Mid-Summer's Night Dream Question # 4

In Mid-Summer's Night Dream the females seem to have significantly less freedoms than the males. They are treated as property to the 'man of the house' and have to do as the males say, as stated in the Athenian laws. The women also seem to not have the ability to choose their husbands while they remain in Athens, their husbands are chosen for them by their parents or their parents have to approve of the marriage to allow the daughter to marry. This is proven when Egeus stated that Hermia was to marry Demetrius against her will simply because her father stated that they were to be married. It was obvious that she didn't love Demetrius but she did love Lysander, and she begged her father to allow her to marry Lysander. They even went to Theseus, the ruler of Athens and the wisest person around, to help them solve the problem of the marriage. Theseus stated that she could either marry Demetrius or become a nun. This proves that women had no choice about who they could marry and it also shows the restricted rights that women had.

In today's society women have more freedom than the women in Shakespearean times. Women are allowed to choose who they can marry and date, and women are treated as people, not property. But there is still gender inequality, women are paid less to do the same jobs as men, and in some cases women aren't even allowed to do the same job. Often, men still think that they are superior to women and try to establish their ideas firmly into the minds of those around them. Many times workplaces take into account the gender of the person that wishes to apply for the job and shifts their thoughts of hiring the person according to whether they are male or female. No, it is not fair. No, it is not right. Yes, it does happen. Even some people's thoughts of women make it sound like men are superior. Some people think that women are weak, frail beings, when the reality is that women and men are quite similar in stature, except for the fact that men are taller and some look tougher than women. Males and females should be considered equal, and in some cases they are. But thankfully women are no longer considered property like in Mid-Summer's Night Dream.