Marriage In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare uses marriage frequently throughout his plays, and very few of them turn out well, or if the marriages do work out, an abundance of effort must be done to achieve this. In Elizabethan time, people married and the women served the men, This was simply how life functioned. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, does he show that this is a bad idea? Shakespeare’s was hastily married and this could have resulted in a substandard marriage, this certainly could have also affected Shakespeare’s view on marriage.
In the Elizabethan era, women were basically servants to their father, and when they are married their husband. Women were actually raised to believe that they are inferior to men. Women also had to marry, not just to please …show more content…
For example, Hermia wants to marry Lysander but is being forced to marry Demetrius, who is loved by Helena. One could see how many different love circles are in this play, and therefore how many different ways Shakespeare could slip his opinion on marriage and love. The text states, "The more [Hermia] hate, the more [Demetrius] follows me...The more [Helena] love, the more [Demetrius] hateth me (Act 1, Scene 1, line 199).” this quote shows how one woman loves a man, but he loves another woman that hates him. This also reflects Shakespeare’s opinion of love, by showing how difficult, complex, and troubling love really is. This is also reflected in his beliefs about marriage, that marriage is also laborious, and that to truly acquire a successful marriage, one may be killed or harmed in the process. The text also states, "With cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart...Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me...to stubborn harshness (Act 1, Scene 1, lines 36-38), ” this quote shows egeus telling Lysander about what he has done to Egeus’s daughter. The quote also shows how in elizabethan time, a woman was property, and it was incorrect for her to choose her own fate. Shakespeare clearly has a problem with this, because he introduces this topic in many of plays, one being Much Ado About …show more content…
One is Hero and Claudio, who both seem to just go with what people tell them. Then there are Beatrice and Benedick who are quite the opposite, they are hateful and vindictive, however end up falling in love with each other anyway. The text states,”(Benedick) I would not Marry her(beatrice)(2.1.247-249),” and, ”(Beatrice)I may sit in a corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband(2.1.311-313),” these quotes were said before benedict and Beatrice began to love one another, and they both clearly show how they both dislike the idea of marriage. However, all of their friends the get together to make them get married, by tricking them into the marriage. Shakespeare might have made the choice to trick them into marriage, to show how society will “trick” people into marriage by showing how you cannot have a life or job without it, and by showing how great it is. The text also states,”(Leonato to Hero) Daughter, remember what I told you. If the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer(2.1.66-67),” this quote implies that Leonato already told Hero that she must marry the Prince if he were to ask her. This is a perfect example of how children are “supposed” to act towards their parents. However, it ends up being Claudio that asked Hero, Hero’s dad then approved this as well, so they almost married. Then, Claudio wrongfully accused Hero, this could have all been avoided,