LITR 4370 Tragedy UHCL lecture notes

LITR 4370 Tragedy
lecture notes
Spring 2017

Antigone

Sarah Finigan, Actors from the London Stage

Grateful, long day, concluding w/ Actors' 1st performance tonight, also Friday and Saturday

text

midterm2--use what you learn today, or what you see in R&J, as research source for midterm2 and final exam

Learning about Tragedy (Essay 2)

Research Report, esp. teaching tragedy

Questions:

ask about tragedy generally?

Greek and / or Shakespearean tragedy? Modern tragedy? (ask about experience practicing, performing any)

Antigone

acting, directing, turning text / script into production?

Playing role of Nurse in R&J, my first awareness of comedy in tragedy

What power or limits to comic scenes in a tragedy?

Greatness of Tragedy

302 Guard: Every one of us was responsible,
but none of us was clearly in the wrong. [couplet exemplifies tragedy’s moral complexity]

388 ode to Man choral ode

Discussion questions: 1. A generation ago, Oedipus the King was the standard "classical tragedy" read in secondary schools. Today the tragedy of choice is Antigone, which is more popular to teach as classical tragedy in schools today—why? What are its appeals compared to Oedipus the King? How does Antigone feel more popular and appear more modern? (tragedy modernizes)

feminist theme: woman standing up to patriarchy (while another woman bows); Eurydice as woman's relational identity

civil disobedience theme--can be taught with Dr. King, Thoreau, Mandela, others (Antigone & the tradition of civil disobedience)

straightforward ethical conflict that comes down for family values over government tyranny

connects to Oedipus story but avoids yuck factor of Oedipus the King (background information your students will mostly ignore except for brief recoil)

(higher law)

510 I did not think
anything which you proclaimed strong enough
to let a mortal override the gods
and their unwritten and unchanging laws.
They’re not just for today or yesterday,
but exist forever

Consider Romance elements, such as Antigone as oppressed underdog, Creon as patriarchal villain, suicide as transcendence. Compare Antigone to Romeo & Juliet as "romantic tragedy" or "tragic romance."

romance b/w Antigone & Haemon--compare double suicide of Romeo & Juliet

Antigone as romance heroine--won't back down, independent, admirable but not restricted to traditional femininity

Romance characterization as simpler: Antigone as virtuous heroine, Creon as inflexible authority figure

655 ANTIGONE: Dearest Haemon, [Haemon, Antigone’s fiancé, is not present in the scene]
how your father wrongs you.

781 Haemon: Because of who you are, you can't perceive
all the things men say or do—or their complaints.
Your gaze makes citizens afraid—they can’t
say anything you would not like to hear.

But in the darkness I can hear them talk— [darkness & perception figures]
the city is upset about the girl.
They say of all women here she least deserves
the worst of deaths for her most glorious act.

(Cf. Cassandra as romance of doomed youth)

998 ANTIGONE: Oh my tomb and bridal chamber—
my eternal hollow dwelling place,
where I go to join my people. Most of them [them = her family, "my people"] 1000
have perished—

1006 nourishing the vital hope
my father will be pleased to see me come,
and you, too, my mother

1011 Polynices,
this is my reward for covering your corpse.
However, for wise people I was right
to honor you. I’d never have done it
for children of my own

Antigone is the first-written of Sophocles's Theban plays. How does the conclusion seem like a young writer's? e.g., melodramatic or "over-the-top" end to Antigone & Haemon? Too obvious and sweeping a change for Creon?

2. Only men wrote Greek tragedies, but women often appear as central characters. What conflicts or responsibilities do they represent that make their lives appropriate subjects for tragedy? In Antigone, for instance, how do the title character's gender-conflicts expose larger problems in Thebes and its leadership?

741 So spit this girl out—she’s your enemy.
Let her marry someone else in Hades. [Creon becomes inhuman, inflexible, unable to change and adapt]

748 If I foster any lack of full respect
in my own family, I surely do the same
with those who are not linked to me by blood.

760 We must obey 760
whatever man the city puts in charge,
no matter what the issue—great or small,
just or unjust.

781 Haemon: Because of who you are, you can't perceive
all the things men say or do—or their complaints.
Your gaze makes citizens afraid—they can’t
say anything you would not like to hear.

799 don’t let your mind dwell on just one thought, [a democratic argument]
that what you say is right and nothing else.

804 For any man,
even if he’s wise, there’s nothing shameful
in learning many things, staying flexible.

820 CHORUS LEADER: My lord, if what he’s said is relevant,
it seems appropriate to learn from him,

838 HAEMON: A city which belongs to just one man
is no true city. [modernity: city life & democracy = sharing space & r

3. Who is the play's tragic hero? Antigone or Creon? How much does Creon's tragic flaw appear as a crisis of masculinity?

Creon as political leader: when to back down, when to bend principle

Creon as clear example of tragic flaw (far easier to approach and comprehend than Oedipus's tragic flaw)

88 Antigone: So be what you want.
I’ll still bury him. It would be fine to die
while doing that. I’ll lie there with him, 90
with a man I love, pure and innocent,
for all my crime. My honors for the dead
must last much longer than for those up here.

185 CREON: Men, after much tossing of our ship of state, [ship of state metaphor]
the gods have safely set things right again.

323 could this act not be something from the gods?

CREON: Stop now—before what you’re about to say
enrages me completely and reveals
that you’re not only old but stupid, too. [Creon like Pentheus in Bacchae disrespects elders]
No one can tolerate what you’ve just said, [Creon (like Agamemnon, Oedipus) becomes unreceptive, hardened, blaming]

534 CHORUS LEADER: It’s clear enough
the spirit in this girl is passionate—
her father was the same.

597 ANTIGONE: But my nature is to love. I cannot hate.

600 No woman’s going to govern me— [masculinity crisis?] 600

624 ANTIGONE: Don’t try to share my death or make a claim
to actions which you did not do.

741 So spit this girl out—she’s your enemy.
Let her marry someone else in Hades. [Creon becomes inhuman, inflexible, unable to change and adapt]

748 If I foster any lack of full respect
in my own family, I surely do the same
with those who are not linked to me by blood.

760 We must obey 760
whatever man the city puts in charge,
no matter what the issue—great or small,
just or unjust.

1236 CREON: Alas—it’s difficult. But I’ll give up.
I’ll not do what I’d set my heart upon.
It’s not right to fight against necessity.

1243 I’ve changed my mind. . . . Now I’m afraid.
Until one dies the best thing well may be
to follow our established laws.

4. How comical (or potentially comic) are the Guard's repeated appearances? ll. 256 ff., 366, 385, 432-450

256 GUARD: My lord, I can’t say I’ve come out of breath
by running here, making my feet move fast.
Many times I stopped to think things over—
and then I’d turn around, retrace my steps.              [comic / humorous behavior?]
My mind was saying many things to me,                                                          260
"You fool, why go to where you know for sure
your punishment awaits?"—"And now, poor man,      [comic / humorous language?]
why are you hesitating yet again?

366 GUARD: Do I have your permission to speak now, [sarcasm / irony]

383ff GUARD: Well, I hope he’s found.              ["he": the culprit who honored Polynices with burial rites]
That would be best. But whether caught or not—
and that’s something sheer chance will bring about—
you won’t see me coming here again.                                [comical?]
This time, against all hope and expectation,
I’m still unhurt. I owe the gods great thanks.       [comedy; Aristotle's "suffering without pain"]

435 chatterbox guard

Learning theme

804 For any man,
even if he’s wise, there’s nothing shameful
in learning many things, staying flexible.

820 CHORUS LEADER: My lord, if what he’s said is relevant,
it seems appropriate to learn from him,

838 HAEMON: A city which belongs to just one man
is no true city. [modernity: city life & democracy = sharing space & right]

883 CREON: No—not the one whose hands are clean. You’re right. [Creon here shows some ability to listen, change]

1138 Consider this, my son.
All men make mistakes—that’s not uncommon.
But when they do, they’re no longer foolish
or subject to bad luck if they try to fix
the evil into which they’ve fallen,

1150 Learning can be pleasant when a man speaks well,

1153 even prophets are now aiming at me. [tragic flaw of being unreceptive to learning and change]

1415 CHORUS LEADER: Alas, it seems you’ve learned to see what’s right—
but far too late.

CREON: Aaiiii . . . I’ve learned it in my pain.

1463 the guilt for all of this is mine

1496 great blows of punishment—
so in old age men can discover wisdom.

Notes for Antigone

388 There are many strange and wonderful things,
but nothing more strangely wonderful than man.

21 ANTIGONE: I know that. That’s why I brought you here,
outside the gates, so only you can hear.

45 Now you know, and you’ll quickly demonstrate
whether you are nobly born, or else
a girl unworthy of her splendid ancestors.

57 ISMENE: What? You’re going to bury Polynices,
when that’s been made a crime for all in Thebes? [law of state]

ANTIGONE: Yes. I’ll do my duty to my brother— [higher law theme]
and yours as well,

77 We must remember that by birth we’re women, . . . we shouldn’t fight with men.

82 So I’ll ask those underground for pardon— [those underground = the dead]
since I’m being compelled, I will obey
those in control.

88 So be what you want.
I’ll still bury him. It would be fine to die
while doing that. I’ll lie there with him, 90
with a man I love, pure and innocent,
for all my crime. My honors for the dead
must last much longer than for those up here.

105 ANTIGONE: No, no. Announce the fact— [civil disobedience needs publicity]

185 CREON: Men, after much tossing of our ship of state, [ship of state metaphor]
the gods have safely set things right again.

221 (Creon) Eteocles, who perished in the fight
to save our city, the best and bravest
of our spearmen, will have his burial,
with all those purifying rituals
which accompany the noblest corpses,
as they move below.
As for his brother—
that Polynices, who returned from exile,

302 Guard: Every one of us was responsible,
but none of us was clearly in the wrong. [couplet exemplifies tragedy’s moral complexity]

323 could this act not be something from the gods?

388 There are many strange and wonderful things,
but nothing more strangely wonderful than man.

He’s taught himself speech and wind-swift thought,
trained his feelings for communal civic life, [Athens as democratic republic]

429-30 Surely they’ve not brought you here
because you’ve disobeyed the royal laws,

435 chatterbox guard

488 we rushed up right away
and grabbed her. She was not afraid at all.
We charged her with her previous offence 490
as well as this one. She just kept standing there,
denying nothing.

518 I know all too well I’m going to die—

534 CHORUS LEADER: It’s clear enough
the spirit in this girl is passionate—
her father was the same.

548 if she gets her way and goes unpunished,
then she’s the man here, not me.

593 Hades still desires equal rites for both. [Hades = god of the underworld, lord of the dead]

CREON: A good man does not wish what we give him
to be the same an evil man receives.

ANTIGONE: Who knows? In the world below perhaps
such actions are no crime.

597 ANTIGONE: But my nature is to love. I cannot hate.

600 No woman’s going to govern me— [masculinity crisis?] 600

624 ANTIGONE: Don’t try to share my death or make a claim
to actions which you did not do.

634 ANTIGONE: But you chose life—it was my choice to die.

649 ISMENE: How could I live alone, without her here? [intellectual > emotional; philosophy > art; narrative]

651 CREON: Why not? There are other fields for him to plow. [crudely sexist metaphor implies Creon’s masculinity crisis.]

655 ANTIGONE: Dearest Haemon, [Haemon, Antigone’s fiancé, is not present in the scene]
how your father wrongs you.

696 From now on into all future time,
as in the past, your law holds firm. [the Chorus now refers to higher law]
It never enters lives of human beings