A Midsummer Night's Dream: Women In Elizabethian England


I think something very interesting in this play is the way in which
woman were seen in Elizabethan England during Shakespeare's day. The play gives
numerous examples of the way woman are treated as second class citizens; for
instance, the laws concerning marriage and the position of men in society.
When Hermia states that she does not want to marry Demetrius, the man of
her fathers choice, and would rather marry Lysander, she is placed in a
difficult position. Her father seeks out the aid of Theseus, the Duke of Athens,
who states the law and what she can do in such a situation: marry who her
father says, become a nun, or die. All three of these "choices" involved
sterility either emotional, sexual, or absolute, respectively. These don't
really sound like choices to me, nor do they sound like choices to Hermia.
Woman, especially daughters, were to do what men commanded.
Another example of how woman were seen as......

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Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Women In Elizabethian England
Approximate Word Count: 311
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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