The
Concept of Tragic Heroes and Anti-Heroes
There are two very contrasting plays that go in their own
spirals, but also have a similar pattern to them. One of these plays are called
“Antigone” by Sophocles, and another one is called A Streetcar Named Desire by
Tennessee Williams. One of their biggest differences is that they both take
place in completely different time periods. “Antigone” takes place in 441
B.C.E, which is during Ancient Greek times, and the setting is in the city of
Thebes. A Streetcar Named Desire takes place during the late 1940s,
post-World War II, in New Orleans. When looking at these two general overviews
of when and where the plays take place, how can they possibly have
similarities? Only answer for that is when history isn’t learned, it can be
doomed to repeat itself. From characters out of these two plays, tragedies
similarly happened to both Antigone and Blanche.
“The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves”, stated by Sophocles. This is evident in his play, “Antigone”. The play starts off with Antigone and Ismene, seen contemplating the burial of their brother Polyneices. The trouble starts here since one of the rules that are set by King Creon would forbid the burial of Polyneices. In page 1132, line 92, Antigone says “But I will go to heap the earth on the grave of my loved brother” (Sophocles 1132). Despite the rules,
Antigone believes it is
worth more to obey her morals and religious beliefs, rather than to stand by
the written law. She is having an internal conflict with herself, although in
the outside world it is illegal, her religion wouldn’t allow her to stand by
and do nothing. And not only that, but she feels she must make this public, to
challenge King Creon’s orders. In page 1132, line 99, Antigone orders Ismene,
“Oh, oh, no! shout it out. I will hate you still worse for silence—should you
not proclaim it” (Sophocles 1132). Afterwards, when Creon is notified of
Antigone’s actions, he takes her into his custody.
This brings us into the execution scene, where Antigone is held captive in front of Creon and Ismene. Even though an execution is the last place where anyone would want to be, Antigone brought it upon herself. It is like Sophocles said, “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” This is what makes Antigone a tragic hero. Now she has to suffer the consequences from her internal and external conflicts with Creon and the written law. In page 1142, line 518, Creon says, “I would have you know the most fanatic spirits fall most of all” (Sophocles 1142). To be a fanatic spirit means to have a strong, obsessive, single-minded faith in religion or politics. In this case, Antigone didn’t look at the bigger picture. She failed to realize burying her brother would yield great consequences for herself and those around. In page 1144, line 604, Ismene says, “Why do you hurt me, when you gain nothing by it?” (Sophocles 1144). Ismene is clearly devastated knowing that her sister is going to perish right in front of her. Antigone failed to realize this because she was in her single-minded moment, where she just wanted to stand by her religion and go forward with her burial of Polynices. This is the concept of a tragic hero, a main character who has empathetic and righteous traits, but leads themselves to their own downfall.
On one side, we have the tragic hero who can be expressed by Antigone, but on the other hand, we also have an anti-hero. An anti-hero is best known as main characters who lack righteous qualities and virtues. Tennessee Williams, author of the play A Streetcar Named Desire, gave us an idea of an anti-hero in the 1940s. The character who is now known as an anti-hero, is Blanche Dubois. In the city of New Orleans, were a married couple, Stella and Stanley. Blanche is introduced in scene 1, moving in with her dear sister Stella. She greets her sister, in a happy and kind manner in page 18, “Stella, oh, Stella, Stella! Stella for star!” (Williams 18). Judging from a greeting like this, wouldn’t Blanche seem to give off characteristics opposite of an anti-hero? Throughout the first few scenes, she seems like the type of character who is pure and innocent, in scene 2, page 44, Blanche finds out Stella is pregnant, and says, “Stella, Stella for star! How lovely to have a baby! It’s all right. Everything’s all right” (Williams 44). She is being extremely supportive of her sister’s pregnancy, like any good character would. But Blanche is not the way she seems, and that will be shown later on.
The tension and external conflict start with Stanley and Blanche. In scene 2, page 37, Stanley says “The Kowalskis and the DuBois have different notions” (Williams 37). This means that when comparing these two characters, they are completely different, and their contrasts can clash. This tension arose the moment Blanche and Stanley met each other. Later on, Blanche begins to have some sort of turning point, where she tries to get more people involved with her pure and innocent character. She starts with one of Stanley’s friends, named Mitch. In scene 3, page 56, Mitch says, “You may teach school but you’re certainly not an old maid.” and Blanche responds with, “Thank you, sir! I appreciate your gallantry!” (Williams 56). Mitch and Blanche are getting to know each other in this scene and are both trying to get involved in each other’s lives. Although it may seem like the start to a nice relationship, Stanley points out something that changes the readers perspective on Blanche. In scene 7, page 98, Stanley starts talking about Blanche by saying, “You should just know the line she’s been feeding to Mitch. He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow! But Sister Blanche is no lily!” (Williams 98). Stanley catches on to the type of person Blanche really is. Now when the readers know this and change views on Blanche, realize that Mitch is falling for a trap. Blanche is facing external conflicts due to the fact that she is putting up an act, an illusion, made out of the desires of others that she tries to lure in.
On top of that, Blanche is desperate for love and
attention, but is scared of others perceiving the way she really is, thus
putting on a refined version of herself. This is what shows her internal
conflict, she can’t come to terms with who she truly is and makes up a fantasy
out of herself. The fact that she wants love, attention, and an easier life was
already inferred in scene 4. She talks about a wealthy man she met in Miami
named Shep Huntleigh. Stella asks if he was married, and Blanche replies,
“Honey, would I be here if the man weren’t married?” (Williams 67). Blanche is saying that if she had the chance
to marry Shep, then she would have taken the opportunity knowing that she would
live an easier life, one where she’ll be loved and taken care of.
Although Antigone and Blanche seem like two completely different characters, the major aspect of them both is that they caused their own downfalls. Antigone’s belief in religion clashed with written laws in the real world. She followed her heart and stuck to her morals, which led to her execution. Blanche’s real identity and character versus being loved and getting attention brought upon her own downfall, which got her sent to a mental hospital. These characters contrast in the way they show empathy or altruistic traits. The tragic hero, Antigone, died doing a burial for someone she loved, she was a righteous character, and in the end, she still wanted Ismene to live on. On the other hand, we have the anti-hero, Blanche, who only cared about her own wants and needs, and was willing to keep her identity hidden behind a mask. This is what an anti-hero looks like compared to a righteous tragic hero.
Although these characters are long in the past compared
to the modern day, tragic heroes still appear to this very day. For example, one
character that stands out who falls under the category is Walter White from the
TV show called “Breaking Bad”. This is a story about a man named Walter White
who suffers from poverty alongside his dear family. Not only does he work hard
to take care of him and his family, but he finds out that he has lung cancer,
and only a limited amount of time left to live. His family consists of himself,
his pregnant wife, and a 15-year-old son with cerebral palsy. With that many
responsibilities and burdens, Walter puts himself on a mission to secure his
family’s financial structure before he falls to cancer. To his loved ones
around him, he is known as an extremely over-qualified high school chemistry
teacher.
Walter fights many battles and conflicts throughout this show. But the first one that comes to his mind is his own internal conflict, coming from his sense of duty to provide for his family. This sense of duty exposes him to the crime and street world, where he goes from mild-mannered to a ruthless drug lord. In season 2, episode 1, after Walter makes the biggest drug deal so far, says “Two kids, four years of college, $360,000. Remaining mortgage on the home, 107,000… provide for, say, 10 years… Seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand. That’s what I need” (“Seven Thirty-Seven” 04:27). Walter calculates all the money he needs to take care of his family for the next ten years after he passes. He knows the only option he has is to keep cooking meth and making profits out of it in order to provide for his family. Not only does he have an internal conflict, but it also corresponds to the outside world, where he has to keep his identity as a drug lord hidden from his family and law enforcement, his morals are battling with the law throughout the series, which is his external conflict.
Walter White can be compared to Antigone and Blanche
DuBois in the way that he caused his own downfall. After the many pounds of meth
he cooked and drug deals conducted, he eventually died from the life of being a
drug lord. In this story, he is known as a tragic hero, which can be more
closely compared with Antigone. Walter White had his family’s best interest in
his mind and heart. This is what shows his altruism and empathetic side, his
sense of duty stems from these traits. Despite his thoughtful sacrifices for
his family, he can also be compared to Blanche, in the way that he became
ruthless. In order to get back at his partner, Jesse Pinkman, Walter White
fatally poisoned a kid who Jesse cared for. This is what shows his cruel and non-altruistic
side, which is why a comparison can also be drawn between him and Blanche.
Despite taking place in different time periods, the fact that these characters are flawed, have complexities, and show their imperfections as humans, is what shows themselves as great characters. Antigone’s imperfection lied with the fact that her religion conflicted the law. Blanche’s flaws were everything that she tried so hard to hide in a desperate attempt to gain love and attention. Walter White had a battle with the law, the street life, and even his own morals, all for the sake of taking care of his family after he passes away to cancer. This is the concept of tragic and anti-heroes, main characters who caused themselves their greatest grievances.
Works
Cited
Williams, Tennessee, and E.
Martin Browne. A Streetcar Named Desire. Penguin Books, 1978.
Sophocles, et al. Antigone.
BiblioBazaar, 2008.
Breaking Bad,
created by Vince Gilligan, High Bridge Productions, 2008.
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