Classical Backgrounds to English Literature

A.R. Gurney’s Another Antigone

Study Questions

• Name 2 similarities and 2 differences between Another Antigone and Antigone. Also, what is the relationship between the play that Judy is writing and the play that she is in?

• What is the essence of the argument between Henry and Judy? What is each person’s stance in this argument? (You may want to approach this question by considering the meaning of grades for Henry and for Judy.) In addition to describing their stances, try to sum up the categorical imperative by which each character is acting.

• What do you think about Henry’s interpretation of Sophocles’s tragedy? How about Dave’s interpretation? What implications does each interpretation hold for Gurney’s play?

• Is Henry anti-semitic? Should he refrain from speaking his views about the Jews?

• How does the institutional policy of the college fit into the parallelism between Antigone and Another Antigone? Is this something that Gurney has added on, or can you find an equivalent for it in Sophocles?