Nora and Antigone, True Tragic Heroines
             Sophocles' Antigone along with Ibsen's A Doll's House are plays that uncharacteristically place the main characters in tough personal situations which must be overcame by personal strength. Nora and Antigone step into the limelight as protagonists who have been placed compromising situations and are forced to decide whether it is more important to follow what society thinks is right, or make their own decisions based on what they feel is moral and just. Both women could be considered as cultural heroines because they overcame family adversities by defying the social standards set for women.
             Antigone is a daughter of the late King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta. A curse was placed upon her father, who caused much anguish for the city of Thebes and his family. After the death of her father, Antigone's uncle, Creon, became King of Thebes. We learn in the beginning of Antigone that her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, killed one another while fighting. Eteocles had a proper funeral ceremony, while Polynices' body was ordered to rot in the sun by the Creon. Creon declared Eteocles a patriot and Polynices a traitor. Antigone did not feel that it was in Creon's power to forbid Polynices to be buried; she believed that by refusing to let her brother have a proper burial, he was defying the laws of the gods. Antigone ventures out of the laws of Creon and buries Polynices. Nora from A Doll's House also has to decide where the line should be drawn between right and wrong. She forged her father's signature in order to get enough money to travel south for a while. Nora received a loan from Mr. Krogstad, a man who is thought to be a criminal. Krogstad holds Nora's IOU over her head in attempt to keep his job because Nora's husband has just received the job as bank manager and has all intentions of firing Krogstad. Similar justifications were used...