One discussion that is always sparked with Antigone in my class is the idea of "integrity" and is it right to be true to your family first or to the law? Interestingly, most students say "be true to your family no matter what" but then, when the idea of a consequence as strong as death is at stake - they often admit that in such circumstances they'd probably be more like Ismene than her sister.
Today it is difficult to draw such a direct parallel (esp. in America) because Creon's decree is outside of our legal scope. However, on a smaller scale - one current (and likely somewhat common) social reality are things like cheating on taxes or doing other small things to get around legal taxation, or to "beat the system" in other ways (like drawing disability for an injury that may not be as debilitating as descibed in court or fathers who quit working to avoid child support, etc). I think lots of kids are well aware of parents who are not living with 100% clean legal consciences but would absolutely never turn them in because they are family. They may even agree that "the law is stupid" so we deserve to cheat it. I guess I'd say that is an area where principles presented in Antigone could be modernly applied.
No comments:
Post a Comment