Creon's Moment of Recognition in Antigone

Throughout the play, Antigone, Creon's love for power and authority prevents him from listening to anyone's opinion besides his own. Even when someone's life was at stake, he wanted his law to rule over his judgment. He thinks justice only occurs when punishment is involved and therefore, he sentences Antigone to death. Antigone pleaded for her life and so did his son Haemon, but Creon did not listen because his pride would not let him make correct judgments. He recognizes his wrongdoings when the Leader tells him that Creon needs to take his advice in order to be a good king. The Seer tries to convince Creon that "pride is a crime" and the people of Thebes including him would suffer because of it. The Leader is the one who convinces Creon that the Seer has never been wrong and it is important that Creon frees Antigone. Creon is able to realize that it is not his "heart desires" of power, which matters. The “established laws” that have always governed people are the laws that now need to govern the people and the king of Thebes. I know that Creon acknowledges that he made a wrong decision, but I felt like he did it out of fear so that he would not anger the Gods and suffer for it. He did not even have mercy his own son when he said he would kill himself if Creon killed his wife. Creon refuses to listen to the advice Haemon gives him because he does not need to son to teach him how to rule Thebes. I found some parts confusing because I didn’t know who or what role the leader played. He had so much influence on Creon’s decision; he must have been someone important. Throughout the play, no emotions were stirred for Creon; he did not like the notion of love or men sharing equal rights with women. All he cared about was having authority over everyone and everything in his life. The decisions he made caused him to lose everything that he ultimately cared about and for the rest of his life, he would have to live with that guilt. The seer tried to tell Creon the ability to make judgments is more important than Creon’s personal beliefs. The seer even warns Creon that if Antigone dies, Creon will lose one of his own. All this talk was pointless to Creon till everyone leaves him. He “learned through blood and tears” that the decisions he makes affects everyone’s lives. To conclude, I think Creon does have a moment of recognition towards the end of the novel, but he was too late and because of that, Creon has to live alone for the rest of his life.