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Antigone and Bertold Brecht

by Mamun Huq
ANTIGONE, (he Immor tai drama of Sophocles has been recently staged In Its modern version at Dhaka. It was Jean Anouilh's 'Antigone' which' has been performed by Theater Group I am writing again on this because there Is so much to write about of course, this time. I wish to concentrate only on its influence on the world of German Literature. As I had said earlier. the German philosopher Hegel was attracted towards this master piece by Sophocles. For him the two opposing forces In the drama have an Immense depth. Antigone has the courage to stand against the legitimate rights of the State. She will not bow down to Kreon, the ruler of Thebes, who dares to destroy the harmony and serenity of famgy-life. There Ie a big gap between the conceptions of Antigone and Kreon. the despotic ruler. Who knows whether Hegel saw a similarity between this antagonism and the conflict of his contempo-
rary world.
In this short discussion of mine. I would like to refer to Bertolt Brecht who has at tempted to use the theme of Sophocles in order to depict the crisis of his own society
Brecht, an extraordinary writer of this century, also took up the drama of Sopho ctes with a certain purpose In mind. The drama of Sophocles has been given a different shape by him. The central theme of Brecht Is the war between Thebes and Argos.
This war was a war of two dynasties in the drama of Sophocles. It was an outcome of the rivalry and enmity between two brothers — Eteokles and Polyneikes. They did not agree to share power after the departure of King Oedipus their father. This led to the
war between Thebes and Argos. This war ended in the victory of Thebes over Argos. Brecht starts his play at this point of the war. Kreon tries to mobilize all power in Thebes through terror and his stern authority. The army of Thebes is later defeated near Argos. This leads to the downfall of the Theban state. The resistance against Kreon's dictatorship is shown in this play. He uses Antigone of the classical age in order to mould public opinion against Fascism. Antigone of Brecht has become a new contribution against fascist dictatorship. Kreon the au tocratic-ruler suddenly becomes a prototype of Hilter. On the other end. we see Antigone and the progressive forces behind her. In other words, Antigone leads the antifascist forces, and Kreon rep
resents the anti democratic, ultra-nationalistic Ideology of that age. Il mny be mentioned here that the Antigonc-drama of Brecht was written at the end of World War II. In the drama of Brecht, the year 1945 has been mentioned. The drama of Brecht awakens our memories of German aggression against former Soviet Union 1941 saw the Ger-
mans marching Into Soviet Union. Wc are reminded of these events when we go through the play. The Interpretation of Antigone given by Brecht is certainly a great contribution in our century.
Wherever tyranny and op presston harms our peace of mind we certainly think of Antigone of Sophocles. Brecht opened our eyes. Not only Brecht, but also Jean Anouilh has been an eye-opening experience for us.
The writer's German tea cher at the Institute of Modem Languages. University of DIvika.