Antigone Minor Character Essay

The play Antigone tells the point of one of Oedipus daughters standing up to the law in order to honor her brother. The story begins after Polyneices and Eteocles have killed apiece other and King Creon issues an edict forbidding the burial of Polyneices. In the prologue Antigones sister Ismene is introduced. Ismene while a minor character serves a great usance in the play. In the opening lines of the play a dialogue is occurring between Ismene and Antigone. In lines 14-29 Antigone is telling Ismene of her plan to bury Polyneices even though Creon forbids it. Ismene tells her We are and women We can non fight with men. We must give in to the law. Ismenes refusal and fear of breaking the law serves to emphasize Antigones stubbornness and hardheadedness.In survey 2 when Ismene tries to take partial blame for the burial of Polyneices, Antigone refuses her. This shows Antigones pride for her actions and her protectiveness and loyalty to her family. Ismene is included to act as a foi l to Antigones character. Where Ismene not included in the play, the play would not have such a great effect. Ismene represents the average women in this Greek society. Had her character not been introduced the reader would win that all women in that society were as hardheaded and stubborn as Antigone. If Antigone would have represented the average woman the theme of loyalty to family would be lost. through with(predicate) out the prologue Ismene refers back to the fact that they are just women and have no power against the laws or what is done about them. In scene 2 Creon is convert that it was a man who buried Polyneices and not a woman this serves to verify the gender roles in Greek society. Ismenes shy, hesitant, and reluctant behavior is typical of a woman of that society since after all they had no rights and were treated as property. In conclusion Ismene while a minor character serves the role of a foil to Antigone by emphasizing Antigones hardheaded stubbornness. She is in cluded to show how typical women in Greek society acted and what they believed. If it werent for Ismene several themes in the story would not appear.