Othello Vs. Antigone

Eric Kachar

Professor Lo Presti

March 21, 2013

English 151 Section 1724

Othello vs. Antigone

The tragedies of Antigone and Othello written in two different time periods, even though that happened the way these tragic plays were structured was amazing. In both plays the characters are victims, in spite of their crimes. Between Antigone and Othello there are differences and similarities between them that include the themes characters , and the settings.

In Antigone written by Sophocles ,the main character Antigone dies for her beliefs. The brothers Ploynecies and Eteocles die in the war to protect Thebes. Creon the ruler at the time declared a law that her brother Eteocles will be honored for his duties while Polynecies would not , his body would be left to the wild. The penalty for breaking that law will be death. Antigone thought that was wrong she believes that both of her brothers should deserve the same honor. Antigone devoted as ever took her brother Polynecies deceased body and decided to bury it. After Creon has found out that he was dishonored he declared a death penalty against Antigone. She would be sent to cave where she later committed suicide by hanging herself. Creon's wife and son also committed suicide but for a different cause. Creon believes that his laws were superior to the gods. That angered the gods and the blind prophet Tiresias warned Creon if do not change your view on Polynecies and punishment on Antigone bad things will occur.

In Othello, the main characters Othello and Desdemona die by death. Desdemona did not die because of a crime, she has died because she was set up by Iago to make it seem like she was cheating on Othello. Othello's crime was being ignorant and killing his wife Desdemona. Iago is the main reason why the play has ended the way it did. Othello always called Iago "Honest Iago"; Iago particularly wants to destroy Othello to seek revenge for Othello's naming Cassio as lieutenant. Iago felt certain that Othello would give the title to him, so when Othello names Cassio instead, Iago is full of rage. Further, Iago thus becomes jealous of Cassio because he is now of a higher rank and is young and handsome to. Desdemona gets wrapped into Imago's evil plotting by mere circumstance, Iago knows that Othello values Desdemona and their relationship above all else, so Iago uses Desdemona as a tool in his plan. During the play Iago heard rumors that Othello was sleeping Emil. Iago did not have any proof but thought of it was enough. Iago wanted to get even with Othello by telling Othello that his wife Desdemona went around sleeping with Cassio. In the last scene when Othello kills Desdemona Emilia, Iago's wife tells Othello that Emilia herself stole the handkerchief. Othello than realized that Desdemona was telling the truth and he had done a horrible thing of killing her. Due to Othello feeling sorrow for him he stabs himself with a sword. Before he did that he told everyone that he loved Desdemona and he wanted no harm done.

One of the major themes in Antigone is position of a woman. During the period in the time Antigone was written the roles of women were very limited. One of them is that they had to obey men and they cannot disobey them. When Antigone rebels against Creon it upsets him for two reasons. The first reason is the gender role, men should not be dishonored and the other reason is that of the hierarchy. Antigone's sister Ismene on the other hand is a total opposite. She believes that women should be obedient to the men. Ismene says men are stronger and must be obeyed. "I, for one, I'll beg the dead to forgive me- I'm forced, I have no choice- I must obey the ones who stand in power". As we know later on in the play Antigone causes a problem in the Greek society by going against the man. At first when Creon found out those women as committed the crime he laughed because he thought that no woman would have the audacity to dishonor the king. The punishment he gave to Antigone in his mind he knew was wrong but since he could not be defeated by a woman he had initiate the penalty , which led to suicide.

Another major theme in Antigone is Pride. The author Sophocles revolves this theme in all of his works. In this play the pride is that men can create laws that replace the divine principles. When Creon creates a law he believes in himself that he is the god and that his laws are more powerful than the Greek gods. This leads to a punishment because no one man can make laws that overpower the divine. When Tiresias first shows up Creon mocks he especially since he was blind and he said he can see in the future. Tiresias warned Creon that he would suffer he did not take him seriously until his family died but it was too late. In Othello pride is also a theme. Othello himself is proud of everything he has accomplished especially the honorable appearance he poses on society because of his