Introduction Shakespeare plays; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II indicate how women are portrayed and treated in different societies. The play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about love and societal practices surrounding marriage. At the beginning of the play, Duke Theseus of Athens is in the process of preparing for his marriage with Queen Hippolyta of Amazon when Egeus, father to Hermia comes in with a case requiring Duke Theseus to punish Hermia for refusing to marry Demetrius, his preferred suitor. Hermia is compelled to marry Demetrius over her chosen suitor, Lysander. Lysander and Hermia fight for their love. Demetrius realizes that Hermia and decides to go back to Helena. In the end, Hermia and Lysander reunite and fulfill their …show more content…
Richard II, on the other hand, is about politics of England. The first act of the play shows King Richard trying to arbitrate over a murder case of Duke of Gloucester. The case leads to the banishment of both Bolingbroke and Mowbray. Bolingbroke is expelled from England for six years while Morbray is permanently banished. King Richard is wasteful of public resources and many commoners have lost trust in him. When John Gaunt, father to Bolingbroke and Duke of Lancaster dies, King Richard seizes his land and money to fund wars in England. This angered Bolingbroke who invade England with his army supported with commoners who Richard II was a wasteful king. At end of the play, Bolingbroke is crowned King Henry IV while Richard is imprisoned. However, the plays demonstrate that women in Shakespeare’s society have been treated as property, lesser beings, and