Character Qualities of Nora and Antigone in A Doll’s House and Antigone

Marlo Thomas says, ‘‘One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man.” Antigone, written by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, are two plays about two women who defy the rules of society. In Antigone, an ancient Greek play, the girl breaks the king’s law in favor of the gods’ law by giving her brother, Polynices, a proper burial. In the end, Antigone dies because of her behavior, but not before she shows how strong she is when she stands up to Creon. In A Doll’s House, a Norwegian play that takes place in the late 1800s, Nora Helmer appears to be a normal, subservient wife to her husband, Torvald. However, throughout the drama, the audience finds out that she breaks the law by taking out a loan without her husband’s approval. Although she does it to save her husband’s life, her actions will still be looked down upon in society. In the resolution of the play, Nora ruins her good reputation and breaks society’s rules when she leaves Torvald and her three children. It is important to understand the roles and relationships of women because they affect the families, society, and everything else around them. The restrictions and limitations of women in Antigone and A Doll’s House affect the characters’ persistence to achieve their goals, willingness to commit crimes for their love of someone close to the them, and breaking of society’s rules.

Both Nora and Antigone are persistent in their beliefs and achieving their goals. In A Doll’s House, Nora constantly saves money so she can pay back Krogstad for the loan. To emphasize this, she says, “When Torvald gave me money for clothes and so on, I never used more than half ...

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...y love drive them to do unlawful things in each play.

A Doll’s House and Antigone are very good examples of what happens when women try to break the molds of their society. The women’s characteristics of persisting to achieve their goals, willingness to commit crimes for their love of someone close to the them, and breaking of society’s rules show that men are not the only ones that can think for themselves. Nora and Antigone’s qualities affect the resolutions of the plays more so than any other factor in the dramas.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. World Literature: An Anthology of Great Short

Stories, Poetry, and Drama. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw Hill Glencoe, 2004.

140-202. Print.

Sophocles. Antigone. World Literature: A Anthology of Great Short Stories,

Poetry, and Drama. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw Hill Glencoe, 2004. 14-57. Print.