Ismene's Innocence

Jessica Dudman
Ms. Peifer
10 IB
11-26-08
Antigone as it is well known is being punished for the act of burying her traitorous brother Polyneices. She is innocent in the eyes of the gods although guilty in the eyes of the crown. That is not my primary concern. I am here to tell you that her sister Ismene should be spared of any punishment. She is innocent at heart in front of the gods and completely innocent in the eyes of the crown.
Her innocence to the gods first as the gods will is forever while kings come and go. The burial rites denied Polyneice are a right given by the gods to ensure the eternal spirits well being. Such is a terrible fate and what type of woman could condemn a loved brother to such a fate? Although Ismene did not give her brother his burial rights physically herself as she said to Antigone "Let me respect the dead and die with you" (Sophocles 623). Antigone committed the act alone but had Ismene been given more time to think about what was good and just she would of helped bury her brother.
On the other side she is all so innocent from the crown's point of view. For she did not commit this 'crime'. Having played no physical role the people, who can not truly know the hearts of others as the gods can, can not punish her for merely a thought. If they punished every poor soul who had thought of burying the dead left to rot without rights then the city would lose a great many citizens. "The city is upset about the girl" (Sophocles 786) as Haemon said many of the people in the city feel that what Antigone did was good. As what fault can be found within her sister?
Ismene is not the brave soul her sister is, but her heart is as pure. to punish such a girl would be an evil act and would rob Thebes of another good citizen. Even Creon himself has said she is innocent "not the one whose hands are clean" (Sophocles 883). There are none alive who should have the power to send this girl to a death she doesn't deserve.

Work Cited

Sophocles."Antigone".Sophocles Antigone.Trans. Ian Johnston.9 Aug 2008.Vancouver Island University Malaspina.24 Nov 2008

LRJ #2

Jessica Dudman
Ms. Peifer
10 IB
11-26-08
The most prevalent ideal repeated through out the entire play is the theme of proper respect for the dead. The two brothers show both sides of this as Eteocles is being given a proper funeral because he fought for his home city. But Polyneices who fought for the other side was not allowed a funeral at all. "He is honouring one with a full funeral and treating the other one disgracefully!" (Sophocles 26-27). The plot of the play is Antigones decision to try and give her brother the burial he deserves.
All though the play is about Antigone, Creon fits the requirements of the tragic hero better. His fatal flaw is his stubborn belief that he's all ways right. "You now control all laws concerning those who've died and us as well- the ones who are still living" (Sophocles 244-246). This tells of his complete power which only feeds his fatal flaw.
In this play the anagnorisis and peripetia are at the same point stretched over a few paragraphs starting with Haemon's suicide and ending with Creons realizations about himself after his wife's death. The catharsis is the end paragraph
"The most important part of true success is wisdom—not to act impiously towards the gods,
for boasts of arrogant men bring on great blows of punishment— so in old age men can
discover wisdom." (Sophocles 1491-1495)
The women in the play show the feelings towards women and their roles. "By birth we're women, and, as such, we shouldn't fight with men" (Sophocles 77-78). The women were supposed to follow the men unless they are against the gods. All so the woman's first duty was to her family.

Work Cited

Sophocles."Antigone."Sophocles Antigone.Trans.Ian Johnston. 9 Aug 2008.Vancouver Island University Malaspina. 24 Nov 2008 .

Ismene's Letter

To my sister
Dearest, foolish Antigone, how can you dare to disobey your uncle, and king? Do you not comprehend the punishment you will face? I weep for you and for myself. For once you are caught our uncle will not show you mercy, and I will be alone. For the only family i have left is you dear sister, I do not feel like a part of our uncles family. They do not know me as you do. You are much closer to them then I am, what will your future groom think? Even if our uncle lets you live, which seems unlikely, he will never let you marry his son. You are bringing more shame to our family. Yet as I write I can not help but recall our brothers. They did not deserve to die so young. Our poor dear Polyneices, king Creon has decreed that his soul should have no rest. I can not bear that thought! I should have listened when you spoke with me, and thought of Polyneices soul rather then the risks. But my chance to right that wrong has been lost, but I pray for your success an that you will be able to forgive my weakness.
Your apologetic sister
Ismene

Help!

I've never had a blog before and I'm not that great at figuring websites out. So if anyone want to tell me how to do anything with this i would greatly appreciate it. Also because I don't want this deleted as spam I'm going to write a few more sentences. My favorite color is turquise, and generally my favorite subject is science although not chemistry specifically.

thoughts on technology

Technology is anything that makes a persons life easier. modern technology like computers and the Internet have many uses. I use these on a regular basis to research topics that interest me and I enjoy exploring the Internet and playing games. Websites like facebook make keeping in contact with friends easy and convenient.
I mostly use technology as an entertainment tool although it can be very useful for academic purposes too. I personally tend to have trouble working together with technology. I can play games and do basic information searches on the Internet, but ask me to do something new and I wind up staring blankly at the computer (or other technologically advanced piece of equipment). I am terrible figuring out how these sorts of things work, I need clear, simple instructions before I can do anything.
My brother on the other hand is practically one with the computer. He is all ways doing something online. He even takes a programing course, and attends an online academy! As you can see my brother and I have very different relationships with technology despite being raised in the same household.