Creon as the Hero of Sophocles Antigone Essay examples -- Antigone es

Creon as the Hero of Antigone       The dilemma of identifying the true hero, or heroine, of Sophocles’ Antigone has tortured students for years. It is indeed a difficult decision to make. The basis for this decision is what the reader perceives to be Sophocles’ dramatic issue in this play. The dramatic issue of the play is twofold: Antigone is a fanatic who is driven by her religious fever to bury the body of her criminal brother, Polyneices, against the edict of Creon. In the second part, Sophocles shows how the new King Creon’s refusal to change his decision in the face of adversity is admirable, but at the same time his political morals end up destroying his family. His fall from grace is tragic, whereas Antigone's fall is welcome.   In this manner, Sophocles sympathizes with Creon, and thus he becomes the hero of the Antigone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contrary to the belief of Jebb, a critic of Antigone, Antigone cannot be the heroine of Antigone. There are several reasons for this: she is a one-dimensional character who does not go through any development during the course of the play, her behavior is illogical and does not evoke a sense of pity from the audience nor the chorus, and her personal vendetta outshines her religious goal.   These same reasons are also basis for the dismissal of the claims of Hogan, another critic of Antigone who has Antigone and Creon as dual heroes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Antigone’s character does not evolve in the play. Jebb sees her as enthusiastic, "at once steadfast and passionate, for the right as she sees it- for the performance of her duty," and having an "intense tenderness, purity, and depth of domestic affection" (Jebb 1902 p.12); Calder and I disagree with this statement. Calder is a critic of the pla... ...is more likely the tragic hero of Antigone, rather than Antigone herself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At first glance, Sophocles’ Antigone seems to have two protagonists, Antigone and Creon. The hero cannot be Antigone because of her one-dimensional character, illogical behavior and lack of pitifulness. And upon closer inspection, it is revealed that Creon is indeed the tragic hero, through the fact that his original edict concerning the burial of Polyneices contained the means of Creon’s downfall. Works Cited Calder, William M. III (1968). Sophokles' Political Tragedy, Antigone. GRBS 9, 389-407. Hogan, James C. (1972). The Protagonists of the Antigone. Arethusa 5, 93-100. Sophocles (1902). Antigone (Richard Jebb, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sophocles (1991). Antigone (David Green, Trans.). Chicago: The Universiry of Chicago Press.   

Death of a Salesman & Brother Dear Comparison Essay

Throughout the constant journey of life you are often under pressure. There is pressure to satisfy, pressure you put on yourself and the pressure that other people put on you. Throughout the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and the short story â€Å"Brother Dear† by Bernice Friesen, the characters find themselves facing these pressures on a daily basis. Both plotlines show how people can experience these pressures, for all different reasons, during various times in their life. In Death of a Salesman, Biff, a son of the main character, Willy, is struggling with the pressure to impress his father and satisfy him. Willy is constantly complaining about Biff, saying he is a bum and is not good. One day Biff decides he is going to try to go into business, just like his father, hoping to make Willy happy. He speaks to his mother about this, â€Å"It’s just-you see, Mom, I don’t fit in business. Not that I won’t try. I’ll try, and I’ll make good† (Miller 60). Biff knows that he will not be successful in the business world and that it is not for him, but he is going to try it anyways just so his Dad will be proud of him. The pressure to satisfy his father is so big that Biff is willing to do something he does not want to do just to make him happy. Similarly, in â€Å"Brother Dear† Greg is also under the pressure to satisfy his father. Greg wants to be a member of Green Peace, plant trees, and save the planet, while his father expects him to go to University, like his older brother, and make something of himself. His younger sister Sharlene explains, â€Å"He’s in pre-law at university, but his marks are crap. I think he went into law just because Dennis did and Dad hasn’t stopped sheering† (Friesen 3). Just like Biff, Greg is doing something he is uninterested in just to make his Dad happy and proud. Schneider 2 Coming to the end of Death of a Salesman, Biff finally, after all of the hurt and stress, puts some pressure on himself to confront his father. â€Å"I stole myself out of every good job since high school! † â€Å"And whose fault is that? † â€Å"And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That’s whose fault it is! † (Miller 131) All of Biff’s pressure makes him blow and tell his father the truth about why he has never been successful. Greg’s father in â€Å"Brother Dear† is constantly putting pressure on Greg to do good in school and make something of himself. However Greg does not want to do what his Dad wants, but what he wants. Eventually, after years of pressure, Greg applies pressure onto himself to tell his father his real plans. He tells his Dad how he got a job planting trees for the summer, so he no longer has to pay his rent anymore. When his father questions how he will make enough money for rent and tuition Greg responds saying, â€Å"I’m not going back to school† (Friesen 4). Just like Biff, Greg makes himself confess and tell his father the truth about his life. Throughout Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman has a huge amount of pressure on him from his family and those around him. He has pressure from his wife to get money to pay bills, pressure from his sons to â€Å"get himself together† and pressure from hid friends to do better. All of this pressure makes Willy act crazy. One day, while he was asking a friend for a loan he states, â€Å"Funny y’know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive† (Miller 98). Willy is implying the he in under so much pressure, he often wishes he were dead so he could be relieved. Schneider 3 In â€Å"Brother Dear†, Sharlene, Greg’s younger sister, is also feeling the pressure in her family to get an education and be something. Like Greg, she has dreams of her own. â€Å"†¦next year’s grade twelve, then it’s escape to the University of Alberta†¦Like Dad wants. I have dreams of running off to Europe for a couple of years, being a nanny and learning a language or two†¦I’ll tell Dad I’ll do the university thing when I get back. He’ll probably explode anyways† (Friesen 2). Sharlene is torn between following her dreams or doing as Daddy wants. Overall, throughout life you often have pressure put on you. The characters in both Death of a Salesman and â€Å"Brother Dear† are all under the pressure to satisfy, the pressure of themselves and the pressure of others. Whether the pressure be to get a job, go to school or be something, they all experience pressures throughout their journey of life.

Killing a whole family Essay

Rodolfo again faces Eddie’s angry side, which asks him to get out of his house. But Rodolfo has nothing to do with him and is more concerned of the arrival of Marco, which could lead to sparks flying between his brother and Eddie. He calls out to Catherine to leave now, while Beatrice suggests to Eddie to leave the house and go somewhere else. But Eddie refuses to move as this was his house, and now Beatrice is totally fed up with his behaviour and asks him that why he hates Marco now. Eddie refers to the time when Marco called him a rat and claimed that he had killed his children, which he says caused such hatred. Now Rodolfo tries to make things better by apologizing from his brother’s behalf and he takes all the troubles and brings up the comradeship. But Eddie still sticks with his claim that Marco stole his name and asks Rodolfo to tell him to give it back in front of the whole neighbourhood. Eddie feels that this explanation isn’t enough, now Beatrice can no longer hold the truth. She knows what Eddie wants, and in front of everyone and the arriving Marco, she says †you can never have her. † Beatrice asks Eddie to bid farewell to his niece forever, and that †truth is not as bad as blood. † Catherine is shocked, Eddie I horrified and †[clenching his fists]† he denies having such thoughts and asks Beatrice what made her think like that. Marco now calls out for Eddie and Eddie’s attention is diverted as he steps out of the apartment to challenge Marco. Rodolfo pleads them to stop and tells Eddie that he would be killing a whole family. But nothing can stop Eddie now and he has a murderous look and with a bit of fake laugher puts forward things that they have done wrong. He says that he knows that Marco feels that what h did wasn’t right and should apologize for taking his name away and accusing him for killing his children despite the fact that he put his roof over them and food in their mouths. He further provokes Marco by repeatedly calling him a liar and then they get physical as Eddie lunges at Marco. Marco strikes him in the neck and calls him a animal. Eddie goes down and when it seems Marco has full control of the situation, Eddie brings out a knife. Louis tries to stop Eddie, but Eddie is totally out of control and he lunges with his knife at Marco, who with a final cry of †Anima-a-a-l!  Ã¢â‚¬  grabs his arm and presses the blade into Eddie. Mike and Louis separate the pair, but time has run out for Eddie whose words to Beatrice were his last ever. Beatrice covers Eddie while people around are praying, lights shine on Alfieri who is in the crowd. So as the play has progressed, this dominant and generous hero of the play is made to seem like a selfish and rude villain, who’s immense love, narrow minded nature and feelings of insecurity have led to him falling into his own trap of death. I do indeed think that Eddie was responsible for his own death, and it was bound to happen as soon as he had made the phone call which in my view was the hubris, the point of no return. But just like Alfieri, the audience does tend to feel sorry for this hard-working man, who despite having displayed his generosity, his life had to end in this manner. His selfishness and his flaw, which was his immense love, ate him up, and he was always very stubborn to his decisions and never took advice from either Alfieri or Beatrice. His deterioration was clear and could be monitored as he first felt honoured to welcome the Italian brothers, then when they he entered he asked them when they would leave and towards the end asked them to get out of their house. When Alfieri says at the end of the play, †And yet it is better to settle for half†, he is trying to send a message that despite the fact that Eddie displayed honest emotions through out, he still never compromised with everyone because of his narrow-minded beliefs and that eventually cost him his life.

Philosophy of the Past and A Good Time in the Present

Philosophy of the Past and A Good Time in the Present Well, before I can start with the arguments of Hallowell and Porter, I have to summarize the reading so that it is understood what I summarized in my mind from the reading. I remember a couple different forms of thought being presented, the first of which was Epicureanism and the other was Stoicism. These were the two forms presented in reading that we are to write about.For all intensive purposes, to give a description of the two thoughts, Epicureanism was basically living with the absence of fear and lust, and accepting your role in life, by realizing that your life was predetermined and out of your control. The quicker a person could accept his role the happier and easier his life would be.As for Stoicism, there were multiple forms and transformations of Stoicism that were discussed in the reading, but the most basic ideal is that man must not concern himself long life, food, wealth, and power, but with the one thing that he can control, his emotions.Epicurus from GargittosControl of emotions and suppressing emotions lead to the transition from point to point more smoothly because God controls what happens in life, we control how we handle what happens emotionally.So, now that I have given a brief description of what the chapter was basically discussing, I will now discuss the author's views and arguments. It starts off with Epicureanism which was founded by Epicurus who was born an Athenian and opened a school in Athens which was secluded so that he and his followers could live away from the turmoil of the world around them. This is where it kind of begins to sound like what we would call a cult. He became a sort of divinity, almost like a god to his followers.Hallowell and Porter discussed...

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review Theres a reason more than 10 million Twilight series books are in print. Twilight, the first in the series, is the addictive story of two teenagers –- Bella, a regular girl, and Edward, a perfect gentleman, and a vampire. This is the type of book you might read in just a few sittings, becoming engrossed in its fantastical world and oblivious to your physical surroundings. While not the next great thing in modern literature, its a fun book to get lost in and comes to an end much too quickly. Pros Highly entertaining, fast-paced story of romance and suspenseRelatively clean for a teenage vampire love storyThe concept of good vampires is unusual and intriguing Cons The writing can be clunky at timesEdwards perfection can be over-the-top, even for a fictitious super-humanAt times, Edward and Bellas relationship can seem more like that of a father and daughter Description Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was first published in October 2005.Publisher: Little, Brown512 Pages Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Book Review Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad for the remainder of high school. There, she meets Edward Cullen and his family, who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn. Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edwards burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These undead friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples. The book has been praised for its treatment of sexuality and morality. Although theres plenty of yearning and sensuality, there is no sex, drinking, or drug use. Edward refuses Bellas desire to be turned into a vampire herself, on grounds that it wouldnt be the right thing to do. Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. Its first-person viewpoint keeps the pages turning. This isnt a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining, if not flawlessly written, story. Twilight will almost certainly appeal to teenage girls and many women of all ages, but probably not to the majority of males. Its sure to make readers eager to devour the next three novels.

Comparing Teacher Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparing Teacher Standards - Essay Example Accesses students thinking and experiences as a basis for instructional activities by, for example, encouraging discussion, listening and responding to group interaction, and eliciting samples of student thinking orally and in writing. obtained advanced certification defined as a professional or permanent certificate, and if assigned to middle and secondary grades the teacher has completed at least 30 semester hours distributed across academic subject matter knowledge, teaching skills, and state academic content standards related to the teaching assignment; OR achieved 100 points on the Ohio Highly Qualified Teacher Rubric (The rubric credits a combination of teaching experience, coursework, professional development, professional activities, and awards. This rubric is still under development); OR Assesses individual and group performance in order to design instruction that meets learners current needs in each domain (cognitive, social, emotional, moral, and physical) and that leads to the next level of development. Understands and can identify differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning styles, multiple intelligences, and performance modes, and can design instruction that helps use students strengths as the basis for growth. Values on-going assessment as essential to the instructional process and recognizes that many different assessment strategies, accurately and systematically used, are necessary for monitoring and promoting student learning. Appropriately uses a variety of formal and informal assessment techniques (e.g. observation, portfolios of student work, teacher-made tests, performance tasks, projects, student self-assessments, peer assessment, and standardized tests) to enhance his or her knowledge of learners, evaluate students progress and performances, and modify teaching and learning strategies. 1. Have an individual professional development plan approved by the local

Analysis of Personal Finance Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Analysis of Personal Finance - Case Study Example    The Share Portfolio of Ms. Joan Watterson comprises of 2500 Telstra & 1000 AMP shares which she has been holding for more than a year. However, it may be noted that Ms. Watterson is not a very keen equity investor and these investments were accidental. The Capital gain that Ms. Watterson can earn (if these shares were sold now) is equivalent to $3000. Company Numbers of Shares Share Price (as on April 27, 2012) Value of Shares Telstra 2500 3.511 8775 AMP 1000 4.252 4250 All shares were bought and have been held for over one year. The total value of shares: $13025. Telstra paid a dividend worth 0.14 (both 100% franked)3 twice during the last one year, which is the period Ms. Watterson was holding its 2500 shares. During the same period, AMP paid a dividend worth 0.15 (30% franked) and 0.14 (50% franked)4. We can compute the franking credits for Joan Watterson as follows: Franking Credits = Dividend * (3 / 7) * Franking Percentage5 Franking credits for Telstra = $300 and Franking credits for AMP =30 + 19.28 = $49.28 Total Franking Credits = $349.28. 1.3. ... Disposable Income Value Notes Taxable Annual Salary $62000 Dividends received $990 2500 * 2 * 0.14 = $700 1000*0.14 + 1000*0.15=$290 Franking credits $349.28 Interest on cash 4% of $4444 4.25% of $4500 Balance in Holiday account- $4444 (puts in $200 per month at 4%). Balance in Common Wealth Bank (CBA) account- $4500 (interest rate 4.25%)6 Taxable Income $63025.19 Tax Payment $4650 + 0.3*(63025.19-37000) = 12457.55 For taxable income $37,001 - $80,000, the applicable tax is $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,0007 Disposable Income $50567.63 1.4. Total Expenses per annum Expenses Value per Year Notes Mortgage payment $9050 $7200 (actual fringe benefit per annum + additional $600 per month) Laundry $300 Food & grocery $8400 $700 per month Clothing & shoes $1000 Electricity & gas $660 $110 per two months Phone & Internet $1800 $150 per month Municipal Rates $1000 Water $600 Car Expense Licensing $500 Comprehensive insurance $500 Running cost & repair $2500 Car Loan 0 Medical expense $ 1200 $100 per month Holiday expense $ 5000 Entertainment $4800 $100 per week Gifts $1920 (of which $633.6 is tax deductable) $40 per week (33% of which is in donations to community aid and tax deductable) Other expenses $2400 $200 per month Superannuation Expense $1380 Additional contribution made into West State per month (from taxed income) Total Expenses $50,210  Ã‚