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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that contrasts and compares Sophocles' Antigone and Shakespeare's The Tempest. The writer argues that one of the major themes in each of these works is what constitutes a good ruler and the characteristics of successful governance. Creon and Prospero are compared. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khanttem.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
each of these works is what constitutes a good ruler and the characteristics of successful governance. There are, of course, differences in the two perspectives as each play is a
product of its era and reflects the thinking of that time period, ancient Greece and Elizabeth England, respectively. However, as this examination will show, these works are also
surprisingly similar in that both authors suggest through the action of each play that a good ruler must be in control of his baser instincts and, certainly, cannot allow excessive
pride, what the Greeks called hubris, to interfere with making the best decisions for the good of the people. Allowing hubris to interfere with the decision-making process is precisely
what Creon did in Antigone. After a bloody civil war between the two sons of Oedipus, in which both heirs to the throne are killed in battle, Creon, in an
effort to be a good ruler, places order as a priority. To this end, Creon feels that Polyneices must be made an example to the people to demonstrate the
dire consequences of treason against the state (Lines 4). This punishment is severe because Greek religious belief held that a person could not proceed into the afterlife if burial rites
were not performed. However, almost as soon as he has made this ruling - that Polyneices body should lay unburied - Creon is faced by the dilemma of his future
daughter-in-law Antigone breaking this law. For Creon to pardon Antigone at this point would seriously impair Creons position as a fair ruler (Lines 4). Creon stubbornly clings to his position,
even though it is excessively harsh, because of his pride in his position. Creon takes the stance that, as a lesson to the public, the body of a man
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