Sunday, October 19, 2008

Antigone Quote Significance-10/21

"So I beg you Father, don't entrench yourself in your own opinion as if everyone else was wrong. The kind of man who always thinks that he is right, that his opinions, his pronouncements, are the final word, is usually exposed as hollow as they come." Haemon, pg. 222

In this quote, Haemon is cautioning his father, Creon, of his actions. Creon has already argued with Antigone over the burial of Polyneices to no avail, and in his rage has sentenced Ismene to death by association, though she hasn't done anything "wrong" in the first place. Haemon, along with the rest of Thebes, believe that Creon is being a bit too hotheaded. When your own son tells you that something you did is wrong, you know you just screwed up majorly. This is a throwback to Oedipus, as he also was one who always thought that he was right, and in the end, he was exposed as the incestuous murderer he was fated to be. In Antigone, Creon is basically portraying the same role as Oedipus, as the hotheated, stubborn, no-I'm-the-best-you-suck character, and this quote is when someone comes right out and tells him that. Perhaps this is foreshadowing some event later in the book involving Creon, an event that will in effect knock him from his high pedestal, and expose him as "hollow".

Question: Will Haemon have more lines/a bigger role, or is he gone after this?

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