Antigone

Antigone

    Author: Jean Anouilh

    First Performance: 1944, Paris

    Published: 1946

    First English Translation: 1946

    Genre: Trag. in 1 act; French prose

    Setting: Thebes, mythical past

    Cast: 8m, 3f

The plot of Anouilh's play is essentially the same as in Sophocles. The main differences are:

    (1) the anachronisms. The guards smoke cigarettes and play cards, Creon's wife knits, and there is mention of motor transport.

    (2) the tragic development. Whereas in Sophocles the characters behave as though they have free will, Anouilh makes it clear that each character is obliged to fulfil his or her given role – the tragedy is like a spring that inexorably unwinds.

    (3) Antigone, a childish figure, concerned about her pet dog, who buries Polyneices with a toy...

[The entire page is 302 words long]

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