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Antigone vs. Macbeth
In attempting to discern the legitimate and analytical issues in the two plays, Antigone and Macbeth, it is important to take into account the two key characters that all actions revolve around (Antigone and Lady Macbeth). In both plays, the characters appear to have comparative destiny and fate intertwined deeply within their societies. (Powell et al. 12). Antigone stands harshly rebuked by the state whose rule she contradicts. Antigone's fierce deviance is fully displayed when she declares that she'll bury Polyneices in total disregard of Creon's law. It is this rebellious act and Antigone's innate loyalty to the memory of her brother that forms the spine of the play. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth stands denounced by the laws of God and man having so eagerly disregarded them for the purpose of affection and enthusiasm towards her husband.
The inclination that destiny appears to have in setting up these sorts of plays is portrayed undeniably by Sophocles in his piece of work, as well as Shakespeare in his Macbeth. The authorial intent ( a tragedy in contemporary society) as developed by both plays is similar in context. This is mainly detectable while considering the way both playwrights depict the condition that has befallen a nation.
Aristotle, an outstanding scholar, and craftsman described tragedy as a mimic of a movement that is morally right. He further came up with guidelines towards creating drama in his highly acclaimed book, "The Poetics". In the book, he outlined six parts of drama as the theme; plot, characters, music, and spectacle. Hence with a similar reference to his set guidelines, the two plays can be dressed to appreciate the segments used in each set concerning the key characters. In discussing the critical parts of the plays, typical features such as; themes, writing styles, titles, plot, and language are considered.
In Antigone, Sophocles' primary focus is on the contention of 'destiny through freedom' for example, while free decisions such as Antigone's choice to resist Creon's proclamation, are necessary, destiny is in charge of a vast number of the basic and annihilating parts of one's life. By raising the significance of fate, Sophocles recommends that characters cannot be completely in charge of their lives. It gets to be troublesome, for instance, to point the finger at Oedipus for marrying his mother given his lack of prior knowledge of the blood ties between them. Despite Shakespeare having the same idea in Macbeth when he leaves the gathering of people with numerous questions, it is his destiny to be a backstabber and a dictator. On the other hand, would he say he is separated from everyone else in charge of his activities, and did he blatantly pick his decision? He does not bring together it as his fundamental subject; however he constructs the main thought in light of ‘the Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition'. That is, Macbeth is a valiant Scottish general who is not slanted to submit fiendish deeds, yet he profoundly embraces force and progression. He murders Duncan against his better judgment and after that languishes in blame and suspicion. At the end of the play, he dives into a sort of proudly unhinged franticness. Lady Macbeth, then again, seeks after her objectives with more noteworthy determination, yet she is less equipped for withstanding the repercussions of her illegal demonstrations.
Shakespeare, in Macbeth, acquaints us with an introductory circumstance where we hear King Duncan talk like a decent old man whose treachery looms while Macbeth is portrayed as a war legend who protects his King, country, and honor. The bone of contention is then presented by the passage of the two witches who report that Macbeth will be the new King. The plot gets to be twisted when Lady Macbeth offers to assist in killing the ruler and usurping the powers (Mee & Farley 136). This means murder must proceed to hide the king's untimely demise. Sophocles then again starts his play by presenting a contention right from the very begin Antigone arrives in Thebes and finds that her sibling is dead, Polyneices' dead body is unburied, and there is a legal declaration against burying him. The plot gets to be confounded when Antigone insists on burying her brother; she is apprehended and surrendered to Creon. Antigone finds it difficult to obey Creon's order not to bury her brother hence this infuriates him and consequently warrants the execution of Antigone (Chanter 121). The flow of the plot between the plays undoubtedly varies right from the very start. Unlike Antigone that picks energy from the first page, Macbeth takes after the familiar storyline of most plays; opening, conflict, climax, and conclusion.
Sophocles utilizes Antigone as the principle character in the play. Sophocles acquaints an enemy who tests his fundamental nature; Creon-who later requests the execution of Antigone because she challenges his administration. There is to some degree extraordinary situation in Macbeth where Shakespeare's central character is depicted as a super ambitious individual with shortcomings of a fool. He has no prominent opponent besides his self. Macbeth is portrayed as unfair after killing Macduff's family, including his siblings. For mine own great All reasons might give way. I am in blood
Stepped in so far that, if I wade no more,
Returning were as monotonous as go O'er. (3.4.167-170)
There are however contrasting features on how Shakespeare and Sophocles delineate their principal female characters. Antigone is based on the premise of a social deviant. At the beginning of the play, she hints at women feminism despite the fact that it was against the laws during that time for a Greek lady to defy male power. In the public eye, Antigone refused the orders of Creon and indicated an unmistakable female force hard to reckon. She tailed her convictions indubitably and disregarded the dire consequences of opposing higher authorities that for ages had been seen as infallible. Shakespeare then again depicts Lady Macbeth as one with an aspiration for power and a dictator over her humble husband, She is sufficiently shrewd to remember her spouse's shortcoming, and sets herself, with no uncertainty or strife in her psyche, to free him of his shortcoming. She is convinced that things would turn out pretty much as anticipated, and generally as she needs. For her, there is no detachment in the middle of will and deed. Through her soft constraint of will, she prompts her undecided husband to confer the ultimate execution of Duncan, and her energetic valor impresses him. Notwithstanding these distinctions, both characters end up being so egocentric and ambitious in accomplishing their missions that the methods used to achieve the same don't matter as long as the length of their interests is served and satisfied.
Likewise, the use of music in play are observed by both playwrights, for sole purposes of introducing scenes, breaking repetitiveness of narration, clarifying old plots and hinting on upcoming events. Unlike Shakespeare utilizing changing melodies as a way of distinguishing parts of his play, Sophocles uses characters to serve the same purpose or role (Powell et al. 42). They are the Chorus. They purposefully remark on the activity of the play, narrate scenes, and link different plots. Sophocles likewise utilizes the chorus to clarify the play's principal issues and themes. In Antigone, emotional tributes are evident on everything from the triumph of man over nature, the threats of pride, to the risks of love. A case in point is in 'the tribute to man' where the Chorus sings about all the brilliant achievements of man. After the tribute finishes up, it takes Sophocles around two seconds to foam on the incongruity, which ought to appear in chains right when chorus completes speaking ill about rebels. Why is it Antigone--the widely adored hero and rebel expert? At the point when Antigone seems pretty much as the "Tribute to Man" finishes up, it is just about as though she is the god's response to the colossal hubris (pride) indicated in the chorus' tune.
The writing style of Antigone is Poetic--uptight, and Fancy-Free. There are numerous interpretations of Antigone even though this depends on the choice of reading; this paper, however, focuses on Francis Storr's adaptation. Storr utilizes a considerable measure of poetic pattern in his lines, which are slightly recognizable to any works of Shakespeare (Bates 201). The Bard himself likewise supported this graceful style, which components lines of five iambs (henceforth, versifying pentameter). An iamb is a two-syllable mix with the stress on the second syllable, for instance looking into the word belongs. It turns out as 'be-LONG' taking a weight at the last bit of it (Powell et al. 27). While it may not be an aggregate match with ordinary discourse designs.
In Macbeth, the playwright has a tendency to narrate in "free verse", which is unrhymed verse. The common people in the play have a tendency to talk simply as others do, in customary old writing (Leonard 72). The witches additionally speak in verse however it is done in a way that separates them from different characters. They frequently talk in a sing-tune way that sounds like a starting nursery rhyme. A large portion of their lines is conveyed in what is called trochaic tetrameter with rhymed couplets.
Titles of both plays are self-explanatory; they are names of the main characters. In Antigone, Antigone is the key character of the play whereas, in Macbeth, Macbeth is the villain of the story. When it reaches the endings, Macbeth closes when Mac Duff presents Macbeth's head to Malcolm, who celebrates by welcoming everybody to his final ritual party. In Antigone, Antigone resists Crayon and buries her sibling, which prompts her capture and last execution (Powell et al. 62).
Ultimately, the theatrical and analytical elements of literature abound in the two worldly acclaimed works. Amongst the few discussed, it comes out clearly that Sophocles and Shakespeare shared ideas at a given time, and both agree with the theory put in place by Aristotle in his book the ‘Poetic.' With the two plays, Macbeth and Antigone, borrowing the same ideas we see little dissimilarity between tragedies written in ancient civilization. For example, both plays adopted the names of their main character as the title of the novels. The elements of drama that occur in the mentioned plays are embodied by the main characters i.e. Antigone and Lady Macbeth, their depiction as social dissidents and opposer of male chauvinism goes against the metaphor of ‘Crowing Hens' thus in so doing, has significantly provided ground for the affirmation of the critical issues in this essay.
Works Cited
Chanter, Tina. Who's Antigone? The Tragic Marginalization of Slavery. Albany: the State University of New York Press, 2011. Print.
Bates, Jennifer A. Hegel and Shakespeare on Moral Imagination. Albany: the State University of New York Press, 2010. Print.
Leonard, Miriam. Socrates and the Jews: Hellenism and Hebraism from Moses Mendelssohn to Sigmund Freud. University of Chicago Press, 2012. Print.
Mee, Erin B, and Foley P. Helene. Antigone on the Contemporary World Stage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Powell, Martin, Shakespeare William and Perez Daniel. Macbeth. Mankato, Minn: Stone Arch Books, 2012. Print.
Rank, Sven. Twentieth-century Adaptations of Macbeth: Writing between Influence, Intervention, and Cultural Transfer. Peter Lang, 2010. Print.