Antigone - Play to Film Essay

When most stories are written they have morals or themes which the writer wants the

reader to take away from. The story “Antigone” tells about a royal family were two brothers kill

each other and battle and a new king takes the crown. Getting farther into the story one brother is

buried with military honors and the other brother is left on the battlefield to be untouched. Later

into the story, their sister tries to bury the unburied brother to show him respect, but later is

caught defying the laws of the king and is sentenced to death. In the story and in the film of

“Antigone,” Sophocles finds multiple ways to compare and contrast multiple themes in the story.

Out of all the multiple themes that are generated throughout the story, the most important and

implied theme throughout the story is rules and order. When comparing and contrasting the

“Antigone” film and the written story, in the film and in the story multiple main characters talk

about following the laws of man and the laws of the gods, in the film and the story they compare

how important the laws of the gods are compared to the laws of man (Creon’s laws), and Creon

is a strict ruler in both the film and the written play.

The first reason supporting that the film and the written story support the theme, rules

and order, is when the main characters in the film and in the text talk about the laws of man and

the laws of the gods. A quote from the written story is “Since apparently the laws of the gods

mean nothing to you” said Antigone (Sophocles 62)... You will give no support to whoever

breaks this law” said Creon (Sophocles 182). These two quotes mean that in the time period that

they currently live in they take the laws of the king, Creon, serious and there would be severe

punishments if they are broken and that to follow the laws of the gods is holy and mean a great
matter to certain characters in this story. This matters because it supports the idea that in the

story the laws Antigone follows and the laws Creon follows become an important part of their

lives. This connects to the film of “Antigone” by showing Creon’s power by enforcing his laws

towards Antigone with the element of film of costumes. The costumes in the film represent how

serious Creon takes the law and how much it means to follow them. These two quotes from the

passage and the element of film show rules and order because of how serious they take their

kingdom.

In the movie and in the play Antigone they compare how important laws of man are to

the laws of the gods. In the passage of “Antigone”, it states “I dared. It was not god’s

proclamation. That final justice that rules the world below makes no such laws” said Antigone

(Sophocles 357-358)... But all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded

laws of God” (Sophocles 360-361). These two quotes from the passage represent that the laws of

God are more sacred to the Thebes and no matter how many laws Creon makes they can never

compete against the rules and order the gods have set into place in the lives of these main

characters. When this is compared to the film, the film uses the element of theme of symbols to

represent that the actions Antigone takes are because of the rules of the gods. This matters and

supports the theme because both the film and the passage represent that rules and order play a

role in the punishment of Antigone and play a role of why Creon and Antigone took the actions

they did.

The third reason is that in the film and in the written play Creon is enraged by Creon.

This supports that rules and order is the theme because Creon is enraged by Antigone not

following his rules that he strictly set for all the people of Thebes. In the play “Antigone” it
states “Go join them, then; if you must have your love, find it in hell.” This quote represents that

in both, in the film and in the play, that Creon is enraged and does not care about the feelings of

Antigone when she broke the law. This supports the theme, rules and order, by showing when

Antigone broke the law Creon became enraged and caused severe punishment for breaking the

law. Thi8s relates to the theme by showing that Creon takes laws and order serious in their time

period in Thebes.

In conclusion, the film and the play both compare and contrast a major theme in the

storyline, rules and order is one of the important themes in this story because it plays a role in the

way the Antigone and other characters talk about and show their respect for the gods and it

shows how the rules of the gods play a major role in their lives and that the laws of the gods are

more sacred than the laws of man. The play and the film of “Antigone” both compare and

contrast the theme rules and order which takes part in their every day lives.