A) In my opinion, Antigone, while she deserves to be honored, must also suffer the consequences. It really depends on the view of the reader, whether they believe in the "rights of the king", or whether they are more humane.
In the beginning of the play, we see that Antigone and Ismene, the sisters of Oedipus, struggle to decide whether they should bury the deceased (Oedipus) though it is against the king's order. As stated inside the prologue:
14 Antigone: "Listen Ismene:
Creon buried our brother Eteocles, with military honors, gave him | a soldier's funeral, and it was right he should...but Polyneices, Who | fought as bravely and died as miserable... Creon sworn has sworn | No one shall bury him, no one should mourn for him..."
and:
"Ismene, I am going to bury [Polyneices]..."
In this scenario, we see that Antigone goes against the King's order, and tries to bury Polyneices, who was cursed by the king that he should not be buried. To know how this cannot be forgiven, we must look to history. In history, there is such as the "divine right of kings", which means that it is 'God's will that he reign', leading to the kings getting mostly of what they want. Creon, who is the king, highly values this, as we can see, when he exercises his right over his subjects, whether dead or alive: "These are my principles... and that is why I have made the following decisions..." [lines 31 - 47]. As we see, Creon values the right of the kings, total obedience, and the reward system, in which he rewards those who obey, while he punishes those who do not.
With what we see above (with the reward system), we must question the act of Antigone. In this case, she tries to bury the body, though it was against the king's order, therefore being against " ' God's will' " (As "God ordains Kings"). However, this does not mean that she actually goes against God's will. She rightfully buries the dead, as the saying goes: "let those who belong to the grave, go to the grave...", and "let those who die, rest in peace." With these, we must question ourselves, when is it the right time to listen to the king, and when is it time to question him?
Throughout the play, we see two different scenarios. Ismeme, one of the daughters, play as the loyal character, one who respects the <em>statu quo</em>, in which she obeys all orders from the king, and even tries to warn others away from breaking the law (thereby showing herself as a good citizen). Antigone, on the other hand, plays the role of protagonist. Throughout the play, we see that she follows the ultimate rule-book, and is not afraid to stand up against the king. As stated:
" Creon: And yet you dare defy the law
Antigone: I dared. It was not God's proclamation. That final Justice That rules | the world makes no such laws."
Antigone's quote in this scenario offset's the status quo. As stated, history shows that "Kings, are ordained by God." However, Antigone now states that the "final Justice" (God) "makes no such laws." This leads to Antigone's eventual demise, for she disobeyed the King, which is 'punishable by death'.
Creon: "... But you are guilty..."
So in the end, we see that for B) it is a straight forward answer, in that Creon demands total obedience from his subjects, and that he wants every order obeyed. However, A)'s answer is more elusive. It is up to the reader themselves to decide whether Antigone deserves to be honored, because of each person's perspective. However, I believe that, Yes, she should be honored.
hope this helps
