The Strength and Courage of Women Exposed in A Doll’s...

Have 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 shows 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 which wasn’t allowed for a woman to do in the 1800s. Both these actions show these two women were strong enough to go against society’s belief, and do what needed to be done. It’s important for men and women to give their opinions and feelings in a†¦show more content†¦To add, Mrs. Linden is shocked when she learns Nora took out a loan without her husband’s consent because she believes Nora is only a pretty airhead who only cares about c lothes and trivial things. Nora always concealed how smart she was because as she grew up she was just her father’s doll to play with and when she married Helmer, she became his doll to play with. As well, Nora and Antigone show their intelligence when they do smart things to save their families, even if it means going against the men who have power of them. Antigone shows her intelligence by going with her intuition and following the gods’ laws instead of doing what she has always been told and just going along with what a man told her to do. Nora defies her husband to get a loan so that she could save his life. Mrs. Linden expressed her surprise that Nora would even think about borrowing money when she said, â€Å"A wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent† (Ibsen 151). No one believed Nora had the gumption or intelligence to get a loan. Most definitely, throughout history women have been portrayed as having less intelligence than men, yet Antigone and Nora show they have the same or more intelligence than the men in their lives. Next, Antigone and Nora show their determination many times throughout the plays by going against their authority figures and fighting for what they believe in. First off, Antigone takes