In my opinion,A Midsummer Night's Dream
definitely reinforces a patriarchal society. There are several examples
starting with Theseus, the Duke of Athens (and the Athenian law he rules
with).
First of all, Theseus took Hippolyata (Queen of the
Amazons) by force as spoils of war, and forced her to marry him. There is some evidence
that she came to love him, but she had no choice in the arrangement at the
beginning.
Hermia's father, Egeus, is a prime example of
the male-dominated society, as he treats his daughter as property and tries to force his
marriage choice (Demetrius) on Hermia when she would rather have
Lysander.
The law backs Egeus up, as we see when Theseus
tells Hermia that according to Athenian law, she must bend to her father's will, be
executed, banished, or forced to join a convent and remain a virgin the rest of her
life.
Even in the spirit world, we see male domination.
Oberon and Titania fight over a changeling child she has been given...but Oberon plays
dirty to get his way. He gets Puck to put the juice from the love-in-idleness flower
into Titania's eyes so she will be humiliated and fall in love with an ass (donkey).
When she is distracted, then, he takes the child and wins the
game.
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