Throughout Antigone, the possibility of losing control heavily affects Creon’s decisions. Because Creon governs with such a massive ego, any questioning of his decisions appears as a mark of disobedience and a threat to his ability to maintain absolute power. In this passage, Creon’s words clarify his position with Antigone. In order to invalidate the arguments of Antigone, Creon presents several polar opposites in order to radicalize and irrationalize Antigone’s opinions. Within context, this passage serves to glorify Creon as a symbol of civilization and progress of mankind, as well as vilify Antigone as a symbol of anarchy, seeking to impede the efforts of mankind. By juxtaposing opposing ideas, Creon seeks to convince Haemon and the elders of the validity of his position amidst Antigone’s protest.
For example, two opposites that Creon introduces in this passage are male and female. It is fitting that Creon identifies anarchy as the greatest crime, as anarchy represents the elimination of order and the loss of control. Even more fittingly, the noun "anarchy", takes on a female pronoun, "she". This represents the personification of anarchy as woman, more specifically Antigone. Further, Creon associates the "inferior" female, with "anarchy", capable of "destroy[ing]", "rip[ping]", and "break[ing]", the institutions of civilization and social order (753-754). Creon associates himself with the males, "the great mass of them", who "owe their lives to discipline", and "live by the law". Creon attempts to use his male status, being a member of the more powerful gender, to validate his opinions. By presenting the female as he does in this passage, Creon attempts to skew Haemon’s perception of the situation. In Creon’s eyes, it is no longer just a conflict of Creon and Antigone, but of male against female, of the civilized and law-abiding against the uncivilized and law-opposing. Antigone represents a disruption of civil order, a member of the minority who seeks to defy his rule. Creon ensures that there are no blurred perceptions of the situation with Antigone. This passage is all about establishing specificity, putting faces on evil and establishing absoluteness. There is no questioning of authority; there is only adherence and non-adherence to his law.
Beyond his denunciation of the female race, Creon also attempts to draw upon the similarities he shares with his son, suggesting that together they are in conflict with the forces that threaten to defy Creon’s rule. By using the second-person in words like "we" and "us", Creon suggests a unity of not only father and son, but two members of one side, the civilized, male aspect of civilization against the female aspect of civilization (756-758). Creon also repeats the third-person pronoun "she" to stress the separateness between the male and female aspects of the civilization (753). In fact, there is a very violent imagery which Creon calls upon in his argument. As mentioned above, the female "destroys" "rips", and "breaks", while males are left to "last it out" and "defend the men who live by the law" in order to prevent the "triumph" of woman (755-758). Thus, this conflict is given an almost war-like nature. By the end of the passage, Creon’s argument stresses that it is not an individual conflict, but one to be undertaken by the whole of male society. Even if Creon should fail, then his side, the male side, will and must continue to struggle against the anarchist ways of female society. Although his words have no validity themselves, Creon’s sweeping statements serve to eliminate the possibility that those in opposition to the king have any reason behind their statements. Ultimately, Creon’s efforts to invalidate the decisions of Antigone prove futile, as Haemon senses his father’s close-minded decision making. The motivations of Creon in punishing Antigone become clear in this chapter, and signal the choice of state over family, a decision which eventually leaves Creon as a figure of a tragic fate.
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