Making an Ass out of Laws
Shakespeare is widely known as an English poet, playwright, and actor, and is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. On the other hand, students of today’s culture tend to think, why are Shakespearean writings, written some 400 years ago, still relevant in today’s English classes? Even though Shakespearean plays use archaic vocabulary that usually require the use of a thesaurus or an English teacher to understand, the fundamental ideas of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, are correct in everyday life. Shakespeare’s plays often consider deep questions about law and justice, as well as getting the reader to think about the role that the law has, both in the story, and in real life, which then applies to the English curriculum today.
Within A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there was a law in Athens which gave the citizens, specifically fathers, the power to compel their daughters to marry whomsoever their fathers pleased; for if a daughter refused to marry the man her father has chosen to be her husband, the father was empowered by this law to cause her to be put to death. However, as fathers do not oft desire the death of their daughters, this law was rarely put in use. Within the play however, one father, Egeus, goes in front of the duke of Athens, Theseus, and says “Full of vexation come I with complaint / Against my child, my daughter Hermia“(1.1.22-24). And was seeking this law be put into effect. The book itself presents a myriad of problems between nearly every couple. Most …show more content…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a good piece of writing that allows students to especially think of the role of laws, as well as the rationality behind the enforcement of these laws. Through Shakespeare’s writings, every student, even today, 400 years later, is able to learn about rationality and its implications in
Shakespeare is widely known as an English poet, playwright, and actor, and is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. On the other hand, students of today’s culture tend to think, why are Shakespearean writings, written some 400 years ago, still relevant in today’s English classes? Even though Shakespearean plays use archaic vocabulary that usually require the use of a thesaurus or an English teacher to understand, the fundamental ideas of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, are correct in everyday life. Shakespeare’s plays often consider deep questions about law and justice, as well as getting the reader to think about the role that the law has, both in the story, and in real life, which then applies to the English curriculum today.
Within A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there was a law in Athens which gave the citizens, specifically fathers, the power to compel their daughters to marry whomsoever their fathers pleased; for if a daughter refused to marry the man her father has chosen to be her husband, the father was empowered by this law to cause her to be put to death. However, as fathers do not oft desire the death of their daughters, this law was rarely put in use. Within the play however, one father, Egeus, goes in front of the duke of Athens, Theseus, and says “Full of vexation come I with complaint / Against my child, my daughter Hermia“(1.1.22-24). And was seeking this law be put into effect. The book itself presents a myriad of problems between nearly every couple. Most …show more content…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a good piece of writing that allows students to especially think of the role of laws, as well as the rationality behind the enforcement of these laws. Through Shakespeare’s writings, every student, even today, 400 years later, is able to learn about rationality and its implications in