The US Public and American Foreign Policy Routledge

Studies in US Foreign Policy 1st Edition Andrew

Johnstone - PDF Download (2025)

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-us-public-and-american-
foreign-policy-routledge-studies-in-us-foreign-policy-1st-
edition-andrew-johnstone/

Visit ebookultra.com today to download the complete set of

ebooks or textbooks
We have selected some products that you may be interested in
Click the link to download now or visit ebookultra.com
for more options!.

Secrecy in US Foreign Policy Yukinori Komine

https://ebookultra.com/download/secrecy-in-us-foreign-policy-yukinori-
komine/

Theoretical Roots of US Foreign Policy Machiavelli and

American Unilateralism Contemporary Security Studies 1st
Edition Thomas Kane
https://ebookultra.com/download/theoretical-roots-of-us-foreign-
policy-machiavelli-and-american-unilateralism-contemporary-security-
studies-1st-edition-thomas-kane/

US Foreign Policy After the Cold War 1st Edition Fraser

Cameron

https://ebookultra.com/download/us-foreign-policy-after-the-cold-
war-1st-edition-fraser-cameron/

A Bitter Harvest US Foreign Policy and Afghanistan 1st

Edition Tom Lansford

https://ebookultra.com/download/a-bitter-harvest-us-foreign-policy-
and-afghanistan-1st-edition-tom-lansford/
US Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis 1st Edition
David Patrick Houghton

https://ebookultra.com/download/us-foreign-policy-and-the-iran-
hostage-crisis-1st-edition-david-patrick-houghton/

Soft Power and US Foreign Policy Theoretical Historical

and Contemporary Perspectives 1st Edition Inderjeet Parmar

https://ebookultra.com/download/soft-power-and-us-foreign-policy-
theoretical-historical-and-contemporary-perspectives-1st-edition-
inderjeet-parmar/

Wall Street banks and American foreign policy Center For

Libertarian Studies.

https://ebookultra.com/download/wall-street-banks-and-american-
foreign-policy-center-for-libertarian-studies/

Foreign Multinationals in the US Management and

Performance Routledge International Studies in Business
History 8 1st Edition Geoffrey Jones
https://ebookultra.com/download/foreign-multinationals-in-the-us-
management-and-performance-routledge-international-studies-in-
business-history-8-1st-edition-geoffrey-jones/

Spheres of Intervention US Foreign Policy and the Collapse

of Lebanon 1967 1976 1st Edition James R. Stocker

https://ebookultra.com/download/spheres-of-intervention-us-foreign-
policy-and-the-collapse-of-lebanon-1967-1976-1st-edition-james-r-
stocker/
The US Public and American Foreign Policy Routledge
Studies in US Foreign Policy 1st Edition Andrew
Johnstone Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Andrew Johnstone, Helen Laville
ISBN(s): 9780415553155, 0415553156
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 1.01 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
The US Public and American Foreign
Policy

Though often overlooked, public opinion has always played a significant role
in the development and promotion of American foreign policy and this work
seeks to comprehensively assess the impact and nature of that opinion
through a collection of historical and contemporary essays.
The volume evaluates the role of organizations and movements that look to
represent public opinion, and assesses the nature of their relationship with the
government. The contributors utilize a number of different approaches to
examine this impact, including polling data, assessments of the role of the
media, and the wider consideration of ideas and ideology, moving on to
examine the specific role played by the public in the policy making and policy
promotion process.
Engaging with new questions as well as approaching old questions from a
new angle, the work argues that whilst the roles change, and the extent of
influence varies, the power of the public to both initiate and constrain foreign
policy clearly exists and should not be underestimated. This work will be
of great interest to all those with an interest in American foreign policy,
American politics and American history.

Andrew Johnstone is a Lecturer in American History at the University of

Leicester. He is the author of Dilemmas of Internationalism, and his research
focuses on US internationalism and the relationship between the state and
private spheres in mobilizing support for US foreign policy.

Helen Laville is a Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of

Birmingham. She has published widely on women’s rights in the Cold War
years, including the monograph Cold War Women (2002). She is currently
writing a book on American women in the Civil Rights movement.
Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy
Edited by: Inderjeet Parmar,
University of Manchester and
John Dumbrell,
University of Durham

This new series sets out to publish high quality works by leading and emer-
ging scholars critically engaging with United States Foreign Policy. The series
welcomes a variety of approaches to the subject and draws on scholarship
from international relations, security studies, international political economy,
foreign policy analysis and contemporary international history.
Subjects covered include the role of administrations and institutions, the
media, think tanks, ideologues and intellectuals, elites, transnational cor-
porations, public opinion and pressure groups in shaping foreign policy, US
relations with individual nations, with global regions and global institutions
and America’s evolving strategic and military policies.
The series aims to provide a range of books – from individual research
monographs and edited collections to textbooks and supplemental reading for
scholars, researchers, policy analysts and students.

United States Foreign Policy and National Identity in the Twenty-First

Century
Edited by Kenneth Christie

New Directions in US Foreign Policy

Edited by Inderjeet Parmar, Linda B. Miller and Mark Ledwidge

America’s ‘Special Relationships’

Foreign and domestic aspects of the politics of alliance
Edited by John Dumbrell and Axel R Schäfer

US Foreign Policy in Context

National ideology from the founders to the Bush doctrine
Adam Quinn

The United States and NATO since 9/11

The transatlantic alliance renewed
Ellen Hallams
Soft Power and US Foreign Policy
Theoretical, historical and contemporary perspectives
Edited by Inderjeet Parmar and Michael Cox

The US Public and American Foreign Policy

Edited by Andrew Johnstone and Helen Laville
The US Public and American
Foreign Policy

Edited by
Andrew Johnstone and Helen Laville
First published 2010
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

© 2010 Editorial selection and matter, Andrew Johnstone and Helen

Laville; individual chapters the contributors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The US public and American foreign policy/edited by Andrew Johnstone
and Helen Laville.
p. cm.
United States–Foreign relations–Public opinion.
2. Public opinion–United States. I. Johnstone, Andrew
(Andrew E.) II. Laville, Helen.
E840.U855 2010
327.73–dc22
2009051833

ISBN 0-203-84927-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN13: 978–0–415–55315–5 (hbk)

ISBN13: 978–0–203–84927–9 (ebk)
Contents

Notes on Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Abbreviations xv

1 Introduction 1
ANDREW JOHNSTONE AND HELEN LAVILLE

Section One
The public and war 11

2 From coast defense to embalmed beef: the influence

of the press and public opinion on McKinley’s policymaking
during the Spanish–American war 13
JOSEPH SMITH

3 To mobilize a nation: citizens’ organizations and intervention

on the eve of World War II 26
ANDREW JOHNSTONE

4 Power to the people? American public opinion and

the Vietnam war 41
ANDREW PRIEST

Section Two
Public interests and ideology 57

5 Organized labor and the social foundations of American

diplomacy, 1898–1920 59
RHODRI JEFFREYS-JONES

6 Religion and world order at the dawn of the American century 73

ANDREW PRESTON
viii Contents
7 Gender apartheid? American women and women’s rights in
American foreign policy 87
HELEN LAVILLE

Section Three
Interests and ethnicity 105

8 African Americans and US foreign policy: the American Negro

Leadership Conference on Africa and the Rhodesian crisis 107
CARL P. WATTS

9 The American public and the US–Israeli “special” relationship 123

ELIZABETH STEPHENS

10 The Cuban lobby and US policy toward Cuba 138

JESSICA GIBBS

Section Four
The public and the war on terror 153

11 Neoconservatism and the American public: was 9/11

a hegemonic moment? 155
MARIA RYAN

12 “You don’t launch a marketing campaign in August”: The Bush

Administration and the public before and after the Iraq invasion 172
SCOTT LUCAS

Bibliography 190
Index 205
Notes on Contributors

Jessica Gibbs lectures in American and Cuban history at the University of

Aberystwyth. She has published on the reception of Cuban migrants in the
United States during the Cold War and afterwards, and on Cuban anti-
communists and their influence on US foreign policymakers between 1959
and 2000. Her monograph, United States-Cuban relations after the Cold
War, will be published by Routledge in 2010.
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones is Professor Emeritus of American History at the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh. He is the author of 12 books, including Changing
Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy, 1917–1994
(1995) and Peace Now! American Society and the Ending of the Vietnam
War (1999). He is currently working on two further books: Triumphs of the
American Left: The Hidden Story of Contemporary Events and In Spies We
Trust: A History of International Intelligence and National Security in the
West.
Andrew Johnstone is a Lecturer in American History at the University of
Leicester. He is the author of Dilemmas of Internationalism: The American
Association for the United Nations and US Foreign Policy, 1941–1948
(Ashgate, 2009) and two further articles on the relationship between the
US Government and private organizations during World War II. An arti-
cle on the State Department’s Division of Public Liaison is forthcoming in
Diplomatic History. He is currently writing a book on the public debate
over US entry into World War II.
Helen Laville is a Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of
Birmingham. Dr Laville has published on the relationship between the
State and private groups, editing a collection on this theme, The US Gov-
ernment, Citizen Groups and the Cold War with Hugh Wilford in 2006. She
has published widely on women’s rights in the Cold War years, including
the monograph Cold War Women published by Manchester University
Press in 2002. She is currently writing a book on American women in the
Civil Rights movement.
x Notes on Contributors
Scott Lucas is Professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham,
where he has worked since 1989. A specialist in US and British foreign
policy, he has written and edited seven books, more than 30 major articles,
produced a radio documentary on the Suez Crisis and co-directed the 2007
film Laban! He is also the creator of the internationally-prominent website
Enduring America, covering US foreign policy and international affairs. He
is currently completing a book on the foreign policy of the George W. Bush
Administration.
Andrew Preston is Senior Lecturer in History and a Fellow of Clare College
at Cambridge University. In addition to several journal articles and book
chapters, he is the author of The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC,
and Vietnam (Harvard University Press, 2006) and co-editor, with Fredrik
Logevall, of Nixon in the World: American Foreign Relations, 1969–1977
(Oxford University Press, 2008). He is currently writing a book on the
religious influence on American war and diplomacy from the colonial era
to the present, to be published by Knopf.
Andrew Priest is a Lecturer in the Department of International Politics at
Aberystwyth University, where he teaches and researches on the history of
American foreign policy. He is the author of Kennedy, Johnson and NATO:
Britain, America and the Dynamics of Alliance, 1962–68 (Routledge, 2006)
and is currently working on a monograph about American views of empire
after the Civil War.
Maria Ryan is a Lecturer in American History at the University of Nottingham.
Her research interests are broadly in the field of post-Cold War US foreign
policy. In particular, she has published articles and book chapters on the
development of neoconservatism, humanitarian interventionism, the Bush
Administration and the “Global War on Terror”, as well as the history of
the CIA. Her first book, Neoconservatism and the New American Century,
will be published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2010.
Joseph Smith is an Associate Professor in History at the University of Exeter.
An expert on American foreign relations, especially with Latin America,
his books include The Spanish-American War (Longman, 1994), A History
of Brazil, 1500–2000 (Pearson Education, 2002), The United States and
Latin America (Routledge, 2005), Historical Dictionary of United States-
Latin American Relations (Scarecrow, 2007), and Brazil and the United
States (University of Georgia, 2010).
Elizabeth Stephens is a visiting lecturer in American History at the University
of Birmingham where she specializes in US foreign policy and the inter-
national relations of the Middle East. Dr Stephens is author of the book
US policy toward Israel: The Role of Political Culture in Defining the
“Special Relationship” published by Sussex Academic Press in 2006 and a
number of journal articles including “The Cultural Turn in the US–Israeli
 Notes on Contributors xi
Relationship”, in the Middle East Journal of Culture & Communication
in 2009.
Carl P. Watts completed his doctoral thesis on the Rhodesian Crisis at the
University of Birmingham, where he taught modern history and war stu-
dies. He has also taught at several universities in the American Midwest,
was a Research Fellow in the Centre for International Studies at the
London School of Economics, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical
Society. He has published articles on various aspects of the Rhodesian
Crisis in journals such as Twentieth Century British History, Diplomatic
History, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics and the Journal of
Imperial and Commonwealth History. He is currently completing a book
entitled Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence: An Interna-
tional History, which will be published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Acknowledgements

This collection arose out of a colloquium entitled “We the People: The Public
and American Foreign Policy,” held at the University of Leicester on April 25
2008. For financial assistance in organizing that event, we would like to thank
the University of Birmingham for a Heritage Collaborate Research Network
Award, and the Centre for American Studies and the School of Historical
Studies at the University of Leicester. In addition to the contributors pub-
lished here, we would also like to thank David Milne, Kaeten Mistry,
J. Simon Rofe, Bevan Sewell and Alex Waddan for their input on the day.
Abbreviations

AAAA American-African Affairs Association

ACOA American Committee on Africa
AEI American Enterprise Institute
AFL American Federation of Labor
AFL-CIO American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations
AIPAC American Israel Public Affairs Committee
AMSAC American Society for African Culture
ANLCA American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa
CAA Council on African Affairs
CANF Cuban American National Foundation
CBS Columbia Broadcasting System
CDA Cuban Democracy Act
CDAAA Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies
CEDAW Convention Eliminating Discrimination against Women
CFL Chicago Federation of Labor
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CORE Congress of Racial Equality
CSP Center for Security Policy
FCC Federal Council of Churches
FFF Fight for Freedom
FMF Feminist Majority Foundation
LEP League to Enforce Peace
LIBERTAD Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act
MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
MSB Massachusetts State Board
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NAM National Association of Manufacturers
NBC National Broadcasting Company
NCRAC National Community Relations Advisory Council
NED National Endowment for Democracy
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
xvi Abbreviations
NPC Non-Partisan Committee for Peace through Revision of the
Neutrality Law
NSC National Security Council
NUL National Urban League
PAC Political Action Committee
PNAC Project for the New American Century
PSI Private Sector Initiative
UDL Unilateral Declaration of Independence
UN United Nations
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
UNOCAL Union Oil Company of California
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction
WWII World War II
1 Introduction
Andrew Johnstone and Helen Laville

The relationship between public opinion and the development of US foreign

policy has always been a contested one. The very principle of public involve-
ment in foreign policy has been hotly debated. On one side range the advo-
cates of the elite control of foreign policy, those who argue that the complex
work of international relations and the advancement of the long-stem strategy
interest of the United States should not be subject to the whims, passions and
unreasoned positions of the general public. Alexis de Tocqueville warned that
democracy and a stable foreign policy were mutually exclusive terrains,
asserting, “Foreign Politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which a
democracy possesses.” De Tocqueville argued that democracies “obey the
impulse of passion rather than the suggestions of prudence” and were driven
to “abandon a mature design for the gratification of a momentary caprice.”1
The concern over the danger of allowing the unreasonable and overly emo-
tional influence of public opinion on foreign relations has persisted well into
the twentieth century. In his 1922 study on public opinion Walter Lippmann
lambasted the influence of the public in foreign policy whilst diplomat/his-
torian George Kennan sought to avoid the short-term “emotionalism and
subjectivity” which made public opinion “a poor and inadequate guide for
national action.”2 Set against this position are those who have sought to dis-
prove the assumption of the over-emotional and unreasonable position of
public opinion and have instead sought to define their position as “rational”
and “sensible.”3
While theorists have struggled with the ideological debate on the rationality
of public opinion, and the advisability of the public’s involvement in foreign
relations, historians have long recognized and sought to assess the influence of
the public opinion in the making of US foreign policy. Historian Melvin
Small, for example, has insisted that consideration of the role of public opi-
nion is fundamental to understanding the construction of US foreign policy,
arguing “one cannot understand American diplomatic history without
understanding the central role of public opinion in that history.”4 While it
may be a challenging task for the historian to understand the exact nature of
that role, the need for such an understanding has seen a large body of litera-
ture on the subject since the end of World War II.5
2 Andrew Johnstone and Helen Laville
This scholarship has addressed a number of complex and challenging
questions. Even the seemingly simple issue of what public opinion is has led
to differing answers, though there is a degree of consensus. There are clearly a
number of American “publics,” with an elite public of opinion makers at the
top. Just beneath the elite is an attentive public, representing up to a quarter
of all Americans, which displays an educated awareness of international
issues. Below that is the mass or general public, representing some 75 percent
of the population.6 There are also a number of different ways in which those
publics can be represented in Washington. Public opinion can be transmitted
through polls, the media, and through organized citizens’ or interest groups
and identity based organizations. In addition, opinion is transmitted to the
presidency through Congress. Recent historians and commentators have cri-
ticized the excessive influence of interest groups in determining American
foreign policy. In particular, the role of ethnic lobbies has come in for detailed
scrutiny with critics suggesting that such groups have sought, and in some
cases gained, undue influence on US foreign policy.7 Yet criticism of the
influence of public opinion only reinforces its significance.
The most vexing questions, however, remain about the role and impact of
the public in the policy-making process. What role does the American public
play in the policy forming and policy promotion process? How can historians
assess the impact of the public, and the weight given to public opinion by
different presidents and policy makers? Does the public have the power to
create policy, or merely constrain it? To what extent can presidents lead (or
even manipulate) public opinion to their own ends? On these issues, despite
some excellent research on individual periods and issues, much work still
needs to be done.
However, despite a handful of monographs and articles, the last two dec-
ades have seen the study of public opinion as an influence on US foreign
relations fall from favor. There are a number of possible explanations for this,
including the broader trend among historians toward social and cultural his-
tory that has led to the de-emphasis of top-down political history. More sig-
nificantly, within the specific field of American foreign relations history, there
has been a move away from domestic influences toward internationalization.
This shift, placing the US in a more global context, has gone a long way to
addressing criticisms that the history of American foreign relations (or diplo-
matic history) is methodologically unsophisticated and excessively US-centric.
Yet while the development of a new international history, with its utilization
of numerous international archives, is to be applauded, it has led to the rela-
tive neglect of internal domestic factors.8
In the volume that does more than any other to define the state of the field,
Michael Hogan and Thomas Paterson’s Explaining the History of American
Foreign Relations, there is no chapter on the influence of public opinion. To
highlight how the theme has been passed over, it should be noted that the first
edition of the book in 1991 did contain a chapter on public opinion, yet this
was omitted from the second edition in 2004 despite its greatly expanded size.
 Introduction 3
Commenting on that omission in his 2008 Presidential Address to the Society
for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Thomas Schwartz argued that
“explaining the history of American foreign relations without carefully
examining public opinion and domestic politics was a bit like explaining the
functioning of a car without discussing the internal combustion engine.”9
Other historians have noticed the neglect on domestic politics in a broader
sense. In his recent response to an assessment of the state of the field, Fredrik
Logevall highlighted the lack of attention paid to domestic politics, and while
his primary concern is party politics, he concedes that “public opinion, the
media, and ethnic and other special interest groups have been similarly over-
looked.”10 This is not to say that other approaches do not matter. However,
to neglect domestic politics broadly, and public opinion specifically, overlooks
a crucial determining factor behind US foreign policy. Indeed, the democratic
nature of the American political system makes public opinion particularly
relevant in the United States.
Despite the difficulties in assessing exactly how public opinion impacts on
foreign policy, its relevance has been evident on numerous occasions through
American history. Public opinion has clearly been influential in American
wars; whether debating the aftermath of World War I, entry into World War
II, or the conduct and execution of the Vietnam War. Yet the public’s interest
in American foreign policy is not confined to wars and conflicts. Throughout
the nation’s history, differing segments of society have organized to represent
the public, in order to promote a particular foreign policy outlook. Whether they
represent a particular ethnic group, religious affiliation, or gender, Americans
have sought to influence their nation’s place in the world.
The real impact of the public on US foreign policy lies somewhere between
the claim that public opinion has too much influence on American foreign
policy, and the implication in the current historiography that it has little or
none at all. The challenge for historians, and the purpose of this volume, is to
assess the impact and nature of that opinion more effectively.
The chapters in this volume have two broad aims. First, they aim to assess
the impact that the public has had on US foreign policy. Through a focus on
specific events, identity groups or ethnic lobbies, the question of the effect and
influence of the public is analyzed. Despite the methodological challenges in
making such assessments, consideration of public opinion is largely redundant
without any such appraisal. The contributions utilize a number of different
approaches to the question of impact. These include the use of polling data,
the assessment of personal and organizational relationships between members
of the public and the government, assessments of the role of the media, and
the wider consideration of ideas and ideology.11
The second aim is to examine the specific role played by the public in the
policy making and policy promotion process. The particular focus here is
on the role of organizations and movements that look to represent public
opinion, and an assessment of the nature of their relationship with the gov-
ernment. These organizations include private groups devoted primarily to
Other documents randomly have
different content
 ¡Oh por demás crueles y por demás funestos extravíos de mi
espíritu culpable! ¡Ved, tebanos, entre los de la misma sangre, el
asesino y la víctima! ¡Oh deplorable prisión, oh hijo mío, hijo mío! En
la primavera de tu vida has perecido de una muerte prematura, no
por tu imprudencia, sino por la mía.

El Coro
¡La justicia se ha mostrado bien tarde a vuestros ojos!

Creón
¡La conozco al fin por mis desgracias! Armado de una maza
terrible, un dios ha golpeado mi cabeza, me ha precipitado en
abismos espantosos, y de un puntapié ha derribado el edificio de mi
dicha. ¡Cuántos, cuántos tormentos reservados a los mortales!

ESCENA VI

Los precedentes, un ESCLAVO

El Esclavo
¡Amo mío, además de las desgracias que habéis sufrido, que
tenéis ante los ojos, que lleváis con vos, os queda todavía algo muy
doloroso que encontrar en vuestra casa!

Creón
¿Qué males pueden añadirse al horror de los que sufro?

El Esclavo
La madre del hijo que lloráis, la reina, ha muerto; madre
infortunada, expira herida por un golpe mortal.

Creón
 Insaciable abismo de Hades, ¿por qué quieres consumar mi
pérdida? Y tú, que vienes a traerme tan funestas nuevas, ¿qué has
dicho?

El Coro
¡Desgraciado! Vienes a hacer morir de nuevo a un muerto.

Creón
¿Qué dices? ¿Qué acontecimientos vienes a noticiarme? ¡La
muerte de mi mujer después de la de mi hijo!

El Esclavo
Podéis juzgar por vuestros ojos. La reina no había aún llegado al
interior del palacio.

Creón
¡He ahí un nuevo objeto de dolor! ¿A qué destino, oh dioses, estoy
llamado aún? ¡Desgraciado! Tengo en mis brazos a mi hijo, que acaba
de expirar; tengo ante mis ojos el cuerpo ensangrentado de mi
esposa. ¡Madre infortunada, hijo mío!

El Esclavo
Ha comenzado por deplorar la muerte ilustre y prematura de su
primer hijo y el destino de Hemón; luego ha prorrumpido en
imprecaciones contra vos, a quien consideraba como el asesino de su
hijo, e hiriéndose con un hierro agudo, ha caído a los pies del altar,
cerrando los ojos a la luz.

Creón
¡Cielos! ¡Oh dioses! ¡Mi alma está confundida de horror! ¡Y que no
me hundan una espada en el seno! ¡Infortunado, he caído en un
abismo de calamidades!
 El Esclavo
Os miraba al morir como único autor de tantos males.

Creón
¿Pero de qué manera ha acabado sus días?

El Esclavo
Hiriéndose a sí misma en cuanto ha sabido el deplorable destino
de su hijo.

Creón
Sólo yo entre los mortales, sólo yo la causa de tantas desgracias.
¡Infortunado, yo te he dado la muerte! Esclavos, apartadme de estos
lugares, llevadme cuanto antes como si no viviera ya, como si no
fuera ya nada.

El Coro
Lo que pedís es una ventaja para vos, si la hay en los males. Para
abreviar los que se tienen a la vista, el mejor partido es huir de ellos.

Creón
Que aparezca, que venga, pues, el momento deseado que ha de
rematar mi existencia; que venga, que no vea yo más la luz del día.

El Esclavo
Tales votos son para el porvenir; mas para el presente, ¿qué hay
que hacer? A los que atañe ese cuidado les toca ocuparse de él.

Creón
Sólo pido la muerte, no deseo otra cosa.

El Esclavo
 Cesad de desear; no es dado a los mortales evitar el infortunio
que les reserva el destino.

Creón
¡Llevadme, llevaos a este insensato que, a su pesar, te ha hecho
perecer, hijo mío, lo mismo que a vos, cara esposa! ¡Infortunado! No
sé ya dónde dirigir mis ojos y mis pasos: todo ha huído de mis
manos; y una desgracia superior a mis fuerzas se ha desplomado
sobre mi cabeza.

ESCENA VII

El Coro
¡Cuán preferible es la prudencia a la fortuna! Hay que guardarse
de ofender a los dioses. La escandalosa vanidad de los hombres
presuntuosos les atrae con frecuencia crueles suplicios que les
enseñan demasiado tarde a conocer la prudencia.

Fin de ANTÍGONA
 ÍNDICE

EDIP O REY Págs.

Acto I. 7
Acto II. 17
Acto III. 31
Acto IV. 51
Acto V. 71

EDIP O EN COLONA
Acto I. 87
Acto II. 117
Acto III. 127
Acto IV. 145
Acto V. 165

AN TÍG ONA
Acto I. 179
Acto II. 195
Acto III. 211
Acto IV. 225
Acto V. 233
 Nota de transcripción

Los errores de imprenta han sido corregidos sin avisar.

Se ha modernizado la ortografía del original impreso y se han puesto
tildes a las mayúsculas.
Las páginas en blanco han sido eliminadas.
Algunas ilustraciones se han desplazado ligeramente para no
interrumpir un párrafo.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDIPO REY; EDIPO
EN COLONA; ANTÍGONA ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions

will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States
copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy
and distribute it in the United States without permission and
without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the
General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and
distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the
PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if
you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the
trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the
Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such
as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and
printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in
the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright
law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially
commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
 PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the

free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this
work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase
“Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of
the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or
online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and

Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand,
agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual
property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree
to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease
using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for
obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™
electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms
of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only

be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by
people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.
There are a few things that you can do with most Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the
full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There
are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™
electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and
help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright
law in the United States and you are located in the United
States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying,
distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works
based on the work as long as all references to Project
Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will
support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free
access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for
keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the
work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement
by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full
Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge
with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside
the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to
the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying,
displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works
based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The
Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright
status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project

Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other

immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project
Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed,
viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in

the United States and most other parts of the
world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-
use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of
the country where you are located before using
this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is

derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of
the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to
anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.
If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of
paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use
of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth
in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is

posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and
distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.
Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™
License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright
holder found at the beginning of this work.
 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project
Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files
containing a part of this work or any other work associated with
Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute

this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1
with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the
Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if
you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project
Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or
other format used in the official version posted on the official
Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must,
at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy,
a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy
upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or
other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project
Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™
works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or

providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive
from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
 but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who

notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt
that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project
Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of

any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project

Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different
terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain
permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™
trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3
below.

1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend
considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on,
transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright
law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these
efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium
on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as,
but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data,
transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property
infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be
read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except

for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in
paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic
work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for
damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE
THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT
EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE
THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY
DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE
NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you

discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you
paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you
received the work from. If you received the work on a physical
medium, you must return the medium with your written
explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the
defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu
of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.
If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund
in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set

forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’,
WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this
agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this
agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the
maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable
state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of
this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the

Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless
from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that
arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you
do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project
Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or
deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect
you cause.
 Section 2. Information about the Mission
of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new
computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of
volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project
Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™
collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In
2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was
created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project
Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your
efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the
Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-
profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the
laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status
by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or
federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions
to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax
deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and
your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500

West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact
links and up to date contact information can be found at the
Foundation’s website and official page at
www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission
of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works
that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form
accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated
equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly
important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws

regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of
the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform
and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many
fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not
solicit donations in locations where we have not received written
confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine
the status of compliance for any particular state visit
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states

where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know
of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from
donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot

make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations
received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp
our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current
donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a
number of other ways including checks, online payments and
credit card donations. To donate, please visit:
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About

Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could
be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose
network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several

printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by
copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus,
we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any
particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new
eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear
about new eBooks.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookultra.com