Romeo And Juliet Essay

Romeo And Juliet Essay

Theo Avery
Mrs. Hamley
Pre-IB English 9
7 March 2011
The Setting of Love between Two Households in Shakespearian Plays
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream recounts the acts of enchantment between the lovers of each story. The obvious themes of love provide a foundation for the plot of both Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, but the depth of the play is revealed through the acts of the lovers and the setting. The setting in both Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer’s Night Dream cause the reader to feel the anxiety of lover’s enchantment.
The setting in A Midsummer’s Night Dream plays a role in causing the lovers to fall in love. The setting also allows the reader to feel the intensity of the lover’s enchantment.   The play takes place in Athens, Greece. Shakespeare combines elements of Ancient Greece with elements of Renaissance England. Back in Ancient Greece woman were thought of as property. Women were supposed to do as their father tells them to do. The punishment for a woman being disobedient to their fathers was death. Egeus ask Theseus permission to kill his daughter if she is defiant. Egeus asks“Be it so she will not here before your grace. Consent to marry with Demetrius, I beg the ancient privilege of Athens. As she is mine, I may dispose of her—which shall be either to this gentleman Or to her death—according to our law Immediately provided in that case”(MDS.1.1.39-45) Apparently obedience was a very important thing in Athens. Hermia is given an option to marry Demetrius or to die. Although most people, if in the situation Hermia is in would marry Demetrius Hermia says, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, Ere I will my virgin patent up Unto his lordship, whose unwishèd yoke My soul consents not to give sovereignty”(MSD.1.1.79-82). Hermia will rather grow old and die a single mom than marry someone other than Lysander. Hermia’s decision displays the magnitude of her love for Lysander. In...