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What Are Gender Roles In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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The idea of gender roles in society has been carried throughout many years. Gender roles bind a certain gender to live up to an expectation or image that society has created throughout centuries. In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Hermia fights her father for the right to choose her own spouse. Theseus, Duke of Athens is forced to marry a woman he defeated in battle and now the King and Queen of Fairies are at battle with each other. This creates a battle of the sexes so intense that it disturbs the natural world. Men are usually expected to be more aggressive while women are to remain passive and calm, however Shakespeare shows us that this is not always the case when it comes to romance. Shakespeare reveals his theme through his characters by mocking the social standards created against them. Shakespeare also does this by having his characters go against the norms that are set and expected to follow.
One of the ways Shakespeare reveals his theme is by having his characters mock social standards. One of the main conflicts within the story is love and wanting to be able to …show more content…

Helena is in love with Demetrius even though she knows that he does not love her back, yet she still continues to fight for him. “Fie, Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex. We cannot fight for love, as men may do. We should be wooed and were not made to woo.” (2.1.245-249) Here, Helena is pointing out that although it isn’t socially acceptable for women when it comes to love, she really doesn’t care. By doing this, Helena reveals the double standard when it comes to men and women. She also raises an interesting question. Why is it OK for women to “fight for love”, but it isn’t OK for women to do the same? Usually women are to remain passive and allow the men to be aggressive. Shakespeare uses Helena to show that this is not always the case when it comes down to love and

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After Helena is done reminiscing about their childhood, she focuses on targeting Hermia personally, “And will you rent our ancient love asunder, to join with men in scorning your poor friend?” Shakespeare uses this rhetorical question to show how Helena verbally attacks Hermia, by Helena asking if Hermia would really give up their love to join in with men to poke fun at her. This also shows Helena’s overdramatic and rash character through her words, also shown in, “Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it” Helena is saying that because she thinks that Hermia is making fun of her, that the whole female race will look down on her for her actions. In the last line of Helena’s monologue, she says “Though I alone do feel the injury”

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The underlying theme of the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare was the clash between the company pursuing their personal desires or deciding to conform to what is socially expected. The circumstances of this affray were on display when Romeo presented his plot of marrying Juliet to Friar Laurence. The consequences of Romeo deciding to pursue personal desire were also on display when displayed his disapproval to his punishment for extirpating Tybalt. These instances culminate Shakespeare's idea of that the pursuit of personal desire not always rewarding the aspirant. The asininity of carelessly pursuing your personal desires and not thinking about the ramifications was on display when Romeo presented his notion of espousing Juliet.

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Throughout history, men have always dominated. They never let a woman rise to power or have the same rights. This sexism has been ingrained in society for thousands of years, so much so that it has defined some of the most famous works of literature, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This play was written during the Elizabethan Era, an era in which a woman had all the power imaginable (Queen Elizabeth), and yet, women were still severely discriminated against. Women had no say whatsoever in their society; they were not allowed to vote and they had very few legal rights (Papp, Joseph, Kirkland).

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This study will focus on the way in which Shakespeare crafts his play and uses dramatic devices in his portrayal of Lady Macbeth in order to confront the gender stereotypes of the time, femininity and the natural order of society. During the early 17th century there was a substantial fear that if women were liberated from their domestic, maternal roles, the historically patriarchal society would unravel. With prevailing challenges of gender such as “When you durst do it, then you were a man” Shakespeare uses the character of Lady Macbeth to transgress the natural limits concomitant with her sex. In order to be able to answer the research question, it is vital to concretely establish the contemporary gender roles and the context of the play.

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Shakespeare believes that Gender roles shouldn’t be the stereotype of any relationship because the roles can be switched, and them being switched can cause a lot of trouble. When a woman thinks for men it ends up pretty bad. The play Macbeth shows that when a man follows a women's word because they love them, that's when

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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.

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This is when we discover how the men believe the women should be treated. It is also shown at the end when Kate makes her speech about how a wife should be submissive to her man. Such duty as the subject owes the prince/ Even such a woman oweth to her husband;/ And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,/ And not obedient to his honest will,/ What is she but a foul contending rebel (V.ii.7). In this quote, Kate compares wives to subjects of a prince.

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Their tough archetypes were always present in many plays and reinforced the idea of male superiority. This fact held true, especially for a certain tragic classic by William Shakespeare. There was a misogynistic mentality towards women in Romeo and Juliet, evident through the way women were shown as objects, portrayed as weak, and made to seem unable to dictate their own lives. Men in Romeo and Juliet could be seen acting like owners towards women. Women were seen as nothing more than possessions, as illustrated when Romeo first described Juliet as, “My lady…/my love” (II.ii.10).

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In today’s world, gender expectations and roles of men and women are a highly debated topic. However, the reconsidering of these expectations is not a new phenomenon. Set in Verona, Italy, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare explores the reversal and fluidity of characteristics usually assigned to a specific gender. In this play, two young people fall in love and end up tragically taking their lives as a result of their forbidden love. Shakespeare suggests that men are not necessarily masculine, women are not necessarily feminine, and that when people are forced by society to act the way their gender is “supposed” to, problems will arise.

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