Literature Play

Anike

This play can be said as the Malay version of “Antigone”. The title of the play is quite the same as the play “Antigone” because it uses the major character’s name. The plot and the themes presented in the play is also quite the same as in “Antigone”. Anike is a tragic play because by the end of the play, most of the major characters die a dreadful death. I can say that Wong Phui Nam is a successful playwright because he comes from a Chinese background and yet he managed to produce a play of a different background from his. This modern Malaysian play is basically has the similarity with the “Hikayat Hang Tuah”, where Jebat’s sister intend to give a proper burial towards her brother who are left hanging to rot at a tree.
Besides that, Wong Phui Nam also uses a lot of Malay words in the play and I think the reasons why he used non-English words are because he wanted to portray the Malay culture and also because the words cannot be replaced by English words. For example, the words “Daulat Tuanku” to the Sultan is not changed because there is no such thing applied in English society. However, the word “nenek moyang” which means ancestors, is not changed may be because it is more appropriate to be used.
While reading this play, some questions come to my mind. I was thinking “should we be loyal to a king or a sultan, especially when he, for one time, wanting us to die?” Or “should we be loyal to a friend?” I can say that for me, I would prefer not to die for the sake of a king because a king is simply a person, and not the God. Only the God can take one’s life, not the king who sets a person’s life.

Anike's Character :

• Yasmine sister's
• Sirat's sister
• Brave
• Determined
• Love her brother & sister
• Try to save her sister & buried her brother.