Part 3
coming of age
oppression and rebellion
religion
Antigone - writer's technique
Persepolis - graphics and layout
Antigone - stage directions and live audience
3 layers of story/memory HANDMAIDS TALE
visual appeal
frames and pages
colour contrast - black and white
simplistic drawings
visual impact of characters on stage
tone and action directed
present/Red Center/Before
simple/small details in present trigger other 2 layers
story of all three times build concurrently
repressive governments - Shah, Islamic regime, Creon, Gilead
Protagonists rebel - Marji protests, Antigone attempts to bury brother, Offred escapes.
other characters rebel - Marji's parents, Haemon and Ismene, Commander, Wife, Moira, Offglen
Persepolis - Marji as a prophet, Antigone and Creon completely dismiss religion as fake, Gilead is a Theocracy
Islamic government and Gilead - oppressive and restrictive
Marji - youthful memoir, loses God after death of uncle Anoosh
Antigone - refuses to grow up - does not want the complicated and compromising life of adulthood offered by and epitomised by Creon
Offred - not coming of age but a revelation of who she has become - seen through the slowly revealed history of her memories.
Gilead - the birth and coming into being of this oppresive society
Power
Marji's lack of power
Antigone vs Creon - inability of Creon to persuade and so he has to enforce his will
Offred's helplessness - and victim to power of Aunts, Commander, Angels
No religion in Antigone -> no hope
Similar to that, Marji rejects religion following the death of Anoosh
Willing to grow up, becomes mature and responsible -> independence
It's why she chooses to die
Pragmatism vs Idealism
Antigone
Creon is the main adult throughout the play; takes a realist and practical approach -> he is a working man
Antigone is the heroine, willing to die for her ideals -> ideals are first considered honourable, until the ugly truth is revealed
Despite this, she continues her wish to die; for fear that adulthood will strip away the beauty and simplicity of the childhood world that she loves
Persepolis
Young Marji; idealistic, innocent, comical and naive -> devoted to God, wish to rebel against the Shah, imagines herself as Che Guevara
Marji's parents are practical ideals -> fight for an end to the Shah's rule, yet are able to recognize the dangers of fighting -> taking certain precautions
Mother covering herself for fear that the magazine photo of her will risk her safety and security
Her ideals are lost with the death of Beloved Uncle Anoosh
She abandons religion -> loses her innocence. Becomes more independent, realistic and mature -> she grows up
Suggests that Anouilh is communicating the idea that with age, ideals are lost and abandoned.