Antigone

One thing that is different in Anouilh's version of Antigone is that it is written with more modern language. "So we tossed a coin to see which one would come up and tell you about it" (Pg. 20). This causes the reader of the modern world to be able to relate to the characters more, therefore creating a modern day tragedy.

Anouilh also uses the gender roles like Sophocles, except in a more straight forward way. "It's all very well for men to believe in ideas and die for them. But you are a girl!" (Pg. 13). There is a clear stereotype of women not being able to do certain things, but Antigone defies these stereotypes. In a way, this raises her above the other characters, contributing to the idea of tragedy.

Another similar element between Anouilh's Antigone and Sophocles' Antigone is that Anouilh displays Creon's attitude in the same way. On page 21, Creon keeps interrupting the guard and hurrying him along, acting very disrespectful. He acts very power hungry and irrationally, and this ultimately brings about his downfall and is an interesting contrast to the person he used to be. In many ways, he is like Oedipus. This can also cause the reader to feel either no sympathy for him, or some sympathy for him because they know that this irrational behavior will only bring him pain and suffering, and he will regret it later.

Not only does Anouilh use more modern language throughout his version of Antigone, but he also adds in extra things in order to make the story more modern and therefore more relatable to the modern reader. "Promise me that you will never scold her again" (Pg. 15). Anouilh adds Antigone's dog Puff into the story, which makes the story more relatable because many people now have pets. When these sorts of small details are added into the story, the characters become more relatable.