Comparative Perspectives (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note

Conceptual links

Antigone

The Handmaid’s Tale

Society vs. the individual

• Antigone is a woman in Greek society:

  • She is expected to concern herself with only private matters

• Antigone makes her grief, defiance, and moral position public

• Offred has to reconcile once having absolute freedom with a new life where her freedom, identity (and even her name) have been erased

• Offred’s rebellion is often quite subtle and is often internal 

Social norms as power

• The fact that Antigone is a woman who is publicly defying Creon’s decree emphasises her moral motivation

• Social norms are not neutral: they enforce hierarchy and political control

• Rigid social norms define identity (e.g., Handmaids, Marthas, Wives)

• Society enforces hierarchy through accepted roles

• Offred’s subtle resistance exposes the arbitrariness of these norms

Restrictive gender roles

• The characterisation of Antigone emphasises her defiance of the expected submissive, private role of women

• The commentary from the Chorus reinforces gender norms, highlighting society’s expectations for women

• Offred’s first-person narration highlights the juxtaposition between her past freedom and present oppression: 

  • That oppression is gendered

• The uniforms, rituals, and enforced social roles emphasise gender control

Identity through struggle

• Antigone’s moral identity is shaped through her confrontation with authority

• Her defiance is not just political but existential, highlighting her role as a moral agent

• The struggles resulting from her family history contribute to her absolute moral position and the clarity of her choice

• Offred’s identity survives through memory and reflection (seen in the “Night” chapters), and small acts of resistance

Resistance to oppression

• Antigone’s resistance is overt and symbolic:

  • She openly defies Creon to honour divine law and familial duty

• Offred’s resistance is subtle and covert

• Her rebellion exposes flaws in an apparently all-powerful system

Strength vs. weakness

• Antigone is socially perceived as weak because she is a woman in a patriarchal society

• But she shows immense moral courage in defying Creon’s edict

• She demonstrates strength through conviction, not force

• Creon’s rigidity becomes a weakness:

  • Behind his political authority is moral fragility 

• Those who are perceived as powerless and weak in Gilead become key players in the Mayday resistance

• Gilead appears powerful but relies on fear, surveillance, and suppression of individual identity, revealing its moral and emotional weakness

Justice vs. injustice

• Creon equates justice with obedience to the state

• Antigone sees justice as upholding divine law and familial duty

• Legal authority does not guarantee moral justice

• Gilead’s form of justice serves the elite and enforces social conformity rather than ethical fairness:

  • Religious ideas are perverted to justify rigid social hierarchy, restricted freedom, and punishment 

• Offred and others enact subtle forms of moral justice through small acts of defiance

Public vs. private life

• Antigone’s private duty is made public:

  • Her grief and moral obligation are deeply personal, yet she defies Creon publicly

• Creon prioritises public order over family loyalty:

  • This shows how political authority can intrude into private life

• Offred’s private life (her body, relationships, and thoughts) are monitored, policed, and punished

• Small acts of defiance (her memories; secret relationships) show the power of private thought and personal agency under oppressive systems

Relationship with the past

• Antigone’s actions are shaped by her family history

• She looks to ancestral experience and divine law as a guide for her choices

• Offred’s personal history (her family and her life before Gilead) shape her inner resistance 

• Her memories of freedom and personal relationships highlight the oppression of Gilead

Antigone

The Handmaid’s Tale

Themes and rich ideas: Society vs the individual

• Antigone is the individual who openly defies a society that expects her to remain obedient, quiet, and confined to the private sphere 

• Offred is the individual fighting to preserve her sense of identity in a society that seeks to erase individuality through strict roles, surveillance, and ideological control

Authorial purpose

• Sophocles encourages the audience to reflect on the limits of state authority and the importance of moral and religious responsibility, especially during a time of political change

• Atwood warns modern societies about how easily freedom and individuality can be lost:

  • Atwood did not want to be accused of imagining a horrible world intended to scare people so she only included oppressive governmental practices that had already actually taken place at some point in history

Impact on the audience 

• The play was well-received at the Dionysian dramatic festivals

• Reception likely involved discussion, reflection, and civic debate about:

  • How to navigate a changing and uncertain world

  • How to navigate competing loyalties and systems of authority

• The audience was expected to engage intellectually and emotionally with the ethical dilemmas presented

• The moral complexity of the conflict between Antigone and Creon makes it difficult for the audience to determine who is right and who is wrong

• The novel received critical acclaim and quickly became a major feminist and dystopian text 

• It has been banned in several countries because of sexual content, themes of female oppression, and critique of patriarchy

• Its positive reception has continued over decades with renewed interest during political moments that hint at Gilead’s oppressive practices

• Readers are provoked to reflect on their own position within systems of power and oppression:

  • Atwood encourages readers to question their level of complacency and to recognise how easily freedom and individual identity can be eroded when societies accept authoritarian control without resistance

  • The novel creates discomfort and prompts readers to critically examine their own political environments and to avoid taking rights and freedoms for granted

Textual features and authorial choices

Characterisation 

• Antigone’s public act of burying her brother demonstrates moral courage and defiance

• Her refusal to compromise on her principles marks her as an individual acting according to conscience rather than social expectation

• While many other characters in the play shift in their position over time, Antigone is consistent and resistant to change

• Offred’s first-person, present-tense narrative perspective gives intimate access to Offred’s thoughts

• The “Night” chapters offer the audience a greater understanding of her past, her inner life, and her moral awareness:

  • Preservation of memory demonstrates internal moral agency against social erasure

• Interactions with Moira, the Commander, and others emphasise how she navigates the tension between compliance and individuality

• Offred’s small, secret acts of rebellion show persistence of identity 

Language use

• Antigone’s uncompromising, absolute language sets her apart from Creon, Ismene, and the Chorus

• Her elevated, formal language use distinguishes her from ordinary citizens

• She speaks with authority and moral certainty, and refuses to be polite or subservient with Creon or Ismene

• Offred’s outward language use reflects strategic compliance with public authority

• Her private thoughts, revealed through her narration and the “Night” chapters, show moral and individual agency

• Stream-of-consciousness and interior monologue reveal inner conflict

A mismatch of public and private settings 

• Even private actions (grief, moral decisions) happen in view of society:

  • Antigone’s choice to defy publicly is an act of an individual defying social norms

• Private spaces in Gilead are no longer truly private — all is controlled and surveilled

• Public spaces are used to enforce oppression

• Offred’s narration in the “Night” chapters reveal her sole access to some kind of private space

Symbols and motifs

• The motif of seeing and blindness highlights the tension between personal conscience and societal expectation

• The assigned clothing of the women in Gilead highlights the attempted erasure of an individual identity

• The role of reading and seeing as a tool for subverting control:

  • This can be seen through references to The Eyes, the white wings, Scrabble, and in the letters written by Handmaids to the outside world

Evidence

• Antigone shows integrity, a steadfastness and resistance to change:

  • “I will bury him. I will have a noble death and lie with him” 

• Antigone defies social norms and shows a lack of deference:

  • “No man could frighten me into taking on the gods’ penalty for breaking such a law”

• When Ismene wishes for her sister to break the law quietly, Antigone refuses:

  • “For god’s sake, speak out. You’ll be more enemy to me if you are silent. Proclaim it to the world”

• Offred shows her quiet courage and strength:

  • “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed. There’s a lot that doesn’t bear thinking about. Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last”

• Offred shows the complexity of her character and position:

  • “I am coming to a part you will not like at all, because in it I did not behave well, but I will try nonetheless to leave nothing out”

• Offred shows the impact of being defined within Gilead:

  • “I avoid looking down at my body… I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely’’

Character focus

Antigone

Persepolis

Characters shaped by systems of power

• Antigone’s defiance of Creon’s law highlights how individuals are shaped by and respond to political and legal systems

• Marjane’s identity and moral understanding are shaped by the authoritarian, religious, and social systems around her

Key idea: Both texts explore how oppressive or rigid social structures influence decisions, values, and growth

Characters resisting oppression

• Antigone’s resistance is absolute and decisive, even if the cost is death

• Marji resists through small acts (rebellious clothing; Western music) and larger choices (speaking out; leaving Iran temporarily

Key idea: Resistance can be both internal and external, and character development can be traced through these acts of defiance

Characters revealed through contrast

• Antigone is defined through opposition with Creon, who represents authority, and Ismene, who represents caution:

  • Her traits become clearer when juxtaposed with theirs

• Marji’s character is revealed through contrasts with peers who conform more fully or rebel more radically

• Her character is also revealed through contrast with adults who embody compliance and complicity

Key idea: Contrast with others allows the audience to recognise core values, principles, or growth

Constancy vs. change

• Antigone is morally steadfast and does not change:

  • This emphasises both her integrity but also the cost of moral rigidity

• Marji’s identity, beliefs, and survival strategies evolve in response to external pressures and lived experiences

Key idea: Some characters’ constancy highlights universal principles or moral courage, while evolving characters show negotiation and adaptation under pressure

Internal vs. external expression of identity

• Antigone’s identity is expressed externally:

  • Her private values are inseparable from public action

• Identity is often internally maintained despite outward conformity:

  • Inner thoughts, flashbacks, and private rebellion reveal who Marji is

Key idea: Character development can be traced not only to actions but also to the internal negotiation of a self under societal pressure

Comparative angle

Antigone

Text for comparison 

Possible similarities 

Possible differences

The individual vs. society

The conflict between individual identity and restrictive social expectations

1984

Both texts explore the struggle of the individual against powerful social systems

Antigone resists social authority and maintains her principles to the very end, even though it costs her life. 

While Winston resists the totalitarian regime attempting to maintain individuality and truth, he ultimately betrays his beliefs and succumbs to societal control

Authorial purpose

Sophocles provokes reflection and debate on systems of power and authority

Things Fall Apart

Both writers avoid simplistic moral judgement and instead create ethical tension that pushes the audience towards reflection and debate

Sophocles uses debate through dialogue on stage, and the audience directly witnesses competing arguments. Achebe uses narrative storytelling so that reflection emerges gradually

Authorial choices

Limited setting, dialogue-driven moral debate, and a complex portrayal of justice

Death and the Maiden

Both playwrights use dramatic techniques to reveal power dynamics and moral ambiguity, positioning the audience to reflect on justice, authority, and individual responsibility

Antigone explores power and justice through direct moral confrontation and a clear tragic structure, while Death and the Maiden explores these themes through psychological ambiguity and unresolved truth

Impact on the audience 

Antigone creates emotional engagement and provokes reflection on power, human weakness, and moral responsibility

Othello

Both playwrights use techniques like dramatic irony to shape audience sympathy and tension and provoke reflection

Antigone provokes political and ethical reflection on systems of authority and governance, while Othello creates a more personal and emotional impact by exploring individual jealousy, manipulation, and human vulnerability