CLASSIC 45C Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Existence Precedes Essence, Jean Anouilh, Metatheatre
10 May 2017
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Document Summary
Antigone first performed in paris in 1944, during nazi occupation. Comparisons sometimes drawn between the play and the political situation at the time. Antigone"s stubborn defiance and self-sacrifice were important ingredients of french resistance. Even germans and french collaborators appropriated the play for their own purposes. Ex: admired antigone"s desire for world of purity but rejected way in how she went about it. Others denounced her complete, saying that her actions lead to anarchy. Creon is seen as a just ruler and slave to his duty, sacrificed everything for country. Doesn"t seem to believe in anything; a kind of void in her. Tells you what"s going to happen in the play. Absurd: no meaning in the world beyond the meaning we give it. Doesn"t love his job but still does it. Authenticity: one has to create oneself in accordance with one"s freedom. Antigone is thirsting for authenticity, creating herself. The use of direct and indirect reminders that what we are.
