Journal #11- Antigone

In the first part of the play, the chorus was there to give background to the story so that the audience could understand what Anouilh was going to do plot-wise. Now, this has shifted to the chorus being used for Anouilh's expression of his philosophy on plays. This can be shown in the style of the author's writing. In the intro, the chorus has more action-oriented sentences whereas on page 23, Anouilh highlights, "That is what is so convenient in tragedy. The least little turn of the wrist will do the job".  Anouilh's ideal of tragedy is shown in the second part because he talks not only about tragedy, but he speaks of it in this poetic, flowery way. The chorus helps highlight the more tragic aspects of the play because it tells of what tragedy is. The author pens that "he who kills is as innocent as he who gets killed: it's all a matter of what part you are playing" (24), which to me means that the most tragic thing about a tragedy isn't just that it's sad, but that those who kill still have merit and reason to do so. This I think foreshadows how we eventually will feel about Creon. Yes, he is cruel towards his nephew when he doesn't give Polynices a proper burial, but then again we must remember that he must try to main the power that he has fought for and can't be seen as being weak towards Polynices and his bringing in foreign armies to defeat Eteocles. Overall, the chorus is used for Anouilh's advantage to show his philosophical viewpoint in this scene.