Nora vs. Antigone

Both A Doll’s House and the Antigone are stories of young women who clash with the conventional male-dominated power in their society. Anouilh’s Antigone and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House have young female protagonist who struggle against male opponents with whom they have family ties. Antigone conflicts with her uncle Creon in the novel Antigone, while Nora Helmer opposes her husband Torvald in A Doll’s House. In both plays, the male antagonist embodies the values of the society and state. Creon, the ruler of Thebes, upholds commitment to his people. In a related sense, Torvald is a good bourgeois citizen who is thoroughly socialized and who unquestioningly supports the ideology of middle class society. He constantly monitors his and Nora’s behavior against what society expects: “From now on, happiness doesn’t matter; all that matters is saving the bits and pieces, the appearance.”(Act III, 188) Heredity and the past are of central importance to both Anouilh and Ibsen. Each playwright’s protagonist pays for sins inherited from their father. Antigone is the dutiful daughter of Oedipus who cares for her blinded father, sister of the beautiful Ismene, the brothers of Polynices and Eteocles, who are killed in

Nora"tms personal ethical sensibility is within the lineage in Western Civilization. All you fathers"tm flimsy values-Be still! All your father"tms flimsy values have come out in you. Also, Nora is very dependent on her husband for money, and he gives her money at his discretion. Upon realization, Nora bluntly tells Torvald that before anything else she is a human being. She claims that no leader has the right to keep her from her own family and from her duty. Antigone opposes the new laws of Thebes; she refuses to follow the mindset that women cannot be courageous and dangerous. Torvald says Nora inherited her father"tms sinful ways: "I should have known. Despite the inferior attitudes of society towards women, she still found the courage and strength to rise above them. They are both too stubborn to admit they are wrong. " (Act III, 193)Antigone is faced with the death of both brothers, one who is to be buried with full military rites, while the other, under dictate of the king, is to be cast aside. Placing family before law, she ventures out to give her brother a proper burial. Antigone was strong, and thus transgressed from her boundaries as a woman. Torvald speaks to Nora as if she were inferior to him; this can be concluded because every time he calls her a pet name, it is usually preceded by the word "little" to describe it. As a result of Torvald treating Nora like a child, she is shielded from reality. Antigone knows that in the minds of the patriarchal society, the ideal woman is silent, quiet, obedient, and weak.