In many works of Literature women play a controversial role, one in which their actions are the cause of conflict in many situations. There are more often then not two reasons for this. One reason why the female character is always caught in the center of the conflict is ignorance, such is the case Shakespeare’s “Hamlet; Prince of Denmark” with the character Queen Gertrude as an example. The second reason why women are the cause of the central conflict are that in many instances they are trying to make a stand against society by defying what society holds to be the norm. An example of this would be Sophocles’ “Antigone”. In either case, the woman character is cause of the central conflict within the piece and therefore holds much responsibility for the outcome of the piece, as well as the state the reader is in after they finish reading the piece.Two pieces of literature that demonstrate how a woman’s ignorance can lead to the cause of conflict are Shakespeare’s “Hamlet; Prince of Denmark”, and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In both of these works it is the lead female character, Queen Gertrude, and Nora Helmer, respectively, whose ignorance leads to the central conflict of the piece and consequently brings on their demise and loss of family as well.In the case of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, it is Queen Gertrude who married her late husband’s brother and unbeknown to her, her husbands murder as well. It is her act of hastily remarrying so soon right after her husband’s death, that leads to her son Hamlet’s somewhat mad behavior. In Ibsen’s “A Doll House” it is Nora, the wife of Torvald Helmer a prominent lawyer, who breaks not only the standard law but an unwritten socioeconomic law of the day as well, by forging her father’s name on a loan. Despite the good nature and intention behind his wife...
