Characters are essential elements in a story or play, and they act as the driving force to push the plot forward. Antigone and the lottery play’s main characters include Antigone, Creon, Ismene, Tessie Hutchison, Old man warner, and Bill Hutchison.
Characters in “Antigone” play
Antigone
Antigone is the main character of the play. She is the daughter and half-sister of Oedipus, niece to Creon, sister of Ismene, and wife-to-be to Haemon. She is loving and does everything willingly for the sake of his brother (DeWitt 394). Although she understands all the calamities that occurred to her family, she buries the body of Polynices without minding whether she will lose her life. In addition, she is strong, confident, strong-willed, outspoken, confident, and passionate from the beginning of the play.
Creon
Creon, the play’s hero, is a brother-in-law to Oedipus, who becomes the king after Oedipus’s son dies (DeWitt 394). He embraces the rule of law and the state’s authority and believes that failing to comply with the rules leads to anarchy which is worse than anything else. He refuses to give in to Antigone’s desire to bury Polyniece, which leads to the death of Antigone Haemon and Eurydice. Creon is not aware that other forms of justice exist, and due to his pride, he defies the gods and ruins himself. Basically, Creon can be described as ruthless, angry, powerfully built, faithful, and forgiving.
Ismene
Ismene is the sister to Antigone, who beseeches the king (Creon) not to rebel against the laws of the city to prevent bringing more bad luck to their family. She is horrified and grief-stained due to the misfortunes that befall her family, making her suicidal thoughts. When Antigone is sentenced to death, she shares the guilt and tries to plead with the king to be merciful towards her sister. In the play, she begs Antigone to join her in death, and although she refuses, Ismene conversion shows that her resistance in contagious. In essence, Ismene can be described as emotional, reasonable, understanding, blonde, talkative, full-figured, and radiant, beautiful lady.
Characters in “The Lottery” play
Tessie Hutchinson
Hutchinson is the main character in the lottery play who possesses qualities that stand out from the other characters in the story. She is an ordinary housewife who embraces life as it is without considering its value until it is too late (Pitelka 1). Hutchinson arrives late at the lottery, citing that she forgot which day it was while chatting with her neighbours. While her family is selected in the lottery, she states that the drawing was not fair. Tessie Hutchinson can be described as a character of tardiness, free-spirited, suppression, and resistance.
Old man warner
Old man Warner is the most aged character in the town who has taken part in 77 lotteries. He supports that things should be kept the way they are and regards towns and young people who stopped participating in the lotteries as “crazy fools” (Jackson 7). He contemplates that these people will start living in caves since the lottery holds the society together. Not only does this character believe that lottery is an important element in the society, he adheres to the final punishment of stoning Tessie even though people complain she is young. The Old man Warner can be described as faithful and respectful to his traditions.
Bill Hutchison
Finally, Bill Hutchinson is Tess Hutchinson’s husband. When he draws a blank paper in the second drawing, he willingly shows the people that his wife drew the marked paper. After everyone shows their slips to Mr. Summers except Tessie, Bill Hutchison takes the paper out of her hands in force and shows it to the entire crowd. When her wife claims that the selection was not fair, Bill Hutchison tells her to keep quiet, maybe because he believes in the lottery or does not want to shame his family to the entire village. Bill Hutchison can be described as a law-obedient husband since he agrees with the stoning of his wife.
Works cited
DeWitt, Norman W. “Character and Plot in the ‘Antigone.’” The Classical Journal, vol. 12, no. 6, The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, 1917, pp. 393–96, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3288383.
Jackson, Shirley. The lottery. Robinson, 1988.
Pitelka, Jillian. “The Transformation of Tessie Hutchinson: A Character Analysis.” DigitalCommons@COD | College of DuPage Research, 2020, pp. 1-6, dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=srs.
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