The Doomed Seedling: Antigonick as Rendition of the Fate Vs. Free Will Debate in Antigone Anonymous College

The Fate Vs. Free Will debate has long been adapted within literary texts, but Anne Carson’s Antigonick puts a spin on it by transforming it to be a debate between two texts. Antigonick is an adapted version of Sophocles’ Antigone, which tells the tale of a defiant girl who ultimately teaches the King a lesson on values and morality. Antigone’s defiance in the original reflects the “free will” side of the debate, even though she was born unfortunate. Carson’s Antigonick accentuates the “fate” aspect by adding in elements of nature that suggest that the situation is, for the most part, out of Antigone’s control. Antigonick blends the flaming nature of the character of Antigone with real elements of nature. Both Antigone and Antigonick begin darkly, with the death of Eteocles and Polynices who died fighting for the throne in the War of Thebes.

Antigonick begins to bring in the descriptions of nature when the Chorus provides commentary on the conversation between Ismene and Antigone:

[…] overweened our walls seven spears in his mouth instead of teeth that one fled before filling his cheeks with blood before any fire the noise of war was stretched along his back the boaster fled. (12)

The above passage refers to the battle of...