Much Ado About Nothing 'And' A Midsummer Night's Dream

Roles in Society Gender roles may differ within the different societies in this world, but in one way or another they began in one way. Back in the times of Shakespeare, women roles were of house maids and men roles were acted upon as the strong, in charge, and house hold carrier. Women weren’t supposed to oppose what their father or husband would say. Since Shakespearean comedies such as Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he began to show the different gender roles and how they would be changing. He brought up questions within his comedies, questions that people might have been asking themselves but might have been too afraid to ask. In Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s dream, Shakespeare opened a different view and perspective on people in their societal roles, such as their gender roles. To begin with, in Much Ado About Nothing, “Beatrice
Claudio as opposed to Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is very gullible; he believes anything and everything that is said to him, unlike Demetrius who continues to fight for Hermia’s love until he falls in love with Helena. In act two scene 1 Demetrius is followed my Helena into the woods and notes, “I love thee not; therefore pursue me not./ Where is Lysander and fair Hermia? / The one I’ll stay; the other stayeth me. / Though told’st me they were stol’n unto this wood, / because I cannot meet my Hermia. / Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more” ( II,i, 188-194). “The role of men in the Renaissance culture was under some revision and challenged by the masculine woman that were being brought up in new culture. The make roles outside of the home and in the public sector changed the roles of men in the culture of Shakespeare’s time which allowed audiences to help understand and accept the changing gender roles of the time (Leann Pettit, “A look at male gender roles in Shakespeare’s Renaissance” page