Societal Strains Noel Jensen College

A Midsummer Night’s Dream revealed a lot of society during its time. It embodied societal pressures and demands among the characters. The characters played as an example of the different types of people that were present during that time. The fairy queen embodied a strong woman, Hermia and Lysander’s forbidden love and Helena, a crazed personality with a standing obsession with Demetrius. All these characters clashed and intermingled ultimately revealing conformities of the era. Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare was able to reveal the lopsided conformities of gender roles and constrictions set on women by society during his time through the relationships among the characters present in the play.

Hermia and her dad’s relationship showed the traditions during the era. Typically, the father would control his daughter’s life and decide who she’s going to marry. She was supposed to obey his wishes as a “father should be as a god” (1.1.48). Respecting her father and his wishes was important in which she should obey him even though her heart said otherwise. Her father chose against Lysander and even begged Theseus to uphold Athenian law, which imposed the death penalty for children who do not obey: I beg the...