Sunday, May 11, 2014

How do the portrayals of Antiqone and Electra share the common theme of pride? Please be specific with supporting facts.How this theme is wanting...

I would say that the theme is not "wanting" in either
character.  I would say that both Electra and Antigone share a very strong common bond
through their dedication to and pride about their family honors.  Electra is determined
to mourn the lost of her wrongly murdered father, and Antigone is determined to ignore
the edicts of her uncle Creon in order to pay homage to her dead brother.  Both are very
prideful and unapologetic about their families and their own right to behave in
honorable homage to the dead.


From line 348, Electra says
to her sister:


readability="21">

...You who, when
I


did everything to take vengeance for my
father,


never did a thing to help -- yes, discouraged the
doer.


Is not this cowardice on top of
baseness?


Tell me, or let me tell you, what
benefit


I would achieve by giving up my
mourning?


Do not I live?...And I hurt
them


and so give honor to the
dead...



Electra is certainly
a girl proud of her loyalty to her dead father and critical of a sister who just seems
to forget honor and pride of family and go with the
flow.


Antigone is made to pay the ultimate price for
behaviour she considers honorable, that she takes pride in.  Creon condemns her to death
for her actions, and, beginning at line 896, she says this about dying for her
actions:


readability="24">

Still when I get there I may hope to
find


I come as a dear friend to my dear
father,


to you, my mother, and my brother
too.


All three of you have known my hand in
death.


I washed your bodies, dressed them for the
grave...


Last, Polyneices knows the price I
pay


for doing final service to his
corpse.


And yet the wise will know my choice was
right.



So, both Electra and
Antigone defend and stand by their unpopular actions, supported by their firm beliefs in
and pride about their families and honoring the dead.

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