Men’s Domination over Women

Historically men have always been dominant over women in the society.  The man’s role as the leader and protector of the family gives him superiority over the woman.  In Shakespeare’s play “Midsummer night dream” he portrayed men to be superior over women in relationships.  According to Montrose, Shakespeare’s play is shaped by Elizabethan context of cultural production which represents gender and power in a stratified society where authority is invested in men (16).  This shows that Shakespeare wrote this play to portray the relationship that existed between men and women in England during the 15^th century.  Moreover, throughout the play men maintained a dominant role over women through their actions, while the women maintained a weak behavior toward the men.  Thus, the play depicts the traditional roles of men and women in the 15^th century society of England, which can be perceived through men’s use of power and authority to objectify women.

              The play portrays women as objects of manipulation to men.  This is because the women are forced to obey and fulfill the demands of the men at their own disadvantage. For example, Egeus wanted Theseus to grant him the ancient privilege of Athens in order to kill Hermia or send her to a nunnery if she disobeys his wish (Shakespeare 185).  This signifies that a woman’s entire existence including her emotional life is controlled by a powerful male figure, which is illustrated by Egeus’ possessiveness toward his daughter Hermia.  According to McEachen, marriage of a daughter is often a difficult moment for a father if he lacks a wife; and this makes him to move from the center of his daughter’s world to watch another take his place (272).  This shows that fathers care for the future of their daughters, and their purpose is to choose good husbands who will take care of their daughters in their absence.

                Moreover, women are marginalized by men in the play as portrayed by Oberon when tried to seize the little Indian boy from Titania.  But Titania’s refusal to give the little boy to Oberon made him to vow revenge over Titania’s disobedience. For example, Oberon threatened Titania and said, “Thou shalt not from this grove till I torment thee for this injury” (Shakespeare 193).  This signifies that women were subjected to punishment upon their disobedience to their husbands. Because of Titania’s disobedience, Oberon ordered his servant Puck to use love magic on her so that she will be submissive in giving the little boy to him.  However, Titania showed her woman weakness when she fell a prey to Oberon’s magical powers, even though she had her own magical powers to overcome the spell.  This shows that women were not only objects of manipulation to their men, but they were also marginalized over their rights of possession in relationships.

            Demestrius objectifying of women is also evident through his false love for Helena.  This is because Demetrius had once loved Helena, but he decided to dump Helena for her best friend Hermia. Helena’s love and devotion to Demetrius meant nothing to him, and he continued to hate Helena by tormenting her feelings for him.  This shows that men do not value the emotional feelings of women, and their love for women is temporal. Helena however, portrayed her weakness through her inability to control her emotional feelings. Her emotional weakness also led her to betray her best friend Hermia. Because of Helena’s selfish desire to gain Demetrius’ love, she betrayed Hermia’s elopement plan with Lysander. In addition, the two friends also led jealousy to control their emotions, especially when Hermia accused Helena of stealing her love Lysander who was under the magic spell of fairies. This shows that women’s emotional weakness does not only affect them individually, but it also extends to their fellow friends.  Helena did not have self confidence in herself despite her extreme beauty.  Hence, she blamed herself of not being attractive enough to Demetrius.  This shows that men are often attracted to women because of their beauty, and a woman who is not beautiful has low chances of getting a husband.

               Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night Dream” did not only depict the 15^th England society, but it also depicts the society of today. This is because the authorities of men over women in relationships as portrayed in the play still exist till date. Fathers often attempt to choose husbands for their daughters, men are often possessive in relationships, and they are always unfaithful to women in relationships.  The play is an example of how parents, men, and women in Shakespeare’s society lived according to their traditions. This can be seen through Egeus forceful marriage of his daughter to Demetrius, Oberon’s manipulation of Titania with his love magic, and the poor relationship between Helena and Demetrius.

 

              

                                                           Work Cited

 Monstrole L. Adnan. “Figuration of Gender and Power in Elizabethan Culture.” University of  California Press. Web. 5 June, 2012.

McEachern Claire. “A sources study of Shakespear Feminism.” Folger Shakespear Library. Web. 5 June, 2012

Shakespeare William, “A Midsummer Night Dream.” 1595