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CHORUS (in a changed tone). The play is on. Antigone has been caught. For the first time in her life, little Antigone is going to be able to be herself.
At the end of the Chorus’s monologue midway through the play, they remind the audience that the tragedy about to unfold cannot be stopped. Despite this bleak outlook, the Chorus also emphasizes that facing Creon will allow Antigone “to be herself,” a point which reflects the ironically liberating nature of her sacrifice. She ultimately sheds the social and political pressures that she faces as a young girl in Thebes in order to unabashedly stand up for what she believes in.
I want everything of life, I do; and I want it now! I want it total, complete: otherwise I reject it! I will not be moderate. I will not be satisfied with the bit of cake you offer me if I promise to be a good little girl. I want to be sure of everything this very day; sure that everything will be as beautiful as when I was a little girl. If not, I want to die!
Antigone delivers this line to Creon near the end of their heated argument, and the all-or-nothing perspective that she offers emphasizes just how strongly she commits to her principles. At this point in the play, Antigone’s focus has shifted from burying her brother to reclaiming a sense of agency over her life more generally. She rejects the idea that life requires individuals to make compromises on their beliefs and actions, so much so that she is prepared to die for her cause.
ANTIGONE. "Creon was right. It is terrible to die."
GUARD (repeats as he writes). " ... terrible to die."
ANTIGONE. "And I don't even know what I am dying for. I am afraid .... "
As Antigone awaits her death, she shares this exchange with a guard who has agreed to write and deliver a letter from her to Haemon. These lines contrast significantly with the bold tone of her fight with Creon and remind the audience that despite her apparent wisdom, she is still a young, overwhelmed girl. Her private admission that she does not truly know what cause she is dying for also points to the complex nature of her sacrifice, one rooted in a desire to follow her own sense of justice.
