Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 4 (loyalty, handmaid, spotless, blessings, hamilcar, moves…). Matches are highlighted.
while, 'Twill not be long before the King return, I'll move him once again. Farewell, True faithful Dircus, all the gods assist Thy good intents, and bless thy loyalty. Would I could weep my self Like Niobe to marble, and become A woeful tomb to Aemon, whom my womabe With fates disastrous brought into the world, My virtuous Aemon,
kindreds crimes: They have already with dire punishments Paid for their proper gilded; and her rare virtues By the same law may challenge, as a endue, The greatest blessings that the gods can grant. Be good to her, my Lord, for Aemons sake. What ere mishap befall Antigone Hee'll deeply share in, for I fear his love Is too too constant
Full speech
Remember he's our son, our only son, And virtuous too, of whom the Kingdom boasts. Blast not their Hope's in him, the fate of love Is irresistible. No gentle Dircus, stay a little while, 'Twill not be long before the King return, I'll move him once again. Farewell, True faithful Dircus, all the gods assist Thy good intents, and bless thy loyalty. Would I could weep my self Like Niobe to marble, and become A woeful tomb to Aemon, whom my womabe With fates disastrous brought into the world, My virtuous Aemon, Why do you ask, that mean to murder him? Yes in Antigone His most inseparable love. Were kings ordained to kill Virtues true servants, and control her laws? Can we avoid them. By sparing her? No longer, Now I renew my suit. The gods reward thee for't; I'll go my self And bring her out with speed from that sad place; Heaven grant that grief have not already killed her. Ay me. but good, my Lord, Weigh not alone her hapless parentage, (Though that were royal, and allied to you In near degrees) but her admired virtue, In which the general voice of people speaks her As much excelling, as the worst of all Her wretched raze were infamous for vice. Do not tax so far The justice of the gods, that they should punish In good Antigone her kindreds crimes: They have already with dire punishments Paid for their proper gilded; and her rare virtues By the same law may challenge, as a endue, The greatest blessings that the gods can grant. Be good to her, my Lord, for Aemons sake. What ere mishap befall Antigone Hee'll deeply share in, for I fear his love Is too too constant ere to be removed. Rather then lose him, grant his lawful suit.
Plot summary
Plot — Antigone, the Theban Princess
Self-blinded and banished from Thebes, Oedipus wishes only for death. His daughter Antigone temporarily persuades him to give up such thoughts, but it is not long before he is dead. Thebes itself is at war: Eteocles has dishonoured a power-sharing agreement with his brother Polynices, and seven Greek champions have besieged the city in support of the latter’s claim. After sustaining heavy casualties, Polynices proposes settling the case in single combat with Eteocles. Both are killed. The new King, Creon, decrees that no Theban shall bury any enemy soldier, including Polynices. He also places Antigone under house arrest and refuses his son Haemon permission to marry her. In defiance of Creon, Antigone goes to the battlefield in search of Polynices’ body. There she meets his widow, Argia, and together they convey the corpse past the watchmen and give it a funeral. Creon too comes to the battlefield, to consult the witches who are gathering Parts of the dead bodies for magical use. They make a dead body tell his fortune: he will die soon, and disorder will come to Thebes. Antigone and Argia are arrested. Creon holds Argia, a foreign princess, for ransom, but sentences Antigone to be entombed alive and left to starve to death. By threatening to take his own life, Haemon persuades his father to allow her release, but it is too late: she has taken poison to hasten her death. Haemon kills himself. Thebes is attacked by Theseus, who has been summoned by another widow to intervene for the unburied. Argia is released and Creon killed, but Theseus allows him the burial he denied his enemies.