More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender role in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Gender role in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Gender role in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Women have always been portrayed as the weaker sex compared to men. It has been demonstrated in history itself and throughout literary works. Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Homer’s The Odyssey, however, portray women to be more powerful than men, even when their society thought otherwise and underestimated them because of their gender. Lady Macbeth, The Three Witches, Queen Arête and Penelope demonstrate the astute, charming, and ambitious side of women that was overlooked by men when it came to having power and making decisions.
When it came to family structure in Elizabethan times, “women belonged to their fathers (or their brothers if their father died), and then to their husbands.” Women were never allowed to be by themselves, or to live freely, creating a system of ownership for each woman. The men will always be in control of women, even if their family dies. However, they were similar in it that “gender roles decided that the man of the house would go out and bring in food and money while women were stuck at home caring for their children.” Yes, women did not have to obey their husband, it was more common within the 1920’s household.
This may also present to us that the women in this play are quite strong and independent despite the times this play is set in, Hermia's father Egeus treats Hermia as though she is his property and that she has no freedom of choice Egeus threats his daughter by death or to become a nun which shows some state of
As many know Shakespeare is a masterful storyteller. Many of his tragic plays such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet have a keen sense of fate versus free will, but it is not just in his tragedies that this is seen. In his comedy, “Twelfth Night”, the theme of fate versus free will reverses the expected gender roles. Although it was written in the Elizabethan days, gender roles are constantly seen. In this play, Shakespeare seems to reverse the role of men and women, making women to be dependent and not reliant on men.
It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.
“And though she be but little, she is fierce” -William Shakespeare. In today’s day and age, one of the greatest topics of debate is gender roles. It is evident everywhere, from cyberspace to the streets of home, from online petitions to marches across the country such as the Women’s March. Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan Era of England, where Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen ruled.
In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare let the readers to explore his imagination and bring them to fantasies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream implies a world of imagination, illusion and unconsciousness through the word ‘dreams’. In the last scene of the play, act V scene I, the audience experience there is different thought of Theseus and Hippolyta in interpreting the love stories of Hermia, Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and the imaginations of many other characters. The scene of Theseus talking to Hippolyta lead to a controversy about the value of imagination and reason. From the play, the audience indeed witnesses magical incidents in the fairies’ forest, where the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, rule over the natural processes.
Prior to the 20th century, women have always been perceived as inferior to a man. It was a man’s world, they ruled the family, the workplace, the government and much more. In most modern nations reforms paved the way towards a just and equal society between the genders. This was not the case during the shakespeare’s era, even with a queen in power, all women were objectified. Shakespeare utilizes the play “A Midsummer Night's Dream” to convey the objectificatiffications–rooted from male dominance–that women have to bear, even by people who are supposed to be their biggest supporters.
Elizabethan Era vs. Modern Era: Similarities and Differences The Elizabethan era is considered as the Golden age in English history. It is called Elizabethan era because of Queen Elizabeth I and her reign. The era is most famous for theatre, because of plays that broke free of England’s past style of theatre that was composed by William Shakespeare and many others. There are a lot of similarities and differences between this era and the modern era. During the Elizabethan era, women were considered subordinate to men.
The use and misuse of magic are of great importance in the play, A Midsummer Night 's Dream. It is a recurring theme that is mostly seen with Puck. The use of magic by Puck helps in creating conflict, humor, and balance in play. Shakespeare employs this device in his play to mainly build and establish the theme of love. The role of magic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is seen as an interference with the human world, however it is still separate from the human protagonists (Noone, 2010).
During the Elizabethan period, the role of women in society was very different from what it is today. According to the system of patriarchal society that dictated that women were inferior to men, they had to obey the male figures in their lives. The woman was seen as the weaker sex either physically or emotionally which meant that it was entirely dependent on her husband if married and members of his family if single. Moreover, in the Elizabethan theater, women were not allowed to play because of this hierarchy. Therefore, they were replaced by men disguised as women.
A Comparison of Elizabethan England and Modern-Day England The Elizabethan Era is often considered the ‘Golden Age’ or ‘Renaissance’ of English History. It was called Elizabethan simply because it coincided with Queen Elizabeth I’s rule. It was a generation of expansion of ideas and flowering of poetry, music, and literature and it greatly contributed to the theatre field.
This piece of literature demonstrates the roles for men as the dominant gender and women as submissive, which are obsolete stereotypes. Shakespeare portrays the roles of the dominant males when Egeus tells, “as she is mine, I may dispose of her, which shall be either to this gentleman or to her death, according to our law immediately provided in that case” (1. 1. 42-45). He states this to let readers know that Hermia will not marry Lysander, and he gets the final decision. He gives her options, which are to marry him or die.
In his play “Othello,” Shakespeare is very compassionate towards the women of his era. He treats Desdemona with special sympathy. She is the victim of two crossed male aspirations — the devilry of villain Iago and the jealousy of her husband. The main cause of Desdemona’s tragedy is the total absence of women’s personal liberty. The lack of self-development without restrictions of society and family constricts the mind.
The male characters in this play often feel uncomfortable when their female counterparts break gendered stereotypes. This is the same feeling that drove Theseus to war with the Amazons. An equally important woman is Hermia: Theseus and her father have in mind Demetrius for Hermia’s groom, yet she still refuses even after a small threat from Theseus, “Be advised, fair maid. To you, your father should be as a god” (1.1.47-48). Here in patriarchal Athens, fathers are the head households and hold influence over near-all decisions.
