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Antigone: A Tragedy by Jean Anouilh

6 reviews

pacifickat's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Antigone: What will it be, my happiness? What sort of happy woman will she be, little Antigone. What inane little things will she have to do from one day to the next so that she can tear off with her teeth her little scrap of happiness? Tell me, who will she have to lie to, to smile at, to sell herself to? Who will she leave to die while looking the other way?

I came across this modern stageplay adaptation of Antigone by accident while trying to find an audio edition of the original Greek tragedy. This version was written and performed in France during the German occupation of WWII. It was important to its original audience as a symbol of resistance, and I think perhaps continues to carry relevance in the present.

A few key themes that stood out to me:

An interrogation of the idea of happiness being one's highest end in life:

Ismene: Antigone, please, it's all very well for men to believe in ideas and die for them, but you are a girl.
Antigone: A girl, yes! Have I cried enough for being a girl?
Ismene: Your happiness is there in front of you and all you have to do is take it.
(19:30)

Creon: Like the rest of us, you'll learn, when it's too late, that life is a favorite book, a child playing at your feet, a tool that fits perfectly in your hand, a garden bench to rest on of an evening. [...] You'll see for yourself, that the derisory consolation of growing old is discovering that life, when all is said and done, is perhaps nothing but happiness.
Antigone: Happiness.
Creon: It's not much of a word, is it?
Antigone: What will it be, my happiness? What sort of happy woman will she be, little Antigone. What inane little things will she have to do from one day to the next so that she can tear off with her teeth her little scrap of happiness? Tell me, who will she have to lie to, to smile at, to sell herself to? Who will she leave to die while looking the other way?
Creon: Be quiet. Don't be silly.
Antigone: No, I won't be quiet. I want to know just what it is I have to do to be "happy". Right now, seeing as it is right now I have to decide. You say that life is so wonderful. I want to know what it is I'm going to do to live.
Creon: Do you love Haemon?
Antigone: Yes, I love Haemon! The Haemon I love is strong and young, discerning and faithful the way I am. But, if this life of yours, if this happiness, is going to wear him down, [...] if he has to become Mr. Haemon, and he, too, has to learn to say yes, then I no longer love Haemon.
Creon: Stop it, you've no idea what you're saying.
Antigone: Oh, I know what I'm saying. It's just that you don't hear me anymore. I'm talking to you from too far away now, from a kingdom you can't enter with your wrinkles, your wisdom and your paunch. I'm laughing Creon, because I am seeing you, all of a sudden, as if you were 15 years old. It's the same look of helplessness while thinking you can do everything. [...]
Creon: Will you just shut up!
Antigone: Why do you want me to shut up? You know I'm right. You think I can't see it in your eyes that you know I'm right? You know it but you'd never admit it. Because, right now, you're too busy trying to justify your happiness.
Creon: Yours and mine! Yes, you stupid girl.
Antigone: You make me sick with this happiness of yours, with your life that you have to love whatever the cost. [...] With your little mundane joys, as long as don't expect too much. Well, I want it all, right now, every last bit of it. Otherwise, I don't want it at all. I don't want to be meek, and to be contented with just a little piece, just because I've been a "good girl". I want to be certain about everything, today. And, it all has to be just as wonderful as when I was small, and if it isn't, I'd rather be dead.
Creon: That's right, go on, just like your father!
Antigone: Yes, like my father! We belong to those who force the question to the very end, till there no longer remains the slightest chance of hope left alive, till the last flicker has been extinguished. We attack and smother it, wherever we find it, this hope of yours. This cherished, filthy hope of yours!
(1:12:40)

The dark comfort of simple fatalism:

Chorus: Tragedy is appropriate, it's restful, it's certain. In other types of drama -- with their traitors, their desperate villains, their persecuted innocence, their seekers of revenge, their zealots, their glimmers of hope -- dying becomes something horrible, like an accident. You could've been saved, perhaps. [...] With Tragedy, you know where you are. In the first place, you're among friends. We are all innocent when it comes down to it. It's not because one person kills and another is killed, it's a matter of how things have been assigned. But above all else, tragedy is restful, because you know there's no hope, there is no damned hope, you're trapped. Trapped, finally, like a rat, with the weight of the world pressing you down and all you can do is shout. You can't moan or complain, all you can do is scream at the top of your lungs what it is you have to say, those things you've never said, the things perhaps you never knew until now. And for nothing. To tell it to yourself, to learn it yourself. In other plays you go back and forth because you hope to find a way out. It's vulgar. It's utilitarian. This, is an end in itself. It's the stuff of kings. And there's no need to struggle anymore, finally.
(39:00)

The power of agency in tragedy, and which characters actually possess it:

Creon: It's absurd. [...] Why are you doing it? For the others, for those who believe in it, to turn them against me?
Antigone: No!
Creon: If it's not for the others, nor for your brother, then who is it for?
Antigone: Nobody... For me!
Creon: Do you really want to die? You already look like a piece of game in a trap.
Antigone: Don't feel sorry for me. Do as I do, do what it is you have to do. [...]
Creon: I want to save you, Antigone!
Antigone: You're the king, you can do anything you want. But that, you cannot do. [...] You can neither save me nor stop me.
(54:00)

Content Warnings

mxmorganic's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a fascinating read in conversation with Sophocles’ play. At certain points it’s almost a 1:1 adaptation from the original, while at others scenes can differ quite dramatically from the moments they’re based on. Seeing where and how Anouilh chose to innovate as he retold this story is a rich, rewarding experience.

Moreover, the play is a fascinating work in its own right. There’s a character standing in for the Greek chorus who frames the play at its beginning as a tragedy that simply cannot be stopped. Everything’s already been decided, and it cannot be changed, and the machine is simply going to run the way it was designed to. Examining that through-line as the play progresses is a highlight of the reading experience. Antigone in particular seems to be rather aware that she’s just a character in a tragedy, and hearing her speak to other characters, knowing what she does but will not tell them, is a tremendous element of the play.

Finally, kudos to Jeremy Sams for this translation. I cannot speak to how it stands in comparison to Anouilh’s original French, but the English he has produced is a delight to read (minus an unfortunately high number of typos for a work this small).

In short, whether approaching it in conversation with Sophocles or reading it more as the excellent play that it is, Anouilh’s Antigone is absolutely worth a read.

Content Warnings

returningb00kworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

pulcotinette's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My absolute all-time-favourite, Antigone never leaves my side. it was a love at first sight.
I love her quite love for Hemon, her determination, how Anouilh talks about theatre and about people having roles to fulfill and things to do and things to say. I love that nobody is wrong, yet they can't be saved. I find this book heart-wrenching, but also deeply inspiring when I face a hard choice.

Content Warnings

georgia29's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

junefish's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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