Paper 1

There are many circumstances in life where there is no one to blame but we. Our consequences are a result from our own choices. Sophocles once said, “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” Tragic heroes are responsible for their own fate and are doomed to make a specific error. They carry many flaws such as poor judgement and great pride which eventually lead to their downfall. One can also convert a tragic hero to an Anti-hero. For lack of a better term, an Anti-hero is someone who doesn’t portray a heroic figure because they let their attributes get the best of them. Both end results are very similar, but the characters that portray these terms differentiate from each other.
Sophocles was one of the great dramatists of Ancient Greece during his time period. He based his Tragedy, Antigone, around the elements of a Tragic Hero. He wrote this to play to make readers think. Was it morally right to follow your beliefs and go against civil law? Not only was this relative to his playwright, but even in today’s society, many people would agree so. After legalizing same sex marriage in the United States, Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. David states, “To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. For me it is a decision of obedience” (Foxnews.com). In comparison, Antigone was very prideful and never once stood back from her beliefs. In that time period, women were never looked upon greater than men since it was a male dominate society. When it came to Antigone’s realization that her brother, Polyneices, was not going to receive a proper burial due to his actions, she went absolutely against authority. Antigone can easily be considered a Tragic Hero. She was easily blinded by her pride; not once did she care to think about her consequences. She was highly responsible of her own fate which eventually led to her downfall.

Blanche Dubois was a fiction character in the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. She was glamorous to say the least. After going through some issues and allegations, she looks no further to her sister to let stay at her place for the meantime. She then creates an illusion or an alternative dimension. Illusions are often made because they are built to protect or weaknesses (Theunboundedspirit.com). Blanche creates an illusion because she wants to hide her insecurities and instead, display a luxurious, confident image. By doing so, she starts to believe her own lies and avoid the harsh reality she is currently living in. Stanley, her brother-in-law, ends up being the antagonist of this whole play. She always had his doubts about Blanche, and often questions the words that came out of her mouth. “So I been told, and told and told! You know shes been feeding us a pack of lies here?” “Things I already suspected. But now I got proof from the most reliable sources – which I have checked on!” (Stanley 1213). Blanche continuously lets her illusions get the best of her, for which Stanley then ceases to rape her. A hero is someone who is often idolized and has courage for one self. Someone who consistently lies about their lifestyle only resembles an Antihero which perfectly categorizes Blanche. Like Blanche, he is blinded by the illusion of thinking he is superior. He makes it seem that all of his other competitors are underneath him. Also, Trumps offensive statements to numerous of people make it inevitable to believe that he will be a greats president. During the first Republican Debate, Meghan Kelly pressed Trump about misogynistic, sexist comments he made in the past, such as calling some women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” (Yan 1). His remarks and actions lack heroic traits.

Downfalls are led by our own actions. We create our own fate and path. Anitgone was a women who was very prideful and Blanche was a woman who had desires and illusions to ignore reality. Very different personalities, but their downfalls seem to resemble each other. Its safe to say how both of their breakdowns were led by men; Creon killing Antigone for her misleading actions and Stanley raping Blanche for being so inevitable. But on the contrary, one can definitely agree that both of their downfalls were followed by strongly believing in oneself. Antigone stood up for what she believed in, and Blanche never lost that spark in herself.