Antigone Essay -- English Literature

Antigone EssayIn any story or piece of literature, there will ever so be the maincharacters to fill the pages with incessant adventure. The characterswhose names appear on almost every page and the characters whoseactions the story revolves around. However, a story will also alwayshave its minor characters. These are the characters that contributeheavily to the plot, yet arent mentioned quite as often and areunderestimated regarding their importance in the story. In the Greekmasterpiece, Antigone, the occasion Sophocles construed a myriad ofminor characters that contributed to the story in numerous ways.Ismene, one of Oedipus daughters, was created to foil the maincharacter, Antigone. Haemon, the son of Creon, took the role of addingcontroversy and showing his father visit for all the trouble hecaused Thebes. And finally, Tiresias, an elderly blind prophet, wasconstructed to diminish Creons hubris.Firstly, Ismenes character was created primarily to foil that ofAntigones. When Anti gone initially discussed her purposes to contest theKings orders, Ismene was against it and tried to argue with hersister, hoping to dispel the plan from her mind. In lines 71-74,Ismene states during her argument, think what a death well die, theworst of all if we violate the laws and override the fixed decree ofthe throne, its power- we must be sensible. During the entire storythe cardinal characters have obvious opposing views and personalities.Ismene is discerned as rational, cautious, and dutiful, while Antigoneis conveyed as intractable, brave, and disobedient.Another example of the discrepancy between the characters is the waythat they are physically represented. Sophocles generated Ismene w... ...ty fits together homogeneous a puzzle. For example, without thoseblank sky pieces that fit at the top of a puzzle, it can never becompleted. Same rule applies to any story, without the minorcharacters to utter hidden information or to simple add drama, then astory can never be c ompleted. In the Greek tragedy, Antigone, theauthor, Sophocles, presents the minor characters in his story withimportant functions and responsibilities. Ismene, Antigones sister,had the purpose of foiling Antigone in order to create undeclaredconfliction between the characters. Haemon, Antigones fiance, wasmeant to bring justification to the string of deaths at the end of thestory. And lastly, Tiresias, the prise prophet, was carefullyproduced as the character who pushed Creons conscious over the edgeand influenced him the most to withdraw his punishment for Antigone.