Overcoming the Barrier Essay -- Analysis, Helen Reddy

Overcoming the Barrier Helen Reddy in I am a Woman sings, You can bend yet never break me, cause it only serves to make me, More determined to make my final goal, And I bring back even stronger. In the plays Antigone, by Sophocles, and A Dolls House, by Henrik Ibsen, two strong women argon restricted by the time and monastic order in which they live. In Antigone, the main(prenominal) character, Antigone from Thebes, is faced with a choice of following the laws of man, or the laws of the gods in burying her deceased brother. She felt that her choice was right even with the penalties it costs her, while arguing with the king who felt his way or no way. As the play progressed, it seemed that the to a greater extent Creon, the king, and Antigone argued, the more confident in the choice she do she became. In A Dolls House, Nora was a woman who c bed deeply about her husband who would soon be faced with death if non sent to a warmer climate. Unheard of from a woman, Nora took a gold loan from the bank without saying a word to her husband, Torvald. Using a corrupted lawyer, Krogstad, gave easy access for blackmail which could end her marriage if revealed. During the generation in which these plays were written, the relationship between a man and woman is by all odds patriarchal. Men have major dominance and the woman just follows. It was believed that a woman was to have no opinion nor be smart exuberant to have their own opinion. In both plays, Sophocles and Ibsen show how controlled yet bold, women had to be in society through demonstration of submission to men, the expectations placed upon a woman, and their search for a voice. There is a saying that all habits kickoff in the household and that is no exception for the way woman are treated. Whether its a husband or... ...oldly demonstrate the strength and power women take to become their own person. With barriers blocking the path, the choices each woman had to face was exchangeable an obstacle co urse. By being undermined by the opposite sex, females were not attached much thought unless the subject had to do with the raising of children and up retentiveness of a household. Being a part of society came with expectations of how a family should smack and act, especially for the women who are merely dolls for men to control. Therefore, having to surrender to the male influence, societys pressure, and the quest for identity, women still are able to stand hearty and strong in the end. Over many years women have come a long way with rights and responsibilities but it was no walk in the park. It has been a curvy road and there are still more hills to come but with a positive light shinning at the end.