Antigone Has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, (AD/HD) After talking to Ismene and being informed that burying their brother, Polynices, is unlawful, Antigone acts like a brut, and still, arrogantly, buries him. What right does she have to make up her own rules and regulations, when she knows that what she is doing is unlawful by her state? I will explore the mind of a child that has AD/HD and will clearly show that Antigone is no exception to this psychological disorder, since she, herself, has these symptoms. I will also analyze if Antigone should be brought to death for her misloyalty to the king, Kreon. If Kreon had the right to kill her, and finally, if her psychological disorder makes her morally right, or wrong, and if she can tell the difference among them.
First, doctors describe this disorder as one who does or may experience, or has a short attention span, impulsive behavior, and/or hyperactivity, (CHADD, Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder).
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English: Percent of Youth 4-17 ever diagnosed with...This disorder should not be over looked, since in today's society, many children, as well as adults seem to have this disorder. Also this disorder is common among children, who range from childhood, to adolescence, making Antigone a prime subject to this disorder.
Furthermore, Antigone must have a short attention span, because obviously as soon as Ismene informed her of her rights and anti-rights of burying her brother, she already had forgotten them. Also, Antigone had forgotten that she'd receive capital punishment for burying her brother, until she had to be refreshed of her fate, only after she had already done so in burying her brother. Antigone shows us that she is clearly not in sound mind when she says, on line 890, "Oh grave! Oh marriage chamber! ⦠where I go to join my own." Clearly this is not a sign of a person who is competent and/ or of sound mind.
Moreover, Antigone also expresses impulsive behavior, being overly aggressive, and not being able to stay calm. While Antigone knew that she could not bury her brother, she not only took initiative to bury him, but she also did it multiple times, clearly showing that she was overly aggressive in her actions. Also, Antigone is constantly jumpy, blurting and lashing out at Ismene, like on line 95, when she says, "If you speak so, you'll be a hateful enemy to me, and justly hated by the dead man too." This is almost like a threat to Ismene, saying that the dead'll doom her if she does not confirm to Antigone's ideals. This again is a sign of AD/HD and proves that Antigone does suffer from this disorder.
Therefore, she is not supposed to be tried so harshly, as Kreon does to her in putting her to death. Rather, she should be brought to a mental institution and be locked up, away from the open population. Furthermore, a point that also proves that Antigone should be locked away is that Antigone is hyperactive. Again, returning to the fact that she went back to her brother's corpse and sprinkled over him dust multiple times. This does show that she can't handle being calm and reserved, and therefore, does cause alert to psychologist for therapy.
However, Antigone's reasoning for acting out in such a politically and socially inappropriate manner does hold some interesting clues as to determining her disorder. This disorder does categorize children, as well as adults to daydream quite frequently. This is how Antigone seems to provide justification for her actions, through her "gods." It is only appropriate to think that she makes up her godly ideals as frequently as she breathes, because she is selective. She does not take Kreon to be at all godly, even though he is the king and does hold majestic powers over his land and his people. Nowhere in the text does she refer to all the gods, but only to certain gods, which does strike me odd, in a sense that she makes them up, or disregards one god over the other, in order to satisfy her own justifications and reasoning.
In conclusion, Antigone is Attention Deficit Hyperactively Disordered because all of the symptoms that are described by CHADD would place her within that psychological category and make her a very unstable and arrogant little bitch, because of her moodiness, impulsive behavior, lack of attention and most of all hyperactivity. No wonder Kreon wanted her dead, because she was one of his disloyal citizens and behaved in such misconduct that combated with the state's ideals. But the question really is if she deserved to die, because obviously she was not in sound mind and she could not be accountable for her actions, since she was sick. This is I why think that even though she did try and help her brother, while breaking the law, she still did not deserve to die. Sick people, no matter how bad of a crime that they commit, should not be put to death, since that would be very inhumane. I don't think that Antigone even knew that she was doing anything wrong, since she was forgetful, and did lack attention span, making her fate inappropriate and most of all inhumane.
Moreover, we can examine Kreon's psyche. If Kreon knows that Antigone is sick and that she can not account for her own actions, and he still condemned her to death, then what can be said about Kreon? With all of his testimonies in the texts, regarding women as inferior, and saying that it is better to lose to a man than to a woman, I know that Kreon is an insecure man, feeling threatened and somehow, incomplete. This act of killing Antigone, only proves that he was weak, and was not able to accept that Antigone's bravery and courage is more than that of his own. Therefore, I think that Kreon is sick himself. Making him the own that should really go to the nut house/ (mental institution).
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