Shakespeare women in A Midsummer Nights Dream - Essay Example

?Shakespeare – Literature. Women in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The women in Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are all quite different and so it is difficult to describe them together as a group. Perhaps the only thing that they have in common is that they are tied, sometimes happily and sometimes not so happily, to the men that they love, and it is the rocky course of their respective relationships that forms the main theme of the play. They belong to three different social groups: Hyppolita is the Queen of the Amazons who is about to be married to Theseus, Duke of Athens and this makes her a royal person, well above the level of normal citizens. Titania is also a Queen, but her royal position is located in the land of the fairies, which sets her apart as not human. Hermia and Helena are young, upper class Athenian women who have sweethearts but are not yet at the point of marriage. This paper examines the way that each of these female characters is presented, comparing and contrasting them to bring out areas of similarity and difference between them. The marriage of Hyppolita to Theseus is the occasion that brings all the characters together and starts the action of the play. Hyppolita and Theseus exchange happy thoughts about the big day that is due to arrive soon, and set up an expectation that the whole city will soon join in their celebrations. This is presented as a natural and normal state of affairs where the man courts the woman, persuades her to get married, and then a formal wedding is conducted in front of lots of witnesses. Theseus has more to say than Hyppolita in the opening scene, and he has some negative comments to make about older women when he compares the moon to “a stepdame or a dowager/long withering out a young man’s revenue.” (Act 1, Scene 1, 5-6) This reference stresses also the financial and legal implications of marriage, which gives financial security to the woman, and forces the man to give up his wealth. Although he does not intend this to be critical of Hyppolita, who is young and beautiful, it is clear that his view of women is touched with some tension as far as material wealth is concerned. Hyppolita goes along with his mood, and soothes him dutifully, saying “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night,/Four nights will quickly dream away their time.” (Act 1, Scene 1, 7-8) She is wise, and patient, behaving in the way that we would expect a royal lady to behave. Theseus calls her names like “gentle, sweet” (Act 5, Scene 1) which suggests that she is a soft person who should not worry her head about troubles in the world, but in fact Hyppolita is a very sensible woman, who sees the ridiculous side of the story that is played out before them involving mythical elements like talking walls: “This is the silliest stuff that I ever heard” (Act 5, Scene 1,209) She follows the tales of lovers and their journeys to find each other, and expresses both emotional reactions: “Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man” (Act 5, Scene 1, 285) and logical reasoning “How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe/ comes back and finds her lover?” (Act 5, Scene 1, 307-308) It seems that Shakespeare wants us to see in Hyppolita an ideal woman, eager to support and please her husband, but at the same time capable of independent emotions and able to think things through as well. Titania is in many ways a parallel to Hyppolita, and in some ways also an opposite. She is married to the King of the Faeries, Oberon, but it is obvious that this couple have been together for a much longer time. She is not obedient to her husband, and this is evident in the way that the fairies make it clear that they are not speaking to each other, and especially in the first conversation that they have together; “OBERON: Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania TITANIA: What, jealous Oberon?” (Act 1, Scene 2, 60-61) Titania has a new favorite boy and she accuses Oberon also of spending time with other women, and so this marriage is very definitely not the sort of ideal that Theseus and Hyppolita are looking forward to. It is not clear that the love between Titania and the boy is an adulterous one, and it may well be only a fascination with an adopted half human son, but either way, Oberon does not like the fact that his wife is spending so much time and affection on someone that is not himself or his own child. He demands the boy, and in a traditional marriage situation Titania would be obliged to give him up, but she is defiant and says “Not for thy fairy kingdom” (Act 2 Scene 1, 144). Titania is obviously adored and respected by her fairy entourage, and the attempts of Oberon to play magic tricks on her are both amusing and also an example of petty jealousy. There is great irony in Titania’s declaration of love for Bottom, and the little fairies dancing around him could be a metaphor for the unrealistic “magical” state of mind that people have when they first fall in love. She is a grown woman showing herself to be foolish because of Oberon’s magical tricks. There is a sort of moral in this tale, because Oberon at first is gleeful that the trick has worked, but eventually regrets it and wants his wife back in the way that she was before. He has learned that forcing a women by devious means is not a good idea, and he values her independence of spirit more in the end. The two Athenian women Hermia and Helena are of a different social class than the two queens Hyppolita and Titania. They are also likely to be younger, and their inexperience in love makes them at times a bit doubtful of the best way to behave. At the start of the play Hermia is introduced and from the first moment she presents a problem case to be resolved. Her father presents her along with two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius, and the father appeals to the Duke to have Hermia do as she is told and marry Demetrius. The father makes an appeal to ancient Athenian law, which states that a father can either make her marry a certain man, or dispose of her through death if she refuses. This shows the very strict patriarchal society of the ancient times. Every argument that Theseus puts to Hermia, she counters with another one, so for example she says Lysander is as worthy as Demetrius, and her father should see Lysander through her eyes. (Act 1, Scene 1, 52-56) Hermia is not prepared to give in to her father, and she says that she will take up Theseus’ offer to “abjure/ for ever the society of men.” (Act 1 Scene 65-66) The battle here is very unfair, because all of the men exert their rights to determine what happens to Hermia, but she is not allowed to decide even in such an important thing as choice of husband. The only tiny ray of hope for her is Theseus’ suggestion that they all reflect on it for one more night, so that hopefully Hermia can come round to her father’s way of thinking. Lysander seems ready to give up when he says “So quick bright things come to confusion” (Act 1, Scene 1, 149) but then he suggests that they run away together. After the love potion has taken its effect, Hermia resists believing what she sees: “You speak not as you think. It cannot be.” (Act 3, Scene 2, 192) and throughout the whole of Act 3, Scene 2 she asks many questions. She knows there is something strange going on, and tries to work out what it is. She is a confident woman, and keeps asking until finally she concludes that it must be Helena who has turned Lysander’s head. She turns the blame also on herself, thinking that it must be because of her small size in comparison the Helena that Lysander has suddenly changed his mind about her and this makes her consider physically hurting Helena: “How low am I? I am not yet so low/But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.” (Act 3, Scene 2, 298-299) It is interesting that Shakespeare thus turns the negative emotions into hate between the women, rather than to hate between Hermia and Lysander. The scene is not resolved, however, because Hermia still cannot work out what is really going on. Later it is Demetrius who resolves the situation when he declares that he loves Helena after all. Even in this magical plot, the men are the ones who take the decisions and move things along. The women are forced to accept what they determine. Of all the women Helena is perhaps the most natural and the one that people can most easily identify with. She is the constant in her love for Demetrius, and her own self doubt ensures that the audience has sympathy with her position. When Helena meets Hermia and Lysander she is sorry that Demetrius loves Hermia, but she is not aggressive any way. If anything she is submissive and loving towards Hermia, and asks for her help “O teach me how you look, and with what art/you sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart.” (Act 1, Scene 1, 192-193) Helena tells Demetrius of the lovers’ plans, probably because she thinks that this will show him how much Hermia does not want him, and how loyal Helena is. She acts out of a desire to make Demetrius see the truth and choose her instead. After the love potion has taken effect, Helena is suspicious of the men, thinking that they are mocking her: “Never did mockers waste more idle breath” (Act 3, Scene 2, 169) but instead of wanting to hurt Hermia, she simply wants to run away from the whole situation. She is not so strong as Hermia, and she sadly concludes “’Tis partly my own fault/Which death or absence soon shall remedy” (Act3, Scene 2, 243-244). All four women are portrayed in a role of secondary importance when compared to their husbands and lovers, but Shakespeare shows how each of them use different tactics to resist the tyranny of men, and navigate the chaotic journey that is romantic love. References Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in The Oxford Shakespeare, The Complete Works. Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press, 2005, pp. 401-423. Read More