"Hippolyta and Titania are consorts who defy their Lords, but ultimately submit to their lordship". Examine how Shakespeare treats the female characters and explores the role of women in the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

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“Hippolyta and Titania are consorts who defy their Lords, but ultimately submit to their lordship”. Examine how Shakespeare treats the female characters and explores the role of women in the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is said to be written between 1594 and 1596. It is also thought it was written around the period ‘Romeo & Juliet’. Similarities between the two do occur between the plays, for example the play of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ which is performed by Peter Quince’s men has the same tragic ending as ‘Romeo & Juliet’.

William Shakespeare at this time was the play writer for Elizabeth I .Shakespeare therefore gave the female characters in his plays, some sort of power. By doing this Shakespeare could not irritate the Queen by creating a play which was based on male characters. During the time of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, there were religious tensions between Catholics and Protestants. The Queen tried to treat the two religions equally and by encouraging them to live in peace. (1). Despite her attempts to bring about peace within the religious community, she was ruling a country torn apart by religious tensions.

Also during the time of Queen Elizabeth’s life was in danger, her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots wanted to have her killed. Fortunately for Queen Elizabeth, her cousins’ plot was uncovered and she was tried and sentenced to death in 1597.

’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, would therefore have provided amusement entertainment for the Queen allowing her to forget about the religious problems that had personal problems that had recently occurred.

The women in the play show their boldness and try not to get dragged into the patriarchal (A man who rules a family, clan, or tribe)(2) society’s way of life by trying to challenge their Lords, but in the most likely situations, the women end up having to give in to the males who dominate society. Tricia Rich, a critic, writes:

“Feminist criticism states that, often, men do not know where women are coming from. Therefore in writing a text or  reading it, they forget that there is another important side to society and typically write from the perspective of a patriarchal view of the world where men rule, make decisions, hold important opinions and basically are society as a whole”(3)

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Rich is basically saying that Shakespeare tried giving women a powerful role in the play to please Queen Elizabeth, but he also took that power away from them as well. Critics say that he may have been because he also held the patriarchal view that women needed to be ruled or Shakespeare may simply have been trying to make the point that no matter how hard women try, they will never be able to gain power over the men and be the leaders of society.

Hippolyta and Theseus play a minor role in the play. She was an Amazon warrior ...

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