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Antigone's Mirrors: Reflections on Moral Madness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Annie Pritchard
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Abstract

Sophocles's Antigone continues to attract attention for its portrayal of the themes of moral agency and sexual difference. In this paper I argue that the contradictory factors which constitute Antigone's social identity work against the possibility of assessing her actions as either “virtuous” or not. I challenge readings of the play which suggest either that individual moral agency is sexually neutral or that women's action is necessarily and simply in direct opposition to the interests of the public sphere.

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Type
Research Article
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Hypatia , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , Summer 1992 , pp. 77 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by Hypatia, Inc.

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