English Literature & Composition - PopulationMe.com

Chapter 7: Introduction to Drama
During both full-class discussion and small-group presentations, ask related questions that call
for students to experience and evaluate this play, any of which can become a productive writing
assignment.
Can a little knowledge be a dangerous thing?
How far should we go in determining who we are?
Is there a "divine plan," according to Sophocles? According to you? Would you like to know
the "plan" for your life?
How much control do we have over our lives?
What do you think of Protagorus's assertion that "Man is the measure of all things"? How
does this play seem to respond to Protagorus's notion?
Since for their college application most seniors are writing essentially a "Who Am I?" essay,
invite them to rehearse by writing a paper exploring one facet of their identity: Who I am as a
student, a member of my family, an athlete, a participant in some other extracurricular activity
or hobby, a holder of _ value, and so on.
As follow-up activities, invite students to write a response or discuss this comment that the
philosopher Schopenhauer made to Goethe: "It is the courage to make a clean break of it in face
of every question that makes the philosopher. He must be like Sophocles's Oedipus, who, seeking
enlightenment concerning his terrible fate, pursues his indefatigable enquiry, even when he
divines that appalling horror awaits him in the answer. But most of us carry in our heart the Jocasta
who begs Oedipus for God's sake not to inquire further ..."
Finally, share with them Alistair Reid's poem "Curiosity,"* which celebrates cats' commitment
to courageous explorations even at risk of one or more of their nine lives. Invite them also
to read Tim O'Brien's "On the Importance of Mystery in Plot" (p. 2229). O'Brien argues that the
desire to solve the mystery keeps us reading; the desire to know engages us, as it does Oedipus.
SOPHOCLES, ANTIGONE (p. 1348)
You can follow up your study of Oedipus Rex by giving students another look at classical
tragedy, or save Antigone for a thematic unit, perhaps one focusing on making moral choices,
or one on conformity vs. non-conformity, or one on family conflicts.
Articulating Antigone's central conflict depends on the character whose perspective we are
examining. For Creon, the issue is obedience to civil law. Polyneices was a traitor to the state of
Thebes; therefore, Polyneices is not worthy of burial. Creon argues that justice-the law of the
land, the notion of loyalty to the state-trumps all other considerations. For Antigone, the issue
is obedience to religious laws, to a higher authority than a king-to conscience, in other words.
Coupled with her heeding the demands of her conscience is her desire to show mercy to her
brother; by honoring Polyneices, she does not feel that she is dishonoring her brother Eteocles.
Assuming, then, that both Creon and Antigone value loyalty (Creon represents both patriotism
and justice, and Antigone family as well as mercy), we have a right vs. right moral dilemma.
Both justice and mercy are worthy moral values; which does one choose? Back in the 1970s,
when values clarification exercises were the rage, these were the dilemmas that classes debated.
Amore contemporary version of such dilemmas is presented in Rushworth Kidder's work, particularly
his book How Good People Make Tough Choices, in which he explores four right vs. right
moral dilemmas: loyalty vs. truth; justice vs. mercy; individual vs. community; and long-term
vs. short-term. His work has immense value to students and teachers of English.
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