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“Morality is always the product of terror; its chains and
strait-waistcoats are fashioned by those who dare not trust others,
because they dare not trust themselves, to walk in liberty,” writes
author Aldous Huxley. In “Antigone” the root of Creon’s immoral
behavior is not an inability to distinguish between what is wrong and
what is right, but, rather, a fear or a terror of what may occur if he
were to choose the morally right way to operate. “Very well, I am
afraid, then. Does that satisfy you? I am afraid that if you insist
upon it, I shall have you killed. And I don’t want to (46).” Antigone
acts in the complete opposite manner to Creon. She, as Creon can, is
able to differentiate from right and wrong and is not afraid of the
consequences of what acting on her morals may bring. These consequences
have almost a reverse effect when compared with Creon; when faced with
the consequences, she expects them and is almost too willing to deal
with them. “You are mistaken. Quite the contrary. I never doubted for
an instant you would have me put to death (41).”
In “Antigone”, the characters of Creon and Antigone stand for two
completely different, completely opposite, feelings and belief systems.
Creon stands for numbness; a numbness that encompasses what he does,
how he copes with what he does, and his morals. “Kings, my girl, have
other things to do than to surrender themselves to their private
feelings (42).” Creon does not bother himself with what he personally
thinks is right or wrong, he detaches himself from his state of being
as a person and creates just the entity “Creon the King”. This way he,
Creon, never encounters or solves any moral dilemmas for he has “Creon
the King” for that. Antigone on the other hand, represents strong
ethics, courage, and righteousness: “alive” to Creon’s numb. “I didn’t
say “yes”. I can say no to anything I think vile, and I don’t have to
count the cost. But because you said yes, all that you can do, for all
your crown and trappings, and your guards- all that you can do is to
have me killed (45).” She is alive to what happens in her surroundings;
reacting with every move. Creon is almost on a sort of monarchical
autopilot. Antigone responds to events; strictly adhering to her moral
code. Her moral code dictates how she reacts to her surroundings, and
she does not façade her feelings or attempt to hide her actions. Quite
simply, she accepts the consequences of her actions.
Creon’s judgment is presented as the “right” way to act when it is
through doing wrong that this right is accomplished. Creon knows the
difference between right and wrong and chooses wrong while Antigone
knows the difference as well but chooses right over wrong. In the end
Creon is a sort of triumphant hero as he is the only one left standing,
and everyone else is dead. The philosophy that Creon uses illustrates
that choosing wrong over right and immorality over morality is the way
to keep on living. By choosing numbness one realizes that, “Life is
nothing more than the happiness you get out of it (51).”
Antigone and Creon though oceans apart ideologically and morally,
are distinctly similar beneath the surface. Creon was at one time what
Antigone was: young, happy, enjoying the fine arts and such, free from
control, free from everyone, free from everything. “Don’t think me
fatuous if I say that I understand you; and that at your age I should
have done the same thing. A moment ago, when we were quarreling, you
said I was drinking in your words. I was. But it wasn’t you I was
listening to; it was a lad named Creon…he was thin and pale, as you
are. His mind too was filled with thoughts of self-sacrifice (50-51).”
Creon understands Antigone’s train of thought because he himself went
through the same inner feelings. But as he ascended to his position of
power, however unwillingly, he needed to detach himself from his
beliefs in order to do his job according to how he believed the job
must be done. Essentially, he understands Antigone because she feels
the same he did when he was younger, but his position and power hold
him back from acting and processing the understanding.
Time is most definitely a factor in the similarities and differences
between Creon and Antigone. Creon, as a young man, was similar to
Antigone but over time and the appearance of new tasks and
responsibilities, these wore him down and shoved his morals, his
beliefs to the backburner. Due to the nature of his new
responsibilities, he had to mold himself to the position. As he says,
“There had to be one man who said “yes”. Somebody had to agree to
captain the ship (46).” He had to captain the ship, as he puts it, but
to captain the ship the qualities that made he and Antigone so similar
rotate one hundred eighty degrees to opposites making them sorrowfully
different.
In “Antigone” there is a major focus on the differences between
Creon and Antigone (as well as Creon’s youth). It is made distinctly
clear that the King of Thebes and his niece are at complete opposite
ends of the spectrum of morality. The fact that they are completely
opposite is stressed in the play. Creon acts immorally, “numb”, while
Antigone acts morally, “alive”.
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