Sophocles’ play Antigone demonstrates how his players are character types representative of certain concepts. The main characters, Antigone and Creon, represent either idealism or pragmatism respectively, and are completely devoid of compromise.
Idealism is the act of envisioning things in an ideal form and pursuing that ideal. This concept applies to Antigone, her belief in the will of the gods, and her love for both brothers. Antigone believes that the will of the gods comes before any decree of man, including that of the present king. Even though it is the king’s position to interpret the will of the gods and is, therefore, the gods’ representative, she believes that he is wrong both in word and deed. She chooses to risk the wrath of the king, her future father-in-law, and the endangerment of her prospective marriage to Haeman in order to follow her conviction that she is right. As a consequence, she is sentenced to be entombed alive. She expected this conclusion from the very beginning. So she accepts it in order to prove her love for her fallen brother and her willingness to die for her own convictions. In the end, Antigone hangs herself in pursuit of that ideal. In this way, idealism wins the play.
Pragmatism is the philosophy that the value of an idea lies in its observable practical consequences; it is an objective way of assessing a situation. Creon is a pragmatic ruler whose first duty is to return his recently war-torn city to peace and order. His first decree as ruler is to honor the fallen king with a royal burial and to disgrace the enemy with the defacement of his body by scavengers. It is in this way that he means to win over the people’s trust. However, Antigone, his future daughter-in-law, opposes him outright. She chooses to bestow burial rites on her brother not once, but twice. It is this act that pushes him to punish her. After all, a king who allows such violations by family to go unpunished is weak-willed. So Creon is forced to punish Antigone in order to prove himself. However, once he has realized that public opinion has turned against him, he changes his mind and decides to free her. Unfortunately, he arrives too late: Antigone has hanged herself, Haeman has committed suicide, Eurydice has done the same. In the end, Creon is the last important character alive. In this way, pragmatism wins the play.
Compromise is the result of settling differences by having each side make concessions. It can be said that no one won because no one was willing to compromise his/her convictions. Antigone received honor and respect but lost her life. Creon remained alive but lost his family. Perhaps if Antigone had tried to persuade Creon on a private burial, she would have kept her life. Perhaps if Creon had understood his people more readily, he would have kept his family. However, each character was entrenched in his/her own thoughts and refused to compromise.
