Antigone is a lead strong female that sticks up for what she believes in. She is part of the royal family in Thebes but all of her immediate family have died apart from her sister (Ismene). Her brother (Polynieces) has been called a traitor and has been denied the right to be buried by the King (Creon -Antigone's Uncle). Antigone loves her brother strongly and believes that he should be buried and so goes against the kings wishes and buries her brother so that his soul can belong to the Gods and not remain trapped on earth. However, Antigone gets caught and as a result is told she should be put to death for going against the King's wishes. Needlesstosay, Antigone proudly admits what she did and stands up for her beliefs. She is willing to accept death and risks her life in order to do the right thing. Antigone shows an incredible amount of courage and at such a young and age (most likely somewhere between 12-15 yrs old).
Similarily, one of Brecht's own plays 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' contains another lead female role. 'Grusha' is a good, loyal, sacrificing, loving and unselfish character that chooses to save a baby's life and in the process puts her own life on the line in order to protect the baby. She has no reason to save the baby apart from her own morals and knows that taking the child will only cause her more problems but still she continues to follow her heart and do the right thing. She is also a young character and comes from the lower class -working as a maid. The child is from the royal family but despite their differences she chooses to do the right thing and eventually becomes just as maternal as his mother.
Rosa Parks is also a real life version of someone that fought for equal rights. She wanted to abolish the segregation between whiles and blacks in America and so became a Civil Rights Activist. She was a respected woman in the NAACP organisation and chose to be a part of the bus boycotts. On December 1st 1955 she refused to give up her seat to a white woman which was against the law. Despite the abuse she was given, she continued to stay on the bus until she was removed by a policeman and as a result went to prison. This is very similar to what happened to Antigone, they both did what they believed in and were then locked away as a result.
A more recent example would be 'Emma Watson' who does a lot of work surrounding woman rights. She promotes a lot of education for girls and became the UN Woman Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014. She has also led a 'HeForShe' Campaign and is a proud Feminist. Watson is still fighting change at the young age of 26 yrs old in the hopes of achieving a more equal world. She aims to spread knowledge and empower more young girls to fight back and not put up with a patriarchal society.
All of the women above stood/stand up for what they believe in even if that caused them consequences such as imprisionment, shame, harm or even death. Each of the women are strong, independent and willing to do whatever they have to do in order to achieve what they believe in. When I perform Antigone, I hope to inspire my audience to stand up for what they believe in and not be taken for granted.
About the Playwright:
Sophocles is the playwright of Antigone. He was born in Colonus (near Athens) and lived between 496 BC - 406 BC. He was one of three famous playwrights that excelled in the genre of tragedy during Ancient Greek times. Aeschylust was the oldest, then Sophocles, followed by Euripides.
Sophocles was educated, goodooking and active within his community during his lifetime. Because he was alive so long ago, it is quite difficult to research him and his work. In fact, lots of his work was lost or hasn't survived over the years.
And only 7 tragedies survived out of his collection, including:
- Philoctetes
- Oedipus at Colonus
- Ajex
- Antigone
- Women of Trachis
- Oedipus Rex
- Trackers
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