Feminist Readings of Antigone

This book collects the most interesting and provocative feminist work on the figure of Antigone, in particular looking at how she can figure into contemporary debates on the role of women in society. Contributors focus on female subjectivity and sexuality, feminist ethics and politics, questions of race and gender, psychoanalytic theory, kinship, embodiment, and tensions between the private and the public. All explore why Antigone has become such an important figure, what we can learn from her, whether a feminist politics turning to this ancient figure can be progressive or is bound to idealize the past, the role of sexual difference in the play, and why Antigone must die. Fanny Söderbäck has gathered classic work in this field alongside newly written pieces by some of the most important voices in contemporary feminist philosophy, including Judith Butler, Adriana Cavarero, Tina Chanter, Luce Irigaray, and Julia Kristeva.