Gender Roles In Midsummer Night's Dream

The love that Lysander and Hermia share is very unlike the relationship between Helena and Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia have loved each other for a very long period of time and have dreamed of getting married. However, Hermia’s father, Egeus, disapproves of this couple. Hermia and Lysander’s love for each other is tested when Egeus tries to shatter their relationship

Shakespeare's works have persistently influenced humanity for the past four hundred years. Quotations from his plays are used in many other works of literature and some common phrases have even become integrated into the English language. Most high schoolers have been unsuccessful in avoidance of him and college students are rarely afforded the luxury of choice when it comes to studying the bard. Many aspects of Shakespeare's works have been researched but one of the most popular topics since the 1960s has been the portrayal of women in Shakespeare's tragedies, comedies, histories and sonnets.

The advantage a man has in an argument against a woman is undeniable; however, that does not mean the woman is completely powerless in the situation. In William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, male characters clearly command the stage with such dominance that their voices and power seem to be more important than the females; nevertheless, in certain scenes, the females hold their own with their actions and words. In the middle of Act 1 scene, 1 Egeus rushes on stage making a commotion about how his daughter Hermia will not marry the man he chose for her to marry, but Hermia’s courage to speak up for her rights shows that women have power too. When Theseus hears Egeus’s problem, he is automatically on his side because he is male,

Does Lysander love me anymore? In an attempt to escape Hermia’s duties as a daughter and a woman, Lysander composes the idea of running away into the forest where his aunt lives while being unaware of the effects it may have on his relationship with Hermia as well as their trust for one another. Living so close to the forest allows not only Hermia and Lysander to escape from their problems but as well as the Athenian people looking to commit a crime or freely express themselves. In the Discussion of Egeus marriage arrangement, Lysander gives Hermia immense confidence for a marriage in the forest assuring her “I could marry you there, gentle Hermia, where the strict laws of Athens can’t touch us.”(I.i.ll 160-1) referring to the strict laws of Athens shows the tremendous lack of freedom towards the citizens of Athens especially women forced into marriage. Agreeing with this plan causes a ray of happiness towards Hermia allowing her to share the secret with her lifelong friend Helena soon revealing her plans to Demetrius, her true love, overflowing him with determination to find Hermia before marrying Lysander. As the four lovers scavage through the forest on the hunt for their cravings disaster strikes as a fairy servant is sent to withdraw the love for Hermia from Demetrius into Helena causing a catastrophic change of fate among Lysander and Hermia. As Lysander walks up with the essence of the flower of love on his eyelids to the presence of Helena in front of him, shapes true love into an illusion. The confrontation of disbelief from Hermia assures she feels “Can you hurt me any more than by saying you hate me? Hate me? Why? What’s happened to you, my love? Am I not Hermia? Aren’t you Lysander?...you still loved me when we fell asleep, but when you woke up you left

Lysander is also blamed for having “turn’d her obedience, which is due to me” (Act 1, Scene 1, line 37). Likewise, Egeus uses strong and possessive language such as indicating he has the “rights” to “dispose” of Hermia if she does not listen. This shows the stereotype that a daughter’s feelings and words mean nothing to the final decision made by her father. Clearly, stereotypes for males and females are shown in Helena and Hermia’s life to remind the audience of male dominance within the

Midsummer Night’s Dream is a great story by Shakespeare because it deals with many important the problems such as the issues of how men dominated women, power affairs, and the patriarchy. These matters are very obvious through the relationships between the gender members of couples of characters. Most men in Shakespeare time like to dominate women and to control their lives as they want. As well the Patriarchal plays an important role and it reflected in the society of ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream, and this is clear through the relationship of Hermia with her father. This essay presents the patriarchy how it plays an important role through the relationships between the king (Oberon) and the queen of Fairies (Titania) and between Hermia and Agues.

Gender inequality is a very serious issue in the popular book, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and in everyday life. The gender issues portrayed in the book consist of things like men forcing women’s love upon one man as opposed to their choice. In that time, it was commonly accepted to have women treated worse than men. Even today, men will still treat women like trash. Not all men do this but there are the select few that still do.

Men and Women The relationship between men and women is the theme in William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Throughout the play, the female characters are almost always submissive to the male characters. Much like a traditional household back in the day, the men have all physical and political power.

This essay examines the question ‘To what extent does William Shakespeare depict male superiority through Hippolyta and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?’. The essay commences by looking first at the social and historical context in which the play was written and identifying the methods of research used to obtain the facts and opinions in the essay. The essay continues, discussing the themes of love, relationships and sexuality, focused on the characters of Hippolyta and Titania and how Shakespeare portrays the superiority of males through these two themes and characters. The significance of male dominance in the play is then discussed, looking at how it adds comedy that may not be quite as apparent in a modern day feminist reading of the

In the play the reader gets the truth that Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius, and as a woman living in a patriarchal society, she must obey; at least that is what the reader is lead to believe. Hermia takes a stand for herself and becomes powerless in her love for Lysander. With no reasonable explanation, besides her love for Lysander, she defiantly denies her father’s attempt for an arranged marriage. Since their love for each other is so immense, they prepare for the underlying bad circumstances they are going to suffer from for not obeying the wishes of her father. Hermia’s love for Lysander means so much more to her than the property or social placeholder she would gain by marrying Demetrius. Hermia dedicates herself to Lysander, saying he is worthy of the ultimate consummation of her love. She must convince her father that Demetrius is disgraceful and immoral. At the end of the play, Hermia and Lysander are eloped, and unlike Katherine and Petruccio in TOS, they demonstrate their dedication for each other from the beginning, disregarding a few

One of the last Shakespearean works of Elizabethan England, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is laced with a progressive line of feminism, which is coupled with an air of sexual freedom that would have been very much in line with the views of the ageing monarch, and may have been written as a tribute to her rule. Although such a feat would be considered remarkably progressive at the time, Shakespeare's conservative plebeian audience still obligated him to include a more traditional ending.

Hermia has been promised to Demetrius by her father; however she is unwilling to marry him as she is in love with Lysander. We are introduced to this theme when they visit Thesus, the figure of authority in the play, who makes it clear that women are not to have their own identity, but instead are

Shakespeare may be the most known playwright of all time, however, you may be surprised at how many unfair stereotypes this very famous writer incorporated into his plays. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare in the late 1500s that portrays events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to the extravagant Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. Such events included Demetrius jilting Helena at the altar and falling in love with Helena’s rival instead, Hermia. However, Hermia is in love with Lysander, not a disdainful youth known as Demetrius. According to feminist theory, the theory that focuses on gender inequality. A Midsummer Night’s Dream would not be considered a feminist empowerment play because throughout the play Shakespeare portrays women as timid/easily frightened. He shows men having more power than women, and perpetuates the unfair stereotype that all women must act a certain way.

Hermia is recognized as an inferior character due to her fathers commands-Egeus. Hermia endeavours to get Egeus to give permission for Lysander and herself to get married. However, he responds with a rational answer, giving her two choices: “Consent to marry with Demetrius…” “…or to her death, according to our laws…” (Shakespeare 1:1 40,44). This passage stats how Hermia is given the option to marry Demetrius or to be killed by her fathers request. Also, it describes that this act is legal and right in the laws of the Athenians as Egeus mentions. This means that women throughout the town are forced to do what their fathers say. Which proves that woman are powerless and males are given the role of superiority, this makes the society unjust. Hermia is shown as powerless towards what

Despite being written a long time ago during the Elizabethan era, the plays of William Shakespeare continue to move hearts. While Shakespeare may be famous for some of his well known tragedies such as Macbeth and Othello, he also wrote a fair amount of comedies. In particular, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is one of the most famous of the Shakespearean comedies, prompting spin-offs and parodies which were featured on contemporary television shows. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not just a typical comedy, it also features the obstacles which develop on the path of true love. In addition to having a theme of love in the play, it also has many patriarchal themes which showcase the values and beliefs of society. Because of the historical time period in which the play was written, A Midsummer Night’s Dream illustrates the many societal expectations which enforced patriarchal standards.