Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Antigone
I thought the performance of Antigone was excellent! I especially liked Creon and Tiresias's conversation, which reminded me of Tiresias's words to Oedipus. Just as Oedipus's tragic flaw was his stubbornness in his pursuit of knowledge, Creon's downfall was his pertinacity and pride. Creon persistently tried to keep his power, resulting in his downfall, as well as the death of his family.
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I also really enjoyed the performance! Antigone seems to be very much like her father, Oedipus, in that they are both persistent. The young Antigone refuses to succumb to Creon, a representative of state power, and his rulings, even if death might be the consequence. Instead, she remains loyal to her brother, wanting to bury him properly in order to show him respect. Oedipus similarly refuses to believe Tiresias and his prophesies.
I was looking up Antigone and they defined her name as "anti" meaning going against and "gone" which means corner or bend. I thought this was a very fitting name for Antigone because although she is caught between choosing Divine Law over Secular Law but when confronted by Creon she is unwavering in her thoughts.
I, too, enjoyed the performance. Also, I thought our discussion in class today about Creon was especially interesting. When reading Oedipus the King, we talked about how Creon served as a foil to Oedipus. While Oedipus acted rashly and without vigilance, Creon always made decisions with utmost forethought and represented a voice of reason. However, once Creon is granted power, as seen in Antigone, he falls prey to the same vices that plague Oedipus and, essentially, becomes Oedipus. These ideas reminded me of a famous quote about power leading to corruption, so I decided to look it up. In 1887 Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I'm just really happy to see the usage of the amphitheater. Though I've only been at St. Martin's since freshman year, I've never seen it been used before. In fact, I tend to forget we even have an amphitheater because it is so seldom used. And I talked about its usage with my sister, who was at St. Martin's for 12 years and two weeks (Katrina), who said she couldn't remember it being used once. Maybe Mr. Krusse's remark about Antigone being the first "official performance in the Flick Family Amphitheater" is true. How disheartening! I hope to see more usage out of the amphitheater.
Oh, and shout out to William Martin telling off Dr. Ramos, who was my freshman advisor. (That made me feel good on the inside.) Plus, no one ever told me he was a good actor. It's always nice seeing new kids hit the stage.
Antigone was indeed the first production to perform in the Flick Amphitheater... of any kind, as far as I know. I don't believe that anybody has ever used it for anything but photos before our performances.
Anyway, I wanted to mention something about a specific phrase in the play. At the very end of the play, as Creon is carried on, the chorus says that they hope Creon's example teaches a lesson about "the true nature of wisdom." Clearly, such a statement relates to the themes of power and knowledge. It seems that the Greeks associated these concepts with each other; after all, we saw Oedipus' power destroyed by "blindness." It seems that power could only be maintained with wisdom, and wisdom could only come from the gods above; human thought does not constitute "wisdom."
I also thought that Antigone was great! I think that the desire for pride and power shown by Creon in Antigone, is also shown in Hamlet by Claudius. Claudius has ruined his family, just as Creon has, to gain power and authority in his kingdom.
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