Powerful Women in Antigone and A Doll’s House Essay

The music group, Aqua, once sang in their song, â€Å"Barbie Girl,† â€Å"I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.† Aqua’s lyrics symbolize the role women had to play in the 18th century. Women were expected to perform like perfect human beings, and put a smile on their faces regardless of the situation. They were expected to follow the rules at all times and submit to men in an instance. Antigone, written by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, demonstrate the interaction and roles with men and women during the 18th century. The main characters in both plays, Antigone in Antigone and Nora in A Doll’s House, show how women have struggled to find their place in the social order. They had to fight for†¦show more content†¦Linden to leave the room when Helmer gets home because Helmer does not like seeing â€Å"Women’s work.† Nora was forced to hide her personal posses sions in front of her husband. This shows how women were forced to alter their lifestyle to please their husbands. Nora had to go out of her way in order to make her husband satisfied. In Antigone, Ismene replies to Antigone’s plan to bury her brother with a feminist remark: â€Å"Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men. Then too, we’re underlings, ruled by much stronger hands, so we must submit to this...† (Sophocles 18) Ismene clearly shows that she and Antigone cannot compete with men because men are physically and mentally stronger. This shows how Ismene and all other women thought they had to submit to the authority of the state and to man in order to live fruitfully in society. Antigone and Nora exhibit in many different instances how women had a very limited relationship with men. Antigone and Nora had the courage to possess one of the characteristics that many women during the 18th century failed to acquire: braveness. While struggling with the decision to go against a man’s orders, Antigone stands up to authority and does the morally just thing: â€Å"But leave me to my own absurdity, leave me to suffer this- dreadful thing. I’ll suffer nothing as great as death without glory.† (Sophocles 19) This instance shows how Antigone was one of the few women of her era to face theShow MoreRelatedThe Strength and Courage of Women Exposed in A Doll’s House and Antigone1183 Words   |  5 PagesHave you ever wondered what women were like before the liberation movement of the 1970s? In the plays Antigone, by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, women are represented as weak, underlings to men. However, both protagonists in the play, Antigone and Nora, show their strength and courage when they go against society. Antigone sho ws how strong she is when she goes against the King’s decree and buries her brother who is a traitor. Nora, to save her husband’s life, takes out a loan whichRead MoreHumanities Test4641 Words   |  19 PagesRomeo and Juliet. 14.   The plays of Chekhov feature: Naturalism pg 247-249 15.   Which of the following conventions is seldom found in Elizabethan theaters: Soliloquy or Elizabeth’s Sonnet 16. Know the plot summary of Oedipus Rex. Antigone: Creon condemns both Antigone and Ismene to death. Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s betrothed, enters the stage. Oedipus the King: Oedipus naturally refuses to believe Tiresias’s accusation. After Tiresias leaves, Oedipus threatens Creon with death or exile forRead MoreA Doll House by Henrik Ibsen7379 Words   |  30 PagesLiterature January 14, 2012 A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen Translated by Rolf Fjelde I. Introduction During the late nineteenth century, women were enslaved in their gender roles and certain restrictions were enforced on them by a male dominant culture. Every woman was raised believing that they had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must yield to the control of a stronger gender. John Stuart Mill wrote in his essay, â€Å"The Subjection of Women†, that women were, â€Å"wholly under the role