In the play ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles, the central idea is misfortunes in life. The play is about the tragedy that befalls Antigone; a strong-willed woman who tries to stand for what she feels is right but suffers at the hands of a bad ruler. The author uses vivid symbolism, imagery, and a tragic tone to bring out the theme of misfortunes in life, through Antigone’s life, her family and the entire Thebes.
The central idea of misfortune is supported by the literary element imagery. For example, the tomb is used in the story to represent the tragedy that exists in the whole play. Antigone is condemned to a tomb when she is still alive, and she finally kills herself while in the tomb. Another example of imagery is in the use of birds, an example is the birds that eat up Polyneises' abandoned body. The tomb is the climax of the misfortune in the story as the main characters' lives are all tragic. The birds represent the bad things that eat up this society, leading up to the tragedies that befall Thebes and its members.
The other literary element that supports the central idea in the story is symbolism. Symbolism is used in several elements which support the idea of tragedy in the story. For example, Antigone talks about ‘the gray world’; which symbolizes a space different from the present one, more symbolic of her coming death. Eurydice’s knitting that ends in her death also symbolizes the misfortune in the play. The gray world from which Antigone says she has come from when she finishes burying her brother (Sophocles) represents the unfortunate world of the dead. Eurydice is kept in her room and kits till she dies after stabbing herself with her needle (Sophocles). This symbolizes the misfortune in the lives of the people of Thebes that only ends with tragic death.
The central idea of misfortune is also supported by the literary element of tone, where the author uses a tragic tone to bring out the sadness that surrounds tragedy and misfortune. For example, Antigone says, “But by the dead commended; and with them/ I shall abide for ever. As for thee,” (Sophocles) Her tone is tragic as she condemns herself to death. Another example is when the chorus says, “Found the shock of death in the dusty joy of battle.” The tone of tragic emphasizes the misfortune in the story by showing the sadness that it causes.
The story, Antigone by Sophocles has a lot of tragic events and other misfortunes which reflect the misfortunes that can befall people in society, especially due to actions by others. Due to the inconsiderate laws in Thebes, many people have suffered just lie it happens in many communities today. Due to these actions by leaders, misfortune comes upon the society just as Teiresias states:
The time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for a corpse, flesh of
Works Cited
Sophocles (n.d.). Antigone. Web
