Antigone

     Antigone and Ismene represent two different personality types in Psychology. Antigone is the rash, passionate, “go-getter” personality, where Ismene is a more reserved and timid when facing danger. Antigone wants to bury Polynices, her brother, but when she asks Ismene, Ismene declines to help, referencing the fact that they are just women in a man’s world. Antigone is the type of person that brings change in the world, one of the people who challenge society in a defiant way that is designed to bring about an abrupt change. If Antigone had the means to be militant, I feel that she would bring force against Creon. Antigone bears resemblance to a Malcolm X, in her sheer defiance and the way that she speaks to Creon after her capture. She wants to be a martyr and receive credit for her actions. Ismene is ready to let things go if they seem hard to obtain. She says that she would like to bury Polynices but it would be too dangerous. Ismene is ready to accept society the way it is and live life as it comes. Antigone controls her environment, while Ismene is controlled by the environment. The peculiar development that came out of Antigone’s burial of Polynices was Ismene trying to share credit and take the same punishment as Antigone. Ismene is too passive to live on her own. Were Antigone to die, Ismene would be the sole survivor of her siblings, and she does not want to live with the pressure and loneliness that would accompany that. True to her personality, Ismene tries to take the easy way out and end her life so that she does not have to face her troubles. 

"Plums Are Falling"

The poem, “Plums Are Falling” is short and quick, yet it contains a depth that measures more than the few words read in the poem. Plums are used in order to represent the possible paths the woman’s life can take through marriage. She wants a good fruit (man), so that she will be healthy (happy in marriage) and live a good life. The poem was written in a time period where women were viewed as having a successful life based on the success or respect of the man that they married. The time was not like today, where women have the opportunity to get a job and work on the same level or even above men. Women were subordinate to men and it is reflected in the way that the speaker of the poem so desperately wants to find a good man (plum) to marry.

                In each stanza of the poem the line “many men want me,” (p.814-815) appears as the third line. The author makes use of repetition in order to stress how desirable the woman is. She seems to be very attractive and is desired  by many men, but she is still nervous about being able to find a good man. The last line of the poem, “let me be bride of one” (p.815) makes me think that there could be some outside factor that is causing her to worry about marriage. Fixed marriage or parental pressures are possible factors that could be the cause of her worry. Fixed marriage seems very plausible, and would be a cause of great stress for her as she might not agree with her parents decision. She might want a man based on love, whereas her parents may look at marriage as a means of progress in the eyes of society. T the speaker of the poem can only hope that she will find a man that she can love and marry, who also meets the outside standards that need to be met in order for their marriage to become official.

Ramayana: Heroes' Compassion

   While the protagonists are vindictive and spiteful of those who harm them in the epic of Rama, they are also incredibly forgiving to those who followed the leading antagonist (most namely Ravana). It is made clear that Ravana is the king of the demons, and it was by his doing that Sita was kidnapped. Ravana is punished for his deeds, but his cohorts and those who aided him in his tasks were forgiven immediately after Sita was rescued and Ravana was killed. Immediately following Ravana’s death Ravana’s own brother, Vibhisana, spoke to Rama. Vibhisana requested that Ravana would have a burial in accordance with the scriptures for his welfare in the other world. Rama responds, “Hostility ends at death…He is your brother as he is mine, too.”  Even in the instant immediately after Ravana’s death, Rama has forgiven him, and is even delighted when Vibhisana asks for a proper burial for Ravana. Rama is so pleased that he commands and arranges for a coronary to allow for Vibhisana to become the rightful king of Lanka. In other parts of the world (most namely Europe and the Western world) the conquering of a warring society is a cause for your ownership of their land.

     Rama is not the only one who is capable of compassion after a death. Sita, who was tortured by the demonesses,  is given the opportunity to have the very same demonesses vanquished. Hanuman offers to kill the demonesses for Sita, but she stops him and says that she has forgiven them. Sita claims that they were following orders from Ravana, as they were supposed to. Sita does not mention the fact that they were intent on killing her even after Ravana had commanded them to keep her alive for another two months.  Rama and Sita developed their ability to forgive through the society they live in. The society as a whole holds great value in forgiveness after vindication, and following the path of dharma.

Ramayana: Laksmana the King

    Like Rama, Laksmana is pure of heart and only wants to do what is best for others. He is strong, calm in threatening situations, and he is as loyal as a man can be, Laksmana will follow his brother into whatever depths of evil he must descend into. Although he is great, Laksmana is not perfect, he can sometimes be rash, such as when his brother Rama told him of his step mother Kaikeyi’s request for Rama to leave for the forest and denounce his kingship to Bharata. Laksmana immediately grew hot, and instructed Rama to pay her no heed, as Rama was the rightful king. Laksmana is a worthy king, and the only thing that stands in his way is his birth order. Were Laksmana born before Rama he would have been in Rama’s place when Kaikeyi told Rama of her boons that would instill her son Bharata as king. Laksmana’s rashness would have led him to dispose of Kaikeyi and claim the throne. Everyone's lives would be different. None of the events in the forest would have occurred. Laksmana would have been a worthy and noble king, he possesses all of the kingly traits, but instead he is described as a servant to Rama (who has become a measly hermit). Laksmana would be just like Rama, except for the fact that Rama relies on the divine will of dharma, and chose the route to the forest, rather than rising up and claiming what is rightfully his.