It is evident throughout the duration of the plot that there are three main themes the play and its characters tend to revolve around. The first, is this highly hierarchical type of mindset that leaves both male and female characters in extremely stressful and violent situations. The second theme touches base on the subject of marriage and suggests that female power is something that must be subdued; an essential power relationship that exists to subordinate women. Finally, A Midsummer Night’s Dream focuses on an implied “power of fantasy” that can only be seen when the play delves into the world of the fairies. All three of these themes tie back to the bigger message of how men and women in this play do not have equal rights. In Act I, …show more content…
It is known that 17th century England was anything but fair to the women of society; regardless of being a matriarchal system. By creating these complicated and restricting relationships between men and women in the play, Shakespeare has subtly implied the gender inequality and strife happening in his own reality. In a way, the gender stereotypes that we see presenting themselves throughout the duration of the plot all show that there is an obvious battle of the sexes. In both the human and fairy world, women must fight for what they believe and push against the tidal way of expectations to get what they want; while men simply feel as though they deserve and own the right to control these strong female characters. Even the wording of the quote can be dissected to represent this. For example, when Theseus says: “To you your father should be as a god;” he is specifically stating that only to Hermia does he hold this “power” and “control” over. This implies that in all other aspects of society, Egeus would not be allowed this form of freedom to do as he pleased, and rightfully so, as Egeus appears to only be a commoner in social status. So by using this wording, Theseus is remaining Hermia that although her father is not a man of power and reputation such as himself, when it comes to her life and choices, he should be given unwavering obedience and submission. It allows Hermia no argument; as one does not simply go against
Stereotypes are commonly held beliefs that most are all individuals sharing a given trait also should or do share other attributes to be associated with aspects such as race, religion, and physical qualities. In Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, he uses stereotypes to embody the characteristics of the stereotypical female according to society’s liking. The women in both “Othello” and “A Midsummer NIght’s Dream” are loyal and faithful. Women are bound by respect and loyalty to the men they love. Shakespeare has drawn a line concerning gender roles and the consequences of violating these positions (Bevington, 2014). Women seem to be victimized by society’s influence as they yield to these stereotypes that shape the
For example, when Demetrius goes into the forest after Hermia, Helena follows him. She informs him that she needn’t be anything more to a dog to him, and that he may treat her in such a way that he would treat a dog (2.1. 210-15). However appalled most women would be by the example, it is still important to know and understand that demeaning yourself is never ok. The most important reason teenagers should read a Midsummer’s Night Dream is to be able to understand the significance of symbolism. Oberon plans to use a flower to make his wife fall in love with the first thing she sees. He wants to distract her so that he may take the child for himself. He informs puck about the flower’s powers and asks him to put it in Demetrius’ eyes, so that he may fall in love with Helena (2.2. 265-673). Magic plays a very big factor in the play, and most of the magic is concentrated in the woods. The woods’ represents a place without rules, where anything can happen. When the characters begin to go into the woods unexplainable events take place, as a result of the lack of structure that a township provides. By entering the woods the characters leave behind rules, and tend to reveal things about themselves they wouldn’t have before. The use of symbolism makes it an essential play for teenagers to read. To teach them that you cant
Exerting the type of power that is influenced by malicious intentions can cause one to make decisions that are not beneficial to others. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is written within a time period and setting that favors men instead of woman. In other words, men have all the authority to control the events that occur in their own lives as well as the lives of others whom are considered insignificant. The plot displays the catalysts that ignite many characters’ desire for control that is misused by higher status people. Shakespeare’s use of characterization demonstrates how the wanting of control causes the characters to act irrationally through the misuse of power. Shakespeare’s use of setting, plot and characterization causes the ordeals that the characters ultimately face. In turn, the deceitful choices of a few individuals with status impacts whether the lives of lower status people are enhanced.
Every action made in A Midsummer Night’s Dream revolves around the idea of love. It is a concept which few people can understand because of the extremity a person can go through to go after their love. “Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, such shaping fantasies that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends.” Lovers see the world in a way which everyday people cannot comprehend. The idea of love leads to them making irrational choices which may seem
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
The three major themes in "A midsummer nights dream" that, Shakespeare heavily contrasts is, by using three groups of extremely different
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream the theme of conflict with authority is apparent and is the cause of the problems that befall the characters. It also is used to set the mood of the play. The passage below spoken by Theseus in the opening of the play clearly states this theme.
Imagine being a woman in sixteenth century Europe. Females were raised to believe that they were subservient and that men knew better on any subject. Basically, women had no rights. They were considered property, first “owned” by their fathers and then control was “transferred” to the husband chosen for them. Marriage was not about love, but in most cases, it was a business deal that was mutually beneficial to both families – an interesting fact is that like young women, most young men had no choice in the selection of their future betrothed. These traditions and the gender roles assumed by men and women at that time had an impact on Shakespeare’s writing and performances and a great example of this is evident in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, is a play that illustrates a good picture of woman’s lack of freedom. It is a story of several couples, among which there is a fairy king, Oberon, who proves his sovereignty over the queen of the fairies, Titania. The two have an ongoing conflict about who should keep the Indian boy, whose mother had recently died. Titania doesn’t want to give him up because she and the boy’s mother knew each other very good; whereas Oberon has no relations to the boy, but really wants him as a servant. Ultimately, Oberon wins the boy by using a trick of his on Titania, revealing her weakness. Shakespeare uses Oberon to show this power of man over woman and to expose woman’s unheard, meaningless, and feeble opinions through Titania. In several scenes throughout the play, the female character, Titania, struggles to do as she desires; however, Oberon takes things under his control and helps to portray the female as weaker than the male.
In order to accurately describe the role of women in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, one must first explore the female characters in the text. Shakespeare's works had few females because women were not allowed to act in London in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Disregarding the standards imposed on women of his time, Shakespeare created many female characters that were strong-willed, intelligent, and daring. Hermia of A Midsummer Night's Dream is one such character. She disobeys her father, her king, and the Athenian law so that she might marry the love of her life. She discards all the luxuries of her familiar and comfortable existence for the uncertainties of a distant land in exchange for the freedom to love Lysander. The only complaint against Hermia by feminist critics stems from her willingness to defy one set of confinements derived and maintained by men-her father, the king, and the male authors of Athenian law-to become the subordinate of yet another man. However, even though she rebels away from the limitations she ultimately runs towards, she is much more indep...
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, several events occur that cause chaos and confusion among the people. The writer of the play, Shakespeare draws the reader to focus on the small but important details in the story, to understand what is happening, and why. I believe Shakespeare focuses on these characters mainly and their stories; the young Athenian lovers, Titania & Oberon, and Nick Bottom. These are the characters that are greatly affected by the magic of Cupid’s arrow and Oberon’s mischievous works. The theme magic is what really begins each characters story and what carries it, but what also causes all of the problems. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare emphasizes the theme magic to allow the reader to view how the power of magic affects each character differently.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays magic through many places in the text. Magic is a key component to the plot of the story. Magic can make a problem disappear, or it can intensify the problem. There are many reasons magic is powerful, but one of the main ones is because not everyone understands it. Magic in one way or another affects everyone in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the perspective with which each character views magic is different. The power of magic is something that is hard to understand, even those who use magic often cannot fully understand magic because in many ways it is irrational and inexplicable.
William Shakespeare’s writings are famous for containing timeless, universal themes. A particular theme that is explored frequently in his writings is the relationship between men and women. A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains a multitude of couplings, which are often attributed to the fairies in the play. Each of these pairings has positive and negative aspects, however, some relationships are more ideal than others. From A Midsummer Night’s Dream the optimal pairings are Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania; while the less desirable pairings are Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Demetrius, Lysander and Helena, and Titania and Bottom. Throughout A Midsummer
“...So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” So ends the famous Sonnet 18, possibly Shakespeare’s best-loved sonnet of all. Shakespeare’s fame today comes almost exclusively for his writing that deals with feelings of love. Sonnet 18. Romeo and Juliet. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hamlet and Ophelia and Antipholus and Luciana and Beatrice and Benedick and Antony and Cleopatra. All these examples of the guy falling in love with the girl and skipping off into the sunset with her. However, new evidence shows that he wrote almost half of his sonnets to a man, including that oft-quoted “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” sonnet. As we look closer and closer at his cross-dressing, male-centric, “fabulous” plays, Shakespeare scholars argue that it’s very possible he swung the other way, or at least been an ally for those who did. Fast forward about four hundred years and we live in a thoroughly(though not yet quite totally) accepting society, with multiple organizations dedicated only to making LGBT kids feel safe in their own community, universally legal gay marriage undoubtedly coming up on the horizon, and non-gender-binary people winning major beauty-centric competitions. The very reason that so much research has been done on Shakespeare’s sexuality is that we accept so many in today’s modern, free spoken society. The majority of today’s society opens and accepts all, and I like to believe that the bard himself strove for a world like this. There are still a few people who still believe that their love-thy-neighbor religion does not apply to those who do not fit within the societal construct of a book written thousands of years ago, but people who have grown to love far overpowe...
The title of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream can have many interpretations. I will give you my thoughts on the relationship of the title to the different situations that take place in the play. These interpretations give insight and overall meaning to the thematic nature of Shakespeare's work. Although I am only going to describe three interpretations of the title, there are many other meanings to the title. The first interpretation of the title of the play that came to my mind was the magical dream-like night in the woods, when Robin Goodfellow and Oberon, the king of the fairies, used several kinds of love potions, and messed everything up.