Fate is an important theme in the tragedy Antigone. Fate variously means a
person’s destiny, or the inevitably predetermined outcomes set by the Gods. The
lives of the characters in Antigone
appear to have a set end. Throughout the play, many hints are given to both the
audience and the characters as to what this end will be and as to when it will
occur. Free will, on the other hand, is the ability to act at one’s own
discretion. Throughout the play there is a constant and ongoing debate as to
whether fate is stronger than one’s free will, however, it is evident that the
play as a whole endorses that fate is inescapable.
The play demonstrates how Creon and Antigone have
distinctive ways on how they both take on their own fates. In the beginning of
the play, Antigone decides to speak privately with her sister Ismene about her
plan to bury their brother Polyneices. They discuss the consequences of their
act, which King Creon has made illegal, and the reasons as to why it is
necessary. Events that started long before Antigone’s birth seemed to predetermine
her destiny and made it difficult for her to escape it. Fate plays an essential
role in the beginning of the play when Ismene reminds Antigone of how fate has
cursed their family, referencing their father Oedipus, son and husband of their
mother Jocasta:
O God! Consider sister, how our father died, hated
and infamous… Then, mother and wife, two names in one, did shame violently on
her life with twisted cords. Third, our two brothers, on a single day. Now
there are only the two of us, left behind, and see how miserable our end shall
be. (Ismene 55-70)
Ismene, unlike Antigone, is a pacifist and loyal to King Creon. Ismene foreshadows
that Antigone will be punished with death by the King, and by doing so she will
fulfill her destiny to die. Antigone, unlike many people, accepts her fate and
informs her sister, who has decided to follow the rules of civil law, that she
should set her own fate in order, “Make straight your own path to destiny,”
(Antigone 96). Furthermore, even Antigone herself knows that fate is what controls
her life, not the actions of herself or others. Antigone vocalizes to Creon, “I
know that I will die–of course I do—even if you had not doomed me by proclamation,”
(Antigone 504-506). Antigone believes and accepts that it has always been her
duty and destiny to die serving the dead, “ Take heart; you are alive, but my
life died long ago, to serve the dead,” (Antigone 613-614). The acceptance of
her fate is evident when she admits to her crime and is faced with the
punishment of death, she nobly says, “So for such as me, to face such a fate as
this is pain that does not count”. In lines 637-642, the Chorus foreshadows the
death of Antigone as a result of God “shaking the house of Labdacus.” “No
generation frees another, some god strikes them down; there is no deliverance,”
this can be interpreted as, no generation in the family of Labdacus can escape
the tragic fate (Chorus 647-648).
Unlike Antigone, Creon does not recognize his
fate. Instead, he lets his arrogance and pompous personality get the best of
him and slowly drives himself to his own fate. Yet when Teiresias visits Creon
and informs him of his fate, Teiresias tells Creon that he has made a terrible
decision, but that he can perhaps redeem himself. Instead Creon initially
ignores the consequences of his own actions. He later attempts to correct his
mistakes, but unfortunately it is too late. In this case, Creon has a bit more
of free will and choice than Antigone or Oedipus because he gets hints from
characters pertaining to his fate. However, his stubbornness and obsession with
power lead him to his terrible fate, as shown when Teiresias says, “These acts
of yours are violence, on your part…the avenging Spirits of Death itself and
the gods’ Furies shall after your deeds,
lie in ambush for you, and in their hands you shall be taken cruelly.”
Throughout the play Creon was reluctant to listen to others about his fate, and
sadly it resulted in it becoming his reality.
In Antigone,
Creon ignores the hints given to him by many characters throughout the play,
and disregards the prophecy told by Teiresias. It is only until he realizes that
his actions will lead to a tragic fate that he decides to accept his destiny,
but unfortunately it becomes too late. Creon's determination to show his
power by making the edict in the first place dooms him to a very unhappy life,
as it results in Antigone's death which in return results in his own son's
death and the death of his wife, Eurydice. Unlike Creon, Antigone realizes from the start that her
fate is inevitable and acknowledges with honor that he destiny in life is to
die serving the dead. It becomes apparent at the end of the play that no matter
the actions of both tragic heroes, Creon and Antigone, fate triumphs over their
free will.
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