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A Midsummer Night's Dream And The Merchant Of Venice Essay

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John Lupario Professor Teresa Nugent ENGL-3000, MW 12:00 PM Sunday, February 26th, 2017 A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Merchant of Venice While A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice have extremely different plots and storylines, there are some similarities that we can point to. In both plays, characters grapple with how to prioritize their friendships and their marriage relationships. One common theme that we can point to is the dominance of women by males. That being said, characters reacted very differently when the demands of the relationships come into conflict. When analyzing the two plays, it is crucial to take into consideration the culture of the era in which the plays were written. Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan …show more content…

William Shakespeare invites the audience to observe the way in which love can be portrayed, forced, and ambiguous. The play occurs in a magical forest and it follows the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. However, the play also follows the square of four young lovers, Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia and Helena. The women in the play, Hippolyta, Hermia and Helena are portrayed in a negative light and they are interpreted as dependent to Theseus, Demetrius, and Lysander. The play opens to Theseus (The Duke of Athens) and Hippolyta discussing their upcoming wedding. “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour draws on apace. Four happy days bring in another moon; but, oh, methinks, how slow this old moon wanes…Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword and won thy love doing thee injuries” (1.1.1-4…17-18). As The Duke of Athens, and the most powerful character in the play, Theseus fits the role of a dominant male. This could have been Shakespeare’s attempt to appeal to a male audience as the social norms included a dominance of female characters. Theseus and Hippolyta are merely engaged because Theseus conquered the Amazon, which further supports the argument of male dominance. That being said, Hippolyta seems to be happy being engaged to Theseus, even though she is actually portrayed as a powerful woman. At this point in the play, Theseus and Hippolyta are very happy with one another and their characters have the luxury of not having to balance friendships with their marriage relationship, due to their social

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