Inequality between men and women has always existed in society. Examples of this are expressed through literature. Henrik Ibsen’s play entitled A Doll’s House is very similar to Euripides play Medea. Both plays portray these factors and how women are forced to cope with such positions in society. Each play exhibits a separation of family due to its controversial characters, leading one to believe Ibsen modeled his play after Medea.
The main character in Euripides’ play is Medea. Some of her very important qualities are also seen in Ibsen’s main character Nora. Medea is known for her cleverness. She convinces King Creon to allow her to stay in Corinth for one more day. Medea pleads:
Allow me to remain here just this one day,
So I may consider where to live in my exile,
And look for support for my children, since their father
Chooses to make no kind of provision for them.
Have pity on them! You have children of your own.
It is natural for you to look kindly on them.
For myself I do not mind if I go into exile.
It is the children being in trouble that I mind.” (Euripides p. 12)
She plays upon Creon’s weakness for children. Medea uses the time he allows her to plot revenge against Jason and his new roy

“There’s my little skylark talking sense”. (Ibsen p.956)

He speaks to her as if she is a child and as if she isn’t capable of doing things on her own. Despite their different time periods, each play express how difficult it was for women to have an independent voice, and to make their own choices.

“Now you have ruined my entire happiness, jeopardized my whole future…Here I am, at the mercy of a thoroughly unscrupulous person…I’m done for, a miserable failure, and it’s all at the fault of some feather-brained woman!” (Ibsen p.959) Torvald lead Nora to believe that he would have loved her no matter what, but it turned out to be a misconception. Torvald is expressing that Nora’s “miracle” doesn’t exist. During this time period it would have been more appropriate for Torvald to take the blame and pay their debt. At this point Nora is beginning to realize that there might not have been any love in their marriage at all.

The chorus in Medea “parallels” Mrs. Linde in Ibsen’s play. Medea confides in the chorus throughout the play. This also allows for the reader to be informed of her plans and emotions. Nora confides in Mrs. Linde in the same way. She tells her the truth about the money for their trip to Italy. She needed to take Torvald away to recover from his illness. She says,

Nora also displays traits of cleverness. She wants to make certain that she may be able to depend on Dr. Rank financially if she ever needs to. She attempts to seduce him during their conversation with her silk stockings, she states,