Final Project Reflection

Ashley McDonald
English 3
Professor Hageman
8 December 2008

Final Project Reflection

My group chose to use a series of blogs to present a unique interpretation of the play Antigone. We created four blogs, one by each person representing a minor character from the play. Originally we had planned to create two blogs, one for Creon and one for Antigone, and have dialogue between the blogs over the conflict of Polyneices unburied body, but we decided that it would be more interesting to write about the events of the play from the perspective of minor characters. We believe that by assuming the identity of a character that is not emphasized in the play we were able to gain great insight on the tragic events that led up to the death of Antigone.

We wrote our blogs from the perspectives of Polyneices, Teiresias, Ismene, and the sentry. Each person in our group picked which minor character they wanted to assume. Teiresias was my choice because he is an interesting character who represents wisdom and knowledge and could be used to ask questions about the moral correctness of the conflict between Antigone and Creon. Assuming the identity of a character in the play allowed me to see the play from a different point of view, and the process of writing my character’s response to a select group of events that transpire transported me from be an observational reader to a participant in the play itself.

Deciding how Teiresias would respond to each situation and what his opinion would be required a bit of speculation combined with textual evidence. I based my interpretations off the dialogue between Creon and Teiresias where it becomes clear that Teiresias sides with Antigone. Given that knowledge and the knowledge of his career as a prophet, I was able to determine his most probable response to the events. I attempted to stay in character through my writing style and be somewhat consistent with the time period of the play.

Teiresias is an elderly blind man and it is mentioned in Antigone that he has a young boy by his side to assist him. I thought it would be somewhat interesting to refer to the boy throughout my posts as Teiresias because in the midst of his emotional rants and summary of events the reference reminds us of his humanity and the passage of time.

My primary reason for choosing Teiresias is that I believe him to be the appropriate character to ask the question; did Creon really learn his lesson? At the end of the play Creon demonstrates distress over what has occurred, but is his distress merely self-pity in face of his destroyed standing in society, or does he feel remorse for his unethical decisions? Teiresias would probably believe that Creon had not learned his lesson but as a prophet who provides counsel for the city of Thebes he would pose this question to the people and ask them to consider it.

Overall, I enjoyed this final project assignment. Initially I disliked the idea of having to do a group project and would rather have taken an exam. However, once my group developed its idea to write blogs from minor characters and I began the writing process, I enjoyed the assignment. I would highly recommend writing from the perspective of a minor character in a story or play because one can gain a much better understanding and appreciation for the text.