Antigone Foil – characters who have contrasting or opposite
qualities. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Ismene is shown to be
in great contrast to Antigone, who is her sister. She is portrayed
as a gentle and passive while Antigone is depicted as an aggressive
and headstrong woman. In the prologue, Antigone and Ismene are
shown discussing what has transpired since their leave and
subsequent return to Thebes.
In this scene Antigone asks her sister in line 6-7 “have they
told you of the new decree by our King Creon? ” which Ismene then
responds that “I have learned nothing. I know that two sisters lost
two brothers, a double death in a single hour, and I know that the
Argive army fled in the night; but beyond this, nothing” (Sophocles
0:7-9).
In this Ismene is show to be not very well informed and “out
of the fold” while Antigone seems to know in detail all that has
occurred and all that has yet to occur as seen when she replies to
Ismene that “Creon buried our brother Eteocles with military
honors, gave him a soldier’s funeral, and it was right that he
should; but Polyneices, who fought as bravely and dies as miserably
– they say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him, no one mourn
for him, but his body must lie in the fields, a sweet treasure for
carrion birds to find as they search for food.
That is what they say, and our good Creon is coming here to announce it publicly; and the penalty – stoning to death in the public square! There it is, and now you can prove what you are: A true sister or a traitor to your family” (Sophocles 0:15-27).
