Ismene’s Indecisiveness in Antigone

The play Antigone is usually thought of as either the tragedy of Creon or the tragedy of Antigone, but it is just as much the tragedy of Antigone's sister Ismene. In the play, Antigone and Creon hold on to two different ideals, Antigone to the ideal of sororal duty and holy rights, while Creon holds on to the rules of his kingdom, dominated by the laws of men and of reason. Ismene is obsessed by her role as a woman, choosing to ignore her feelings of obligation towards her family, and remaining completely indecisive and inactive, as she believes a woman should. By the end of the play she is left in the same position as Creon, without any family in the world and feeling partially responsible for the outcome. If Ismene had stood up and done something either to stop Creon from sentencing Antigone to death, or to help Antigone in burying Polyneices, she would in the end be with her family in life or in death, and be better of than being left alone on earth alive. Also the actions of the characters in the play are very comparable to the ideas and strategies of the Greeks and Spartans in Thucydides, written shortly afterwards.

Ismene's indecisiveness and lack of action is starkly contrasted with the actions and beliefs of Creon and Antigone, the characters who are most often thought of as the victims. For Antigone, the punishment that characterizes her as a victim is the sacrifice of her life for her personal beliefs about the honor and duty associated with family ties. Antigone's death at the end of the play illustrates the fact that she is willing to die as long as she knows that her brother has received proper burial rites. On the other side there is Creon, who can be thought of as a stubborn and terrible king, but who really is acting just like Antigone, holding onto what he believes firmly in. As Antigone blatantly ignores the laws of the city, and only acts in the direction fulfilling the requirements of holy rites, Creon acts in parallel by ignoring the laws of the divine and only following the laws which as king it is his duty to uphold and preserve. Antigone clearly gives her opinion of the situation, and outlines her values that are so important to her while speaking to her sister. "Be as you choose to be; but for myself I will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me; I shall be a criminal-but a religious one." (Line 82-87)

In a similar way Creon shows his true sentiment in talking to his son Haemon. When Haemon questions his father's judgment, Creon explains what is the most important of all values to him, "But he that breaches the law or does it violence or thinks to dictate to those who govern him shall never have my good word." (717-720).

After looking at the actions and beliefs of Creon and Antigone, it is possible to contrast them with the inaction of Ismene. In the opening lines of the play Antigone attempts to recruit Ismene to her cause, hoping that Ismene will be willing to help bury Polynices. Instead, Ismene tells Antigone that as women they are better off choosing a course of inaction and letting themselves be subservient to the rule of men (70-78). Ismene also reminds Antigone that extravagant action is not sensible, and it would instead be better to let Polynices remain unburied. This preference towards inaction is not only remindful about the typical role of a woman during the time, but it can also be seen in Thucydides in the general strategy of the Spartans. Later in the play, once Antigone has been sentenced to the punishment of death by Creon, Ismene realizes how much her decision has cost her. Antigone's death means that Ismene will be orphaned not only by her father and mother, both of whom have already died, but by all of her siblings as well. When Ismene realizes that she will be left alone, she begs Antigone to allow her to follow her in death, reminding Antigone that "What life is there for me, once I have lost you?" (604). This is the exact opposite of Ismene's ways earlier in the play, when she praised inaction and didn't want to be involved in the burying of Polyneices. Ismene has showed herself to be a character with wavering emotions, changing her mind rather than being able to follow through on any one course of action. Before Ismene realizes that she will be left alone if Antigone dies, she states that she will not act in defiance of Creon (96), however, when Creon asks who it was that buried Polynices, Ismene is quick to lie to Creon and inform him that she took part in the burial along with Antigone (589-590). Again, Ismene switches from one