Male Dominance In A Midsummer Night's Dream
Male-Dominance in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (c. 1595) is a play that dramatizes gender tensions arising through complicated familial and romantic relationships. In the beginning of the play, a young woman, Hermia, fights her father, Egeus, for the right to choose her own husband, a duke, Theseus, is set to marry a woman, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, who he recently conquered in battle, and the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania are performing warfare against each other. All these scenarios enact immensely intense battles of the genders. Throughout the play, stereotypes about traditional gender roles when it comes to romance are also being challenged. For instance, norms …show more content…
In Act 5 Scene 1, Hippolyta says that she disagrees with Theseus on the events that happened to the two couples the previous night. Theseus says that he has a hard time believing what he is being told: “I never may believe these antique fables, nor these fairy toys.” (V.i.2-3), Hippolyta disagrees and says that it must have been true: “But all the story of the night told over, and all their minds transfigured so together, more witnesseth than fancy's images” (V.i.23-25). The way I see it, there are two possible meanings of Hippolyta's verbal answer. Firstly, Hippolyta might have accepted Theseus as her husband as she gives him a kiss. This, however, suggests that Hippolyta is simply discussing the whole issue about the two couples with Theseus. The other possible meaning is that Hippolyta is involved in 'strug-gles for power in a patriarchal society.' She was taken from her home and brought to marry Theseus because she lost a battle, and in doing so, she acts the way we might expect: She is empowering the female gender by breaking the norms and going against how women were supposed to be act by being dominant instead of submissive and agreeable to their husbands. Concluding, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” demonstrates a lot of male domi-nance in the world of the play reflecting the male dominance that took place in England in Shakespeare’s time. One might suspect that Shakespeare had feministic tendencies, as he chose to make a comedy out of what was really the sad truth – women were treated like
William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (c. 1595) is a play that dramatizes gender tensions arising through complicated familial and romantic relationships. In the beginning of the play, a young woman, Hermia, fights her father, Egeus, for the right to choose her own husband, a duke, Theseus, is set to marry a woman, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, who he recently conquered in battle, and the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania are performing warfare against each other. All these scenarios enact immensely intense battles of the genders. Throughout the play, stereotypes about traditional gender roles when it comes to romance are also being challenged. For instance, norms …show more content…
In Act 5 Scene 1, Hippolyta says that she disagrees with Theseus on the events that happened to the two couples the previous night. Theseus says that he has a hard time believing what he is being told: “I never may believe these antique fables, nor these fairy toys.” (V.i.2-3), Hippolyta disagrees and says that it must have been true: “But all the story of the night told over, and all their minds transfigured so together, more witnesseth than fancy's images” (V.i.23-25). The way I see it, there are two possible meanings of Hippolyta's verbal answer. Firstly, Hippolyta might have accepted Theseus as her husband as she gives him a kiss. This, however, suggests that Hippolyta is simply discussing the whole issue about the two couples with Theseus. The other possible meaning is that Hippolyta is involved in 'strug-gles for power in a patriarchal society.' She was taken from her home and brought to marry Theseus because she lost a battle, and in doing so, she acts the way we might expect: She is empowering the female gender by breaking the norms and going against how women were supposed to be act by being dominant instead of submissive and agreeable to their husbands. Concluding, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” demonstrates a lot of male domi-nance in the world of the play reflecting the male dominance that took place in England in Shakespeare’s time. One might suspect that Shakespeare had feministic tendencies, as he chose to make a comedy out of what was really the sad truth – women were treated like