Feminism in Antigone and A Doll’s House

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Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a tea bag. It's only when she's in hot water that you realize how strong she is.” This is very evident in both Antigone and a Doll’s House. Antigone is a Greek play by Sophocles about a young girl who decides to take on the task of burying her traitorous brother to honor the gods even though her tyrannical uncle Creon has outlawed the burial. A Doll’s House by Ibsen follows Nora Helmer, a housewife who has borrowed money without her husband’s knowledge or consent for the purpose of taking him to Italy for medical reasons. It outlines the internal and external conflicts she experiences in the final days of her secret. It is important to understand the roles of women in both plays because during the time periods they were written, women were held to very different standards and were far more oppressed than men. There are many examples of nonconformity of women in Antigone and A Doll’s House in the ways that the main characters rebel against what is expected of women. Nora and Antigone are headstrong, sharp-witted, and willing to break the law for love, three character traits that were uncommon and almost frowned upon by society for women in history.

Nora and Antigone were both very headstrong women. During the time periods of both plays, women were expected to be subservient and share the same opinions as their husbands. The two lead women in the plays show their obstinacy and ability to take care of themselves in many instances. One example in Antigone’s story is when she says (to her “stereotypical woman” sister) of her plan to bury Polynices, “He is my brother and—deny it as you will—your brother too. No one will ever convict me as a traitor, (Sophocles 18). She then goes on to...

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...use she knows that she will be following the gods’ law and honoring her own flesh and blood by burying Polynices. All in all, the women in the plays go against the rules and practices of society so that they can do something for the ones that are close to them.

On the whole, Nora Helmer and Antigone certainly prove that women have the ability to do anything a man can do, just as well. The roles of women in Antigone and A Doll’s House are certainly different than the roles of men, and the two main women in both plays transcend the expectations and beliefs of what women can and cannot do. They prove this in several ways, including the fact that they were determined, very intelligent and clever, and wiling to break the laws of man for loved ones. Antigone and A Doll’s House are great works of classic literature that portray women as strong and intelligent beings.

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