Character Analysis of Antigone and Creon in William...

Antigone and Creon, the two displayed tragic figures of Antigone, both led themselves to their demise because of their love for themselves and the hate they both share for one another. Antigone’s proven love is of the afterlife while her hate is for her uncle and king, Creon. Creon may share the love of himself, however, it is not quite the same as Antigone’s love. Creon loves to rule the city of Thebes and hate’s Antigone, which is very odd for both characters because they are family. Sophocles uses the Rhetoric of love and hate between Antigone and Creon to expose the characters weaknesses, which would ultimately lead Antigone and Creon to their downfalls. The characters’ love is for themselves, which blinded them from seeing the consequences, however, Antigone doesn’t truly have any consequences, only Creon. Antigone wanted the life of the afterlife and had already given Polynices a proper burial, so Creon executing her was only giving her what s he wanted. Creon, however, ultimately lost his family when they killed themselves because of his love for his city, he neglected to love his family and lost them, which is why Creon could be considered the more tragic figure of the play. Additionally, their hate for one another focused them on each other and spawned a personal battle of power between one another, causing them to ignore the world around. For example, Creon was more focused on his hate for Antigone that he neglected his wife and son, Haemon, who ultimately killed