IB Junior English Journal Response 19

Antigone pp. 1-20 Timeline

List of Events that Occurred:

-Characters are introduced by the chorus
-Eteocles, refuses to step down as king and is eventually is involved in a civil war between him and his younger brother
-Both Polynices and Eteocles are killed in battle to maintain his reign
-Creon becomes king and gives Eteocles a proper ceremony and burial while leaving Polynices “to rot”
-Antigone resists talking about her whereabouts (that last night)
-The Nurse and Antigone quarrel about a seemingly important matter regarding Antigone’s relationship with Haemon
-Antigone confirms her relationship, in person, with Haemon
-Antigone refuses to continue with their liaison and blocks all contradictions from Haemon
-Creon inquires about the Guards’ appearance before him and asks what the situation is regarding the “body”

Other Elements of Note:

One may notice that in the first several pages of the play, there is the motif of resistance between the Nurse and Antigone; Haemon and Antigone; and Creon and the Guards.  In each of their cases, one of the characters seems to digress into an insignificant aspect of a conversation while the other attempts to reorient the conversation to answer the main question.  In the end of each conversation, one of the characters eventually reveals the truth of the matter.  Interestingly, the characters do not seem to take any severe actions in response to the truth.