Antigone - Novel to Film Essay

Antigone is a play with many themes, however, some stand out more than others. In this play
a girl only wishes to bury her brother so that he may rest in peace, however, the king or her
uncle a passed a law forbidding it. She, however, doesn’t care and buries her brother anyway
however she gets caught and is sentenced to death. Antigone is a very tragic play full of women
empowerment, determination, and tragedies. Antigone may have many themes however the
main theme of Antigone is determination.
The main theme of Antigone is determination. This is shown all throughout the film and the
play through many different and similar ways. One of the main ways determination is shown is
through the play and film similarities such as when Ismene and Antigone argue over rather or
not they should disobey the law and bury their brother Polyneices. Antigone believes the law of
the gods should go before any law made by the king and doesn’t wish for her brother to be
dishonored by not being buried. However, Ismene views their lives as more important since their
brother is already dead. The determination each girl feels for their opinion in the argument is
similar in both the film and the novel for example in the novel Antigone states that “ But I will
bury him; and if I must die, I shall say that this crime is holy; I shall lie down with him in death.”
This quote shows how determined Antigone is to bury Polyneices. Antigone also states a very
similar phrase in the film. Ismene also very clearly shows her determination when she decides
that even though she did not bury her brother with Antigone she wishes to be sentenced to
death along with Antigone for the burial of Polyneices. In both the play and the film Ismene is
very determined to be killed alongside her sister. Ismene begs to take the honor when she says
“ yes I will take the blame if she will allow me, I was completely involved.” When Ismene say this
in the film Antigone immediately protest however Ismene continues to say she is guilty and
should be sentenced to death this shows her determination to die with her sister similar to how
she was determined to die with her sister in the play.
The main theme of Antigone is determination. This is shown all throughout the film and the
play through many different and similar ways. Another way determination is shown throughout
the film and the play is the differences between both the film and the play. In the play, Haimon
pleads with his father to forgive Antigone’s “crime” and let her continue to live however in the
film Haimon uses ethos to his advantage and acts as though he sides with his father for the
punishment Antigone is to receive. According to the film “you are the king and I only wish to
learn from you to help with my future decisions. Any marriage would be worthless to me without
your approval and care.” Even though Haimon says this to his father at first he is fast to tell his
father that if he kills Antigone the people would despise him and claims that he is only saying
this for the good of his father. Determination is also shown with the sentry they were determined
to catch whoever buried Polyneices because of their loyalty to their king. However, this is
slightly different in the film than it happened in the play in the when the sentry brings in Antigone
they won’t stop talking about how they caught her and how impressive it was. According to the
film “We caught her in the act tilly dallying, we caught him red-handed as they say except it isn’t
a him its a her”. This shows how they were determined to serve their king because in order to
catch her in the act they would have been having to stake out the body. It’s also different than
the play because of how he was so obnoxiously proud of himself proud of himself for catching
her.
The main theme of Antigone is determination. This is shown all throughout the film and the
play through many different and similar ways. The theme of determination is shown the best at
the end of the play and film when Antigone and Haimon kill themselves together due to their
determination to be with one another. In both the play and the film Creon is warned by the
prophet that if he continues on with Antigones death he will pay. However, this shows more than
Antigone and Haimon’s determination to be together is also shows the gods determination to
have Creon pay for what he has done. According to the prophet in the film “I tell you, Creon, you
yourself have brought. This new calamity upon us. Our hearths and altars. Are stained with the
corruption of dogs and carrion birds that glut themselves on the corpse of Oedipus’ son. The
gods are deaf when we pray to them, their fire. Recoils from our offering, their birds of omen
have no cry of comfort, for they are gorged with the thick blood of the dead.” This quote shows
how much power the gods have in Thebes and how they were angry with Creon for not burying
Polyneices. It also proves that the gods were determined to punish Creon for his crimes.
In conclusion, the theme that stands out the most in Antigone is determination. Determination
is shown many times in the play and film including during Ismene and Antigone’s argument,
when Ismene was asked if she was also guilty, Haimon and Creon’s discussion, the sentry
watching to see who would bury the body, and in Antigone and Haimon’s deaths. Every
character in Antigone shows determination toward something at some point in the play however
some show it more than others.