Throughout The Theban Plays, politics, tragedies, and warfare test the morals and beliefs of the main characters. In this passage, politics reveal the gender competition through the use of personification of social constructs like anarchy and obedience, symbolism of men and woman through these political terms, specific word choice of these social constructs, and metonymy to further explicate the gender rivalry. By analyzing meanings of certain words involved in this passage, the underlying message can be deciphered. The passage starts off with the word “Unruliness”, but the book cites this word and states its origin from the reek word anarchia (or Anarchy). The definition as stated in the text is “the collapse of rule and the prevalence
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The writer uses the word “evil” to describe unruliness. Evil is described as “morally depraved, bad, wicked, vicious” (OED) which immediately positions “unruliness” as an extremely negative aspect of society. This, in turn, places the same negative connotation on women (and Antigone). Antigone is ‘morally depraved’ because she does not follow the rules of the authority over her, therefore, she and all women are displayed as ‘evil’ in this context. Contrastingly, when obedience is introduced, the word “safe” is used by the author to sway the audience towards this concept (rather than the concept of anarchy/unruliness). Safe means “mentally or morally sound or sane” (OED), and presents the opposite end on the morality spectrum compared to “evil”. The coupling of “safe” and “obedience” surrounds this term—and ultimately men—in a positive connotation. This presentation continues to increase the dramatic interaction between the symbols of men and women. Furthermore, the word “order” is also significant; it is defined as “A body of people living by common consent under the same religious, moral, or social regulations and discipline” (OED). The writer implies that is it obedience that perpetuates the religious, moral, and social regulations in this society. In order to sustain the current beliefs and practices of Kreon’s city, obedience and men must be revered and embraced. The mention of obedience and order neglect the role of women, which suggests that they do not contribute to a well-running society. At this point in the passage, women are framed as the lesser of the two competing
The writer uses the word “evil” to describe unruliness. Evil is described as “morally depraved, bad, wicked, vicious” (OED) which immediately positions “unruliness” as an extremely negative aspect of society. This, in turn, places the same negative connotation on women (and Antigone). Antigone is ‘morally depraved’ because she does not follow the rules of the authority over her, therefore, she and all women are displayed as ‘evil’ in this context. Contrastingly, when obedience is introduced, the word “safe” is used by the author to sway the audience towards this concept (rather than the concept of anarchy/unruliness). Safe means “mentally or morally sound or sane” (OED), and presents the opposite end on the morality spectrum compared to “evil”. The coupling of “safe” and “obedience” surrounds this term—and ultimately men—in a positive connotation. This presentation continues to increase the dramatic interaction between the symbols of men and women. Furthermore, the word “order” is also significant; it is defined as “A body of people living by common consent under the same religious, moral, or social regulations and discipline” (OED). The writer implies that is it obedience that perpetuates the religious, moral, and social regulations in this society. In order to sustain the current beliefs and practices of Kreon’s city, obedience and men must be revered and embraced. The mention of obedience and order neglect the role of women, which suggests that they do not contribute to a well-running society. At this point in the passage, women are framed as the lesser of the two competing