The Lives of Susan B. Anthony and Sophocles’ Antigone in a Sexist Environment
Throughout the ages, many females have helped make changes that have helped benefit woman. Many have been looked up to as martyrs for taking a stand in what they believe in. Susan B. Anthony and the character Antigone from the Greek tragedy, The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles both were two courageous woman. During their time, they defied the idea of women and helped them step forth and fight for equality. These two women lived in a male dominant society, filled with sexism.
Antigone is widely thought of as a tragic hero and martyr. She was a young princess who faced many hardships in her life. She was cursed with being the daughter of Oedipus, the king that fulfilled his oracle of killing his father and marrying his mother and caused a plague on Thebes. She later defies King Creon of his cruel judgment forbidding the burial of her brother Polynieces who attempt to gain the crown from his brother Eteocles. Antigone fights for her belief that her brother deserves a burial and preaches the Gods law. Against the pleas of her weak sister Ismene and her fiancé Haimon she stands up to the government. She seems to fit the part in light of the fact that she is executed for doing what she feels is right. According to Hathom, she Takes into consideration death and the reality that may be beyond death. Antigone did not fear the authority and believed in the law of the Gods.
Susan B. Anthony was a liberal Quaker and dedicated basic activist. She opposed the use of liquor and advocated the immediate end to slavery. During the American Civil War, she founded the Womens Loyal League to fight for liberation of the slaves. After the end of Reconstruction she protested the violence inflicted on blacks and was one of the few to urge full participation of blacks in the suffrage movement against women. Anthony organized women all over the state to campaign for legal reforms.
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Anthony became convinced that women would not gain their rights or be effective in promoting reforms until they had the right to vote. Nationwide suffrage became their goal after the Civil War. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the National Woman Suffrage Association to work for a constitutional amendment giving the women that right. Although the newly freed slaves were granted the vote by the 15th Amendment women were left excluded. Anthony defiantly registered and cast a ballot in the 1872 election and was arrested. After being tried and convicted of violating the laws and again defied the government by refusing to pay the fine.
Anthony and Stanton published the History of Women Suffrage (Volume 4) to help women understand that it was there time to rise up and get an equal opportunity. Although she did not live to see her dream fulfilled, women were finally granted the right to vote in the 19th Amendment and she is deeply owed for her efforts.
Though these two individuals may seem different, the actions they take are similar. Both women lived in times were women could not succeed and were treated like slaves. They defied the roles of women of their time and refused to listen to male authority.
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The Lives of Susan B. Anthony and Sophocles’ Antigone in a Sexist Environment. (2023, May 24). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-lives-of-susan-b-anthony-and-sophocles-antigone-in-a-sexist-environment/
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