During their fight, Antigone repeats the word "happy" many times. She latches onto this word after Creon tells her "And get married quickly, Antigone. Be happy"(41). Antigone then begins to question Creon's idea of happiness, and reveals that their contrasting versions of happiness are one of the things that has made her so angry. Using sarcasm, she asks Creon, "You tell me that life is so wonderful. I want to know what I have to do in order to be able to say that myself"(42). Antigone resents the fact that Creon wants her to be content with settling down, putting big problems aside, and just worrying about being "happy." She feels that he is belittling her and she resents it. Antigone uses the word "happy" with contempt and sarcasm, as if the type of happiness that Creon outlines for her is a thing that only frivolous people want.
An ambiguous term that Anouilh uses both in the beginning and the middle of the book is the word "understand." In the beginning, Antigone is angry that everyone is always telling her to "understand." "Understand! I don't want to understand!(12). Antigone says again during her fight with Creon, "I am not here to understand"(37). Antigone does not specifically state what she means by "understand." She refers to different situations in which she is expected to understand why she should or shouldn't do something. Antigone's ambiguous use of the word "understand" gives the impression that she uses that word as a way to say that she resents being ordered around and expected to obey orders like a docile little girl.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment