Models of Justice in Two Plays & The Republic

This study will examine and compare the models of justice presented by William Shakespeare in Hamlet, Sophocles in Antigone, and Plato in The Republic. The study will argue that Sophocles presents the most useful model for the modern world, because the struggle of the honest and courageous individual for justice against the powerful and corrupt state demonstrates a way to behave in the face of institutional evil.

Plato's model of justice is not justice at all. The ideal state about which he theorizes is based not on justice, but on propaganda, suppression, and an outright, blatant lie upon which his entire system of "education" is based. Plato's Socrates speaks at length about the nature of justice, but when it comes to actually establishing the "ideal" society, it becomes clear that true justice is not an element of that society.

Shakespeare's model of justice is nothing but vengeance delayed, a delay and a vengeance which leads to the death of many and a most uncertain future for the state after that bloodfest.

Creon and Antigone, in Sophocles' Antigone, stand in stark contrast to one another in terms of their views of justice. Creon's refusal to bury the corpse of Antigone's brother shows that his major concern is not justice but pride and revenge. Antigone, on the other hand, cares only about doing what is right according to the highest standards of kinship, of humanity and of the gods. She wants to bury her brother as much as Creon wants to prevent his burial. So mu

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rother buried, the changing of the mind and heart of Creon to the same conclusion clinches that endorsement. Justice has triumphed, even though it brings the deaths of Antigone and Creon's own wife and son. Antigone's model of justice is the best for the modern world because it bespeaks of the idealism, courage and determination of the individual citizen in the face of the corruption and great power of the state whose "justice" is power alone. If justice is to prevail in even a corner the modern world, it will be because of such individuals as Antigone. Hamlet's situation and nature are in stark contrast to those of Antigone with respect to the justice they is called to bring about. Antigone is brave and determined where Hamlet is wavering and passive. Just as Antigone knows she must bury her brother even if it brings down the state, because that is what is decreed by the gods, so does Hamlet know that he must kill Claudius to bring justice for Claudius's murder of Hamlet's father. However, where Antigone immediately determined to bury her brother and let everybody know what she was going to do, Hamlet takes the entire play to finally do what he should have done far earlier. For all the critical talk about him being a sensitiv

Category: Literature - M