Jean Anouilh's play, first staged in occupied Paris in 1944, retells Sophocles. Antigone insists on burying her brother Polynices, whom King Creon has declared a traitor and ordered left unburied. Creon, her uncle, does not want to execute her. He argues for order, for the dull work of governing, and for the compromises a ruler has to make. She refuses every offer and answers with a flat, stubborn no. The play stays in a single day and is narrated by a Chorus who announces from the start that the outcome is fixed. The central clash is between a girl who will not accept the world as it is and a man who has learned to run it anyway.
It suits readers of drama who want a short, sharp text about conscience versus authority, and students comparing Anouilh with Sophocles. It is also a good pick for anyone curious about how writers handled moral compromise under occupation, since the play's argument about obedience and refusal carries a lot in very few pages.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1944
- Language
- EN
