3. Social Context of Antigone

• What do we mean by the social context?

The social context is the social environment during the time of the play and events that may have had an influence. It is also means how people interacted and how society treated one another.

• How did people live at the time Antigone was created?

During the 'Golden Age' (4th Century), Greece was a bustling community that were graced with the theatre, live music and books. The society was male dominated. Women were treated incorrectly, they were to accompany and obey their husbands and serve to cook, clean and  their offspring.  

• Who was the target audience for the piece?

The target audience was for that of a male audience with no females allowed. The play was written for the people as a useful tool of propaganda, teaching the people that too much Dionysus in your life can be a very bad thing, leading to bad consequences.Since this was written for the citizens of the city, this was a great way to control the masses.   

• What were the needs, values and beliefs of the target audience?

The Greeks had many strong beliefs, one of which was that power was determined by gender, leaving women the lesser of men. They also were very religious, worshiping many Ancient Gods. Zeus, Poseidon and many others were very common. 

• How did this influence the themes and characters of Antigone?

The themes of the play were heavily influenced by religion and social beliefs at the time. We can see there is  conflict between Creon and Antigone which shows the idea of religion against politics, as Antigone wants to bury her brother but Creon deems it wrong. We also see it throughout the play as men are shown to be the characters with higher status and power, whereas the females characters are treated unequally. Although the character of Antigone was written as a strong female.

• What have you found out about the social context of Antigone?  

I have found out about how the people lived during 4th Century B.C and the social conventions of society during the time. This has helped my performance as I understand the status my character has over others in the play, and has defiantly benefitted me.

• Who went to the theatre?

In a female oppressed society, Men were the only ones privileged to go see theatre, women were not permitted at all. Occasionally seen but never heard. In the society at the time, women were seen as the underclass of men, leaving an unequal society. Some would even argue that we live in one today.  

• What was the relationship between theatre, politics and religion? 

We can see these relationships through the characters of Creon and Antigone as Antigone wants to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial due to her beliefs, but Creon objectifies that because of the politics. Crean was forced to make this difficult decision because he needs to show the citizens that he is a powerful leader who can make tough choices.