Antigone and the Contemporary Novel

In the last blog post, we looked at the plot of Sophocles’ Antigone. In this short but fast-paced play, we learnt how the daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, laments over the death of her brother Polynices. Polynices has been cast as a traitor of the state by Creon, who is not only the state ruler, but the uncle of both Polynices and Antigone, and has forbidden the burial of Polynices. In burying her brother, Antigone places family firmly over state law. This raises questions about the nature of the law: was Antigone right to obey state law, or should she have adhered to Creon’s edict? Is the person in the position of power always right?

The answer to this debate has been raging for centuries. As there is no easy – or indeed arguably right answer – to this question, many adaptations of the play have been made, framing the debate in a different light. Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire is one such example of these adaptations. In Shamsie’s acclaimed novel – which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018 – Antigone emerges in the form of a British Muslim family, set in the present-day era. Aneeka, the Antigone-based character, fights to return the body of her twin brother Parvaiz, who has been killed in a terrorist attack abroad. Parvaiz, who had been trying to return home to Britain after realising he does not wish to be a member of the extremist organisation, ISIS, then has his British citizenship removed by British Muslim Home Secretary, Karamat – which echoes the case of Shamima Begum. The novel subsequently explores the complicated issues surrounding this case.

Another version of the Antigone story is Natalie Haynes’ novel The Children of Jocasta. Rather than being set in the modern world, like Shamsie’s adaptation of the play, Haynes’ novel is set in Ancient Greece. The novel covers the events of both Oedipus Tyrannus, the first play in the trilogy, as well as Antigone. Haynes’ novel takes a feminist stance on the trilogy. Haynes decide to narrate Oedipus Tyrannus and Antigone from Jocasta’s point of view – the mother and wife of Oedipus, mother also of Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles – as well as sister Ismene. In Sophocles’ versions of the plays, Jocasta has few lines and Ismene disappears halfway through Antigone, and we the spectator/reader are unsure of Ismene’s fate. The Children of Jocasta seeks to change this; the novel finally gives both Jocasta and Ismene a voice.

There are many other versions of this acclaimed play, including Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya’s The Watch, which is set during the Afghanistan conflict, and more recently, Kamal Kaan’s Antigone, which is set in Bradford. Clearly, the nature of the play and plethora of issues it explores means that Antigone will continue to be adapted. Have you read any of these versions? Let us know your thoughts.