Why a remake? I’m sure you’ve witnessed the phenomenon in movies—older movies remade with a modern twist, television shows transposed to the big screen, classic formulas or plots appearing in a thousand variations. Although the quality of remakes includes everything from complete failures to works that surpass the original, every remake becomes a work to be judged in its own right, and to be interpreted in its own context. Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho is an extreme example of an imitative homage to an original. Sets, dialogue, every single camera shot and angle is respected (although Van Sant’s version is in color). And yet the modern version failed to reach audiences (or critics) the way the original did. Another extreme remake example can be found in Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” in which we meet a man in the early twentieth century who wants to compose word for word the Quixote of Miguel de Cervantes. These extreme examples demonstrate that even an exact copy, a faithful replica changes with a new author and a new context (think about what Andy Warhol did for the Campbell’s soup can).
This long introduction is simply to get you thinking. Jean Anouilh’s Antigone is a very successful remake of a very old play. Whether or not you have ever read the Antigone of Sophocles will not be important in these last three lessons (of course, if you have, you may have fun comparing). Unlike the extreme examples given above, Anouilh has freely deviated from the original to suit his own revised vision of the tragedy. As we study Antigone, we will focus on the important questions raised by its unique historical context—questions which are at once particular to a specific moment in French history and universal.
After carefully studying this lesson, you should be able to explain the basic historical context that inspired Anouilh’s remake of Antigone. In particular, you will learn to compare two important historical figures from French World War II history—Charles de Gaulle and Maréchal Pétain—as personifications of the choice between resistance and collaboration. You will also be able to identify the characters and their traits as explained in the prologue.