With thought and knowledge of what love can be and what it is, Shakespeare insinuates the idea of love “I don’t think you’ve got much of a reason to love me. But to tell you the truth, reason and love have very little to do with each other these days”, with the text written in his stories (3.
1.122). In the two plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing both written by William Shakespeare are written as comedies where Shakespeare takes the trouble of the actors and turns it into humor. Sharing many similarities throughout the plays themselves, some of the two that stand out the most is the relationship of the daughter’s and father’s as well as it was okay to embarrass a woman who is not a virgin in Shakespeare’s time. Shown in both stories it is revealed that the similarities that A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing share are Daughter’s obedience to father’s, and questioned purity.In A Midsummer Night’s Dream one of the similarities that Much Ado About Nothing share are the roles that Daughter’s took place in this time. Fathers were to be role models, presidents or in this case to be seen as Gods. In addition, for this it was very important for a daughter to obey any rule or blessing her father would command.
According to Scholarly writer Zitner, Hero plays the role of a daughter who is young, obedient and unquestioning, only to convey that as a daughter she will obey any rules that her father wishes with no questions (3). When a father is to choose the man who she will marry it was for money and future heir and at the time that Shakespeare wrote his plays this way for this was the type of role that was occurring at the time. For example, revealed in Shakespeare’s writing “Daughter, remember what I told you.
If the Prince ask for your hand in marriage, you know what to tell him” confirms that Hero’s job as a daughter is to obey her father’s blessing by accepting the man, he has chosen for her to marry with no further questions (2.1.55).
Although it may be seen to be taken as a response of denial, Beatrice who is the niece to Leonato and cousin to Hero, verifies “Surely, my cousin has a duty to please her father. But if the husband her father chooses isn’t handsome…. with another one” that Hero’s response is to be yes rather than no. Correspondingly to the text, noted by Zitner, Beatrice states that it is Hero’s duty to curtsy and act as it pleases her father (3).
Furthermore, the reader can acknowledge that the role a daughter has to her father is indicated in Shakespeare’s similar play A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Hermia who is the daughter to Egues. In the same way too Much Ado About Nothing, Hermia is to be accept the man her father has chosen for her. As for what was stated from the beginning, fathers were supposedly to be viewed as Gods to their daughter is utilized in Theseus line “Hermia? Think carefully, pretty girl. You should think of your father as a god” clearly states that daughter’s during this period had to follow and obey their fathers not only by following their rules but rather their approval for the man she is to marry (1.1.46). Equally important, not only does the line imply Hermia’s father to be viewed as a God but it also deals with Hermia’s refusal to marry Demetrius, the man her father has approved for her. With attention to this being a problem to Hermia, the reader can see that Hermia loves Lysander who her father will not allow her to marry.
Identically reasoned in Nevo’s article who is a Criticism for Shakespearean, “From the point of view of the father, what is required is that his daughter yield to his bidding and accept the suitor he has approved. But this would please only him and the suitor” speculates that it is his daughter’s duty to obey and follow his wishes (1). Overall, both stories share common elements of two young women who must follow the wishes of her father and marry the man he has chosen whereas following another similarity the two share is questioned by their purity.
As what was previously stated, both stories also share character’s who desert another character in front of others by their question of their purity. In simpler terms, the reader can see that in Much Ado About Nothing Claudio who is the man that Hero is supposedly is to marry at the moment yet for the readers knowledge of the lies that have been convicted on Hero’s virginity, Claudio as the man who will be married to Hero has the right to embarrass his future wife and question her purity. Evidently, endorsed in Shakespeare writing “But she is not virgin.
She has been in a man’s bed” (4.1.37) answered by Claudio, who has explained Hero’s purity in front of an audience just before they say, “I Do”. Namely for what is recognized in another Scholarly writer Willson’s writing, “Claudio confronts his supposedly unfaithful partner in the middle of their wedding ceremony, his tirade causing her to faint and apparently expire” deals with the fact that it was appropriate during this time to lower a woman who is not pure, yet for a man it did not matter if he was or wasn’t for they were allowed to do anything whereas a woman had little power or freedom (15).
To put it differently, a woman had to be pure to be married and what makes this like A Midsummer Night’s Dream both women who are introduced in the stories Helena and Hero are women who are confronted or shamed for their loss of virginity. Coupled with Lysander not marrying Helena who is evidently in love with Demetrius is talked among men in A Midsummer Night’s Dream about her virginity. Lysander who is purposely trying to make Hermia’s father see that Demetrius is not the man for her, he confesses Helena’s purity to be lost to a man who is Demetrius. With rumors knowingly going around it had come to Theseus’s ears that even he was meaning to questioned Demetrius of this action of previous love to a woman who is not married. In fact, evidently shown in Shakespeare’s play “Helena, and made her fall in love with him. That sweet lady, Helena, loves devoutly.
She adores this horrible and unfaithful man” clearly states that these two were previous lovers who made love to one another. In any case, supported in Shakespearean writer Nevo verifies, “Lysander (and later Helena) tells us that Demetrius made love to Helena before obtaining Egeus’s consent to a match with Hermia. He deserted her then…” that Helena and Demetrius were lovers previously and how there is a possibility that she is not pure which Lysander deserts her in front of people to humiliate her (1). For instance, shown in A Midsummer Night’s Dream the reader can support Demetrius feeling for Helena is nothing but hatred of annoyance with the lines “Look, I don’t love you, so stop following me around”, lists that Demetrius does not love her any longer but Hermia. In summary, the similarity that Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream is characters who desert another character in front of others with questions of their purity.
What makes William Shakespeare relevant to the two plays that share similar similarities has been recognized by writer Willson who insinuates the idea of why Shakespeare decided to write his plays the way he did with the lines from his article, “Shakespeare excels in the arts of grasping the essence of relationships between husbands and wives, lovers, parents, and children, and friends” allowing the reader to conclude that these elements are categorized in his plays such as Romeo and Juliet or for a better example in the two plays Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Subsequently, as the reader it can be endorsed that William Shakespeare illustrated the two plays to share these relationships to create a more human environment of what the human communication is like. Secondly, the readers can hypothesize that William Shakespeare made the image of a woman being humiliated in front of any audience or etc. to remark the experience of his wife Anne Hathaway. Truly, shown in Willson’s writing Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than he was, who was pregnant at the time before they were married. However, it is question that it is possible that he felt obligated to or took pity on her at the time (5). With attention to Willson’s thought, the reader can convey based off Willson’s quote that perhaps Shakespeare used sex before marriage in his play and humiliation to women in the play based off his own personally experience. In addition, most of Shakespeare’s plays where centrale on marriage (Wells 4).
Therefore, as the reader it can be questioned that perhaps Shakespeare used these themes to create a deep understanding of the human nature combined with his comedies based off Willson’s article (5). Sharing many similarities throughout the plays themselves, some of the two that stand out the most are the relationship of the daughter’s and father’s as well as it was okay to embarrass a woman who is not a virgin. Identically, Shakespeare mentions a quote from one of his books Much Ado About Nothing that reveals that men had more freedom than women did, and it didn’t matter what a man was doing in an unmarried woman’s room whereas for a woman it was unproper.
Furthermore, in Shakespeare’s writing “What man were you talking to at your window last night, between the hours of midnight and one? If you’re a virgin, you’ll answer this question” introduces the idea that with this statement, it doesn’t matter what the man who was not married doing in a woman’s room but rather what she was doing (4.1.81).In the final analysis, for what is granted to the readers, William Shakespeare created each one of his characters to play such a major part in his stories that had meaning to why and how the two stories Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream lists the types of similarities they share. To this end, the similarities that were discussed from the beginning about character’s in the stories who play as daughters that must obey their father’s, and characters who are humiliate by another character for their purity. In conclusion, Shakespeare had meaning to why he created such similarities that are not just represented in these two plays but in many of his other comedies.
He built his play around the deep understanding of the human nature which was stated by scholarly writer Willson.
