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Patriarchy In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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In William Shakespeare’s, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, humour is used as a powerful tool to address gender roles and challenge patriarchal values. Shakespeare depicts strong female characters who defy the expectations of the patriarchal society they live in. Hermia, for instance, is an excellent example of a female lead challenging patriarchal values, particularly when she argues with her father about her choice of husband. Male domination is displayed in the relationships between characters like Oberon deceiving Titania and Egeus controlling Hermia. Shakespeare uses several literary devices to demonstrate the absurdity of patriarchal values through the actions and interactions of his female characters with male characters.

Shakespeare also uses comedic devices such as irony and satire to demonstrate the presence of …show more content…

This is seen in Act 1, Scene 1, lines 16 and 17, when Theseus says to Hippolyta, “Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword / And won thy love doing thee injuries”. Shakespeare chose to involve characters from a popular myth of his time. The myth is about Theseus, the Duke of Athens, trying to woo Hippolyta and marry her. However, Hippolyta doesn't want to leave her people behind as she is Queen of the Amazons. Theseus then wages war on Hippolyta’s Amazon tribe before defeating them and taking Hippolyta with him back to his palace in Athens. This is an example of irony because rather than the pair falling in love with each other, Theseus forced Hippolyta to marry him. Satire and oxymorons are comedic devices used in Act 1, Scene 2, lines 42 to 44. When Bottom says “And I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too. / I’ll speak

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