Two Women in Isolation, Essay Example

The plays introduce you to the world whereby some individuals will go against the set norms of society and challenge them each in their fundamental way, without withstanding that she is being depicted as a strong character who openly confronts the rule set by men in his City against its enemies. However, as the play develops, we see characters going against the grain of the middle class. The two characters shall share some basic characteristics which will, in turn, enable them to confront the different obstacles that lie ahead of them in their lives. It is also essential not to forget the drawbacks inflicted by society on women.

In the two novels Antigone and a doll house, Sophocles and Ibsen respectively have created main characters in their play who are women setting and undertone that tragedy will eventually befall our heroines. These two, Nora, from the Doll-house and Antigone from Antigone, go against the set norms of society and challenge them each in their fundamental way. Antigone the bolder of the two is portrayed as a strong character. She openly confronts the rule set by men, because she cannot sit back and do nothing when faced with the injustices in Thebes purported by its king her uncle, Creon. On the other hand, Nora is first presented as an ignorant lady, soft who relies on her husband. Nonetheless, later we see her going against the middle-class grain by faking her father’s signature. This was a first in a series of serious errors in judgment which were followed by the subsequent deceptions to her husband and final abandonment of her children (Joan, 1989).

The two characters share some common characteristics which enable them to confront the different men in their lives and also the drawbacks inflicted by society on women. Like Playwright Arthur Miller defines a tragic hero as a person who is ready to abandon everything in pursuit of what is more important, self-dignity.

In every society, women are viewed and treated differently, and our two protagonists are no different. In Theban society the relative status and worth of a woman were clearly stated; women are to submit to the rule of men. This is clearly indicated when Isemene, a member of the royal family, is quoted telling Antigone “Remind ourselves that we are women and as such are not made to fight with men” (346). (Bradshaw, 1952).

The two characters face different struggles in their respective societies where in Antigone we see her facing the wrath of a whole king. The conflict starts when Antigone wants to lie to rest her brother Polyneices after the king ruling, she does this by arguing that the law of men was not as important as that of the gods. He is quoted saying “It is impossible to know any man I mean his soul, intelligence, and judgment until he shows his skill in rule and law. I think that a man supreme ruler of a whole city” (105). “Him I judge the worst of any and anyone thinking another man more a friend than his country, I rate him nowhere.” (204). However, the king believes that the rule of man is far more paramount and declare that if Polyneices is buried, then those involved will the face the ultimate punishment of death (Boyd, 1952).

His words struck fear in the when Antigone proceeds to bury her brother the guard tasked with notifying the King were quoted as “the unlucky man” (line 275).  When the king orders the guards to find the party responsible, the elder area is aghast to see the “unlucky daughter of an unlucky father” (line 379-380) arrested, as he cannot concede to the idea of a rebellious woman he sentences her to death. However Tiresias, a blind prophet informs to the king that he has angered the gods, and so in order to try and appease them he goes to release Antigone to find her dead. On the other hand in the Nora is torn between choosing herself or others. Portrayed as a doll but treated as a child, she fights to find her identity as she is has been made to believe that all women should be submissive and obedient. Torvald constantly refers to Nora as “my little squirrel,” “my little lark,” or “spendthrift”(1565). To him, she is only a possession (Joan, 1989).

As the play progresses, we see her slowly maturing and breaking out of her shell. First, she forges her father’s signature to earn some few extra coins and the proceeds to lie to her husband the source of the money. She acquires crude jobs here and there so that she may leave her husband finally who sees her as a responsibility instead of a partner. However, she remains vigil in her marriage until Torvald’s actions break her and she decides to leave her family in pursuit of happiness. She is quoted as saying “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvalds, “in her final confrontation with him. She realizes that she has been conflicting with her true nature so as to appease her surrounding society (Joan, 1989).

According to Aristotle definition of the tragic hero, he pictures a woman to one of outstanding character who faces misery amidst her happiness. Not as a result of vice or bias but because of a flaw of character and error in judgment. In the case of our heroines, the two ladies overcome all the vices against them. They later learn that they have to part with much more to overcome their misery. In Antigone, after the death of her brother she feels lonely and the constant fall outs wth the uncle do not make it any better. As a result, it makes her make her mind to bury her brother which leads to an unprecedented turn of events where she is locked up and isolated from the world. This results into her death.

Nora also undergoes the same struggles, but she has an identity crisis where she starts to come to grips with her true character. She has been going against her greater principles and stayed married to a selfish man who is emotionally unavailable and seems only to care about the money used. He identifies her using nick names. Her emotional and mental isolation torture forces her to pack and leave because she feels this is the only way she can achieve her independence. She walks out on her marriage and children and starts afresh.

Both of these plays highlight the woman’s position in the society and the struggles she endures to free herself from repression. But if the two had to be considered as more of a tragedy than the other then Nora’s case has to be the most telling of loss. Unlike Nora who loses her brother Nora has to leave her children behind along with all she had ever known meaning she would have to start a new life from scratch and that is easier said than done (Templeton, 1989).