Ismene: A Tragic Hero In Antigone

Though it was written over two millennia ago, Sophocles’ Antigone features a single of the preeminent symbols of female defiance in its title character. The play centers on the exploits of Antigone as she openly goes against the king’s decree in the name of honor and piety. Even though she ends her story in death, she nonetheless proves the powers of which the supposedly weak and subordinate are capable of possessing when they have righteousness on their side. It is therefore surprising to find out that perhaps Antigone is not the accurate hero of this classic Greek play, but rather her sister, Ismene. This is what Jennifer Kirkpatrick argues in her groundbreaking essay, “The Prudent Dissident: Unheroic Resistance in Sophocles’ Antigone.” Kirkpatrick brings forth an entirely distinct reading of Antigone that includes Ismene becoming the one particular who buries Polynecies the 1st time, therefore casting her as the unsung hero of the play. This thought is radical nonetheless, upon cautious examination one particular can see it is truly hugely plausible.

In order for Ismene to have buried Polynecies, the very first and foremost factor to assure is that the plot of Antigone would let it – which it does. As Kirkpatrick points out, Ismene has no alibi or witness putting her someone else on the night of the burial (Kirkpatrick 409). Hence, the reader is provided permission to entertain the idea, as absolutely nothing is tangibly dismissing it. There are other perceptible hints in the plot that strongly recommend Ismene could have buried Polynecies. A single is the strangeness that surrounds the notion that Antigone carried out the burial rites two times – one quietly and hurriedly, the other publicly and completely. Although it is odd that she would select to embark on a mission currently completed, it is even odder that she would select to make her initial burial so secretive. Antigone asserts to Creon that “there is practically nothing shameful in piety to a brother (Antigone 104).” Clearly, Antigone believes wholeheartedly in her actions, and is not afraid to pronounce them to the globe. Her affinity for forthrightness does not align with such a clandestine act, generating it unlikely that it was her personal carrying out.

The other hint the plot delivers that shows Ismene has a a lot more substantial function in the play than what is shown at the surface is her reappearance, in which she confronts Creon and offers herself up with her sister. Kirkpatrick notes that this final exchange contradicts Ismene’s part as Antigone’s foil and adds complexity to the sisters’ partnership (Kirkpatrick 413). This complexity is wasted, even so, as it doesn’t alter the plot Ismene, whilst briefly threatened with punishment, is ultimately let go, and ends the play nonetheless the weaker version of her sister. It is possible then, that this complexity was added for a reason – that purpose getting Ismene truly does have a deeper significance to this play. Sophocles’ revealing of this transition in Ismene’s character is just the tip of an iceberg that can be further unveiled by exploring other traits of Ismene that would make her what James Scott would brand as the unheroic weak – “[an individual] who [is] conscious of [her] vincibility and act inside its constraints” in order to achieve her mission (Kirkpatrick 403).

Ismene would not have simply buried Polynecies without reason. Nor would she have done it purely out of pressure from her sister, Antigone. Rather, she would have had to have strong motivation that drove her to commit this unlawful deed. Ismene proves that she would have this incentive to go by way of with the action in secrecy, therefore creating it all the more likely that she did. In her initial exchange with Antigone in the play, Antigone states, “I do them no dishonor”, in reference to the gods (Antigone 94). Through this quote, Ismene tends to make clear that, regardless of what her sister insists, she doesn’t only care about obeying Creon, but also the gods. So, there is very good purpose to believe that she would have some need to give her dead brother his appropriate burial rites as the gods would have intended. One more issue that would have motivated Ismene is her loyalty to her sister. By asking Creon, “How could I endure without having her presence?” when he threatens to punish her, she shows that she cares deeply for Antigone. Antigone is practically all Ismene has left in the world, as each of her parents and her brothers are dead. Ismene would evidently be distraught if she permitted her sister to commit a crime for which she surely would receive capital punishment. This would motivate Ismene to commit the crime herself just before Antigone has the possibility to do so. Like with her sister, Ismene does have anything to achieve by burying her brother. Even even though she does have the conflicting motivation to obey Creon, Ismene’s reasons to act counter to this are powerful enough for her to truly do it.

It has been established that literary-sensible, Ismene is permitted to bury Polynecies, as there are both plot holes for her to slither her way about and incentives for her to use as explanation to. Even so, it is maybe most critical that Ismene show that with all these allowances, she has the capability to be an unheroic weak through her characteristics. Ismene displays many aspects of her character that only further the argument that she is the correct hero of the story. 1 is her secretiveness. Ismene 1st establishes her proclivity for secrecy when following hearing of Antigone’s complete-fledged commitment to burying, she asks Antigone that she “disclose this plan to none” and “hide it closely” (Antigone 93). This plea by Ismene shows that she is sober to the positive aspects of keeping things beneath wraps. With this given, it would make sense that she would decide on to embark on a secret burial, as Kirkpatrick implies in her paper.

Not only does Ismene have an inclination towards secrecy, but she also has s belief in the power and credibility secrecy consists of. When Antigone criticizes Ismene for not taking action alongside her yet still wanting to share her honor, Ismene refutes by maintaining, “Nevertheless, the offense is the same for each of us” (Antigone 105). This can be interpreted to imply that Ismene did commit the same crime as Antigone. The only difference in their crimes was that hers was carried out covertly. Ismene’s actions going unnoticed permitted them to be “approved” by the mortal planet, as Antigone suggests. Ismene believes that defiance does not want to be open in order to earn honor, and so sees her action as a valid indicates of showing reverence to the gods – some thing which she aspires to do.

In spite of Ismene’s apparent inclination for avoiding hostile confrontation with authority, she does have the facility to be defiant. Even though this defiance never ever shows itself to be as bold as that of Antigone, it is nonetheless an crucial trait to note on leading of the other clues that Ismene committed the crime. Kirkpatrick notes in her essay that the most apparent sign of Ismene’s rebellious is when she enters ahead of Creon in tears (Kirkpatrick 410). This act goes against Creon’s edict, which declares that “none shall entomb [Polynecies] or mourn him, but leave him unwept” (Antigone 92). By coming to Creon crying, Ismene is flouting this edict in a single of two approaches: either she is mourning the death of her brother Polynecies, which the edict strictly prohibits, or she is the mourning the practically specific fate of her sister, displaying her sympathy for a person who challenged the edict. No matter whether she weeps for a pariah of the state or a quickly to be 1, Ismene is difficult her previously-made conviction to obey Creon. If she has the fortitude to do this, then it becomes all the a lot more plausible that she would also have the fortitude to bury Polynecies.

Jennifer Kirkpatrick writes that it is widespread for the unheroic resistors to be sensitive to “political context and energy dynamics”, as well as “the political inequality of the bigger group of which she is a part” (Kirkpatrick 414-415). It is important that these resistors are sensitive to these issues, because it makes them far more conscious of their own limitations and enables them to operate inside them. In her very first exchange with Antigone, Ismene displays her sensitivity to circumstance. 1st, she explains how she and her sister are the descendents of a family members tree ridden with shame and scorn from society, and impels her sister to “think how [they] shall perish . . . in defiance of the law, more miserably than all the rest” (Antigone 93). Unlike Antigone, Ismene knows that there would be severe consequences to come if either of them went against Creon. Ismene then appeals to her sister by reminding her that a poor lineage is not the only point operating against the sisters. Nay, they are also hindered by their status as women – a status that does not allow them to “strive with men” and perpetually forces them to be “ruled of the stronger” (Antigone 93). These two arguments made by Antigone need to not be seen as proof of her unwillingness to act in defiance. Instead, they are indications of Ismene’s consciousness of the higher world around her. She knows what is realistic to count on from her personal skills, rather than overestimating them like Antigone does. To add on to this, she knows that she does not stay away from action in order to remain inside her limits, but rather she only want to act prudently so as to bring honor and stay away from punishment by Creon.

With the info Ismene has at hand, it is also important that she know how to use this information greatest to her benefit. In reality, to carry out such a hard talk that she does, it is definitely critical she have the capability to be resourceful – understanding how to make the most of what she has and to be imaginative sufficient to consider her way out of difficult circumstances. When Antigone begins revealing her plan to bring nobility to her name, Ismene asks what it is she can “do or undo” (Antigone 93). This supplies evidence that Ismene is aware that problems needn’t have absolute or limited solutions rather, there are a number of avenues one particular can select to travel down in reaching an ultimate finish. Sophocles asserts Ismene as a resourceful character through this line, and there are several scenes in the play exactly where Ismene exemplifies this characteristic. 1 that Kirkpatrick emphasizes in her essay is the scene where she is crying in front of Creon – an act that is radical in its disobedience of the king’s edict however traditional in its conformity to the archetype of the mourning Greek lady Such a “docile and defiant” act can confuse the king and possibly trigger him to query his decision to punish mourners (Kirkpatrick 418). Ismene is however again capable to show her capacity to manipulate her situation by playing directly to Creon’s fatherly sentiments. She asks the patriarch, “But will you slay the betrothed of your own son?” (Antigone 105). Ismene is making use of this important detail of Antigone’s romantic ties to Creon’s son, Haemon, to persuade Creon into not killing her off. Though this does not alter the king’s mind, it nonetheless says a lot that when Ismene saw Creon was not going to change his mind out of moral insight into Antigone’s actions, she rapidly thought to rather remind him of the great disservice he’d be undertaking to his personal kin if Antigone have been to be punished by his hands.

Sophocles’ Antigone ends in tragedy. The main character dies by suicide, as do two other significant characters of the play, Haemon and Creon’s wife. To add on to this, Ismene and Creon end the book in despair, with practically nothing but bleak, lonely lives ahead of them. Primarily, the actions undertaken by Antigone, the story’s supposed hero, brought about no great. This tragic ending can not merely be study as the unfortunate consequence of Creon’s refusal to adhere to the gods’ will. Rather, it can be read as a punishment for Antigone’s intervening with Ismene’s program. If Antigone had left the grave alone, Ismene would have been profitable in her program to bury her brother while still feigning allegiance to the king. Nobody would have died, nor would anyone have been left miserable. This would have been a accurate accomplishment for a story’s hero. As Kirkpatrick points out, “Ismene’s underhanded tactics are far more in line with a commitment to nonviolence due to the fact they attempt to dodge government violence altogether” (Kirkpatrick 424). Antigone thwarts the efforts of Ismene that would bring about a a lot more appealing ending, nonetheless, by seeing honor as anything that can only be earned out in the open. This could be a lesson from the author, then, that the accurate heroes are those that act quietly yet admirably, and that these who let ego play a function in their actions (as with Antigone) will never ever succeed in actually bringing about goodness.

Just as Ismene knows that transparency is not required in performing heroic deeds, Sophocles knows that transparency is not necessary is depicting heroes of the story. In the case of Antigone, the hero was not the apparent choice. Rather, it was the “unheroic” Ismene. Ismene serves as the excellent dissident through acting covertly and therefore pragmatically. Moreover, Ismene serves as the excellent hero in Antigone by proving grandiose display is not important to accompany an action, but rather all the action wants is righteousness behind it.