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Homefire is a retelling of Sophocles’ play Antigone that takes place in the modern-day primarily in England. The book is extremely different to the play since it does not have to follow the unities of ancient greek tragedies and therefore can take place over multiple days and in multiple locations. This allows the story to often be more developed as the reader actually learns about Eamonn (Hamon) and Aneeka’s (Antigone’s) relationship as well as exploring other relationships more such as Isma (Ismene) and Eamonn’s which is never mentioned/nonexistent in the original play. The fact it is in novel form also allows the reader to know the inner thoughts of characters like Karamat (Creon) making their motives potentially more understandable.

A relationship that changes a lot from the original is the father-son relationship between Karamat and Eamonn and in general their whole family dynamic. Rather than the fear that happens it the play Eamonn does say things along the lines of ‘my father will do anything for me’ showing a closer relationship between the two. This is a big change as in Sophocles’ original story Creon is unflinching in his resolves and mentions many times that he would prioritise Thebes over family. The story also adds in a sister and gives the mother more of a role further changing this family.

The book creatively retells the story in such a way where it is an interesting read even without prior knowledge. I read this book without knowing it was a retelling and enjoyed it. Though I do feel as though one gets more out of having the prior knowledge as making connections can be very interesting and the reader notices more small details such as understanding perepeteia and recognising when he begins to regret his actions even though it is too late.

Homefire is able to transform the story of Antigone into a a much more modernly relevant story by being a different form of art (play vs novel) and not having to follow the norms or the exact storyline of the original story and its genre. The creativity of building a relationship between Isma and Eamonn or keeping Parvaiz alive for much of the play changes a lot especially with the storyline of Parvaiz as the author adds many characters and an original storyline through him. These sort of changes not only showcase the originality that can be shown in retellings but they add to the story. These changes leave readers wondering if the ending will also change or will it just turn out the same again? and hope it doesn’t even as the end is coming closer and closer. This is a common thing with retellings in ones of other greek myths or even slightly newer works like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that has received many new spins on the storyline over the years when sometimes the story ending changes but a lot of the time it doesn’t. This happens in Homefire where the reader hopes the author changed the ending but that false hope leads to a fascinated read that often ends exactly how one would expect. This is part of the reason why I think knowing that the story is a retelling adds to it as I did not remember much about how the story ended (just a vague idea that someone died) and this wondering added a lot to the story.

I find it interesting how she interacts with Ismene in both the parados and the later episodes. I feel as though Ismene brings out the worst in many of the characters around her as Creon seems crueller in contrast to her as he jumps to conclusions and calls her a snake. In addition to this, Antigone’s stubbornness and hubris appear clearer in contrast to Ismene’s caution. The way Antigone reacts to the idea of her dying with her shows her need for the spotlight and how devoted she is to the gods that she believes she will be rewarded for her actions and is blind to their impact on the world of the living as she views human law as almost inconsequential in comparison to godly law and tradition

Other people’s thoughts:

 “She is so hot-headed and unbending in her resolve; so fundamentalist in her hubris and pride that she begins to bend the conventions of what constitutes a tragic hero itself. This is in part the innovation of the playwright…” (Tanisha)

“On one hand, the strong religious convictions and the drive and tunnel vision of Antigone can be seen as admirable. For someone to be that driven for a cause is interesting as she sees it as her ultimate goal. she is cold and unwelcoming, traits often looked down upon in women as they are often expected to fill the societal role of the nurturing mother or be gentle in a way. The prickly nature of Antigone makes it hard to sympathise with her especially with her complete lack of self-preservation. She seems like she wants to die and that is her only aim, thus the audience is unable to empathise with her, she doesn’t seem vulnerable nor particularly in need of saving, therefore, she is a character the audience may root for however has little to no emotional investment in.”   (Maya)

“I find it interesting how Sophocles problematizes Antigone through her deeply human, flawed behaviour intertwined with her respect of the divine law” (Henah)

The two productions are extremely different, with the BBC one being in relatively typical ancient greek dress while the national theatre appears to have more world war two or later era costuming, with the beginning appearing to show some sort of industrial setting. With people watching some sort of TV.

The other one begins with photos of Creon descending from the roof and soldiers saluting. This seems to show the beginning of an authoritarian state as Creon comes to power and immediately implements martial law and makes orders that go against the Gods. This continues a theme in the Theban plays where man vs god especially within the law is a common conflict. The posters appear to watch the area and the scene between the sisters in a 1984-esque idea of “big brother is watching you”.

In terms of staging in the BBC version, the sisters stand in a closed-off area but stand far away from each other, showing distance between the two as they argue. While in the national theatre one, they stand close together, while in the National Theatre production, they stand close together in a very open hall. At times they also stand on the steps continuing an occasional motif in Oedipus Rex of greater height signifying greater power which may link to the line about Antigone and Ismene having “royal blood”.

In conclusion, the two productions are extremely different with the National Theatre version being very close to the original play in terms of set design and costumes while the BBC version changes the era possibly in order to relate the recent battle that takes place in Thebes before the play to WW2 or another conflict from the era in order to make the audience understand the scale of the conflict.

Szymborska is a metaphysical poet who utilises conversational language and paradoxical bluntness, resulting in her poems being uniquely hers. This was shown in her poem ‘possibilities’, where her preferences are often idiosyncratic but create a realistic image of her that seems almost relatable in how different all people are.

She lived through WW2 and the years of communist Poland. This has shaped her outlook on life in how she appears pessimistic towards humanity but optimistic about the world. Her poem ‘a political age’ reflects all that has happened in her lifetime and how one cannot escape politics even though it can be quite useless. Her life experience is also shown in her poem ‘hatred’, where she references ‘religion’ and ‘fatherland’, two themes she said carried weight and have blood flowing through them in response to a fan’s poetry. The idea of fatherland may be a reference to the second world war. As we discussed in cases, she may also have been partly blaming patriarchal society as war and violence happened under their leadership.

Don’t pretend to be women. I don’t get the sense that they understand women. The character is described as “a peculiar and solitary woman, who loves grappa, karaoke, classic cars and sex in SUVs” sounds like an “I’m not like other girls” character rather than a natural person.

It’s not that bad of a thing, but it is not that difficult to have a male name. Lying for years and also pretending to write a  genuine female character adds up to some really bad misrepresentation.