers' were all in vain; the honor of the family would not matter if the family ceased to exist. Both Ismene and Antigone end up defying the State for family, making it clear which duty is ultimately stronger and more moral, at least according to Sophocles.