Journal Entry 4 Anouilh Antigone

During Antigone and Creons debate, Anouilh repeated a lot of different words and phrases. This produced different effects in the story. One of the repeated words or phrases was fastidious. Creon first used the word in order to describe himself, that he is "fastidious. [He] like[s] things clean, shipshape, well scrubbed" (pg 34). This shows how even though Creon is kind of laid back at times, he will not stand around and do nothing when the time arises for someone to help. However, Antigone then turns the word against him by saying "You [Creon] are too fastidious to make a good tyrant" (pg 35). This implies that Creon is a bad tyrant, since he can't be pleased like most ones, he keeps looking for more. What this repetition does is emphasize the insubordiantion versus a power, in how Antigone blatently went against what Creon said and made it worse. A phrase that was repeated was the phrase kitchen politics. Creon first says it when he is reminiscing about Oedipus, and trying to tell Antigone "what went on in the back room, in the kitchen of politics" (pg 39). This shows that Creon nkows all of Oedipus' story of what happend to him. Though once again, Antigone rebukes Creon: "Creon, you spoke the word a moment ago: kitchen of politics. You look it and you smell of it" (pg 43). By saying this condescening thing about Creon, Anitgone is saying that Creon looked too much into Oedipus' life and may have interfered with it.

Antigone also uses phrases that could be interpreted different ways. One phrase was "You [Creon] are too fastidious to make a good tyrant" (pg 35). This could mean 2 different things. It could mean what I said above, that Creon is more of a bad tyrant, since he is never pleased with his people. Or, it could also mean that Creon could not be a tyrant at all, since who would want to be a bad one. Another phrase that could be interpreted in different ways is "When it was absolutely certain that nothing, nothing could save him. Then he was at peace; then he could smile" (pg 43). This is when Antigone is talking about her father, Oedipus. One way to interpret the phrase is to say that he really was at peace, that he was happy that now his question had finnally been answered. However, it could also mean resignation; Oedipus could have just given up on fighting the prophecy and become happier.