Antigone Journal 3

The author's warning in the play Antigone is that life and death is absurd. It's not so much a warning, it's more of a message then anything. Anouilh is telling his audience that once someone is dead, you will only impact the living for so long, everything goes back to normal and life continues on. Just like in the play at the very end, "She has played her part."(53) Anouilh is breaking the 4th wall by having the chorus say this. He is making his audience realize that they are indeed, watching a play and it is coming to an end. Later on the same page, "Only the guards are left, and none of this matters to them. It's no skin off their noses. They go on playing cards."(53) Anouilh has this as the closing statement to remind the audience that when they go home after this play, they will most likely forget it fairly quickly. As with the guards, they go on with their life, as does Creon. "Listen to me. They don't know it, but the truth is the work is there to be done, and a man can't fold his arms and refuse to do it. [...] Cabinet meeting. Then we had better go along."(52) Right after the death of his niece, wife, niece's fiancee etc. he just goes on with life. He was affected for a short time, but life must go on. The living must continue living, disregarding the dead after mourning. That is Anouilh's "warning".