Looking back at Romeo and Juliet and other Shakespeare plays, I find that men winning the hearts of women by defeating them is a common occurrence. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theseus states "Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword," (I, i) implying that Theseus won the love of Hippolyta by defeating her. Adding to this is the struggle of Hermia from her father, Egeus's, will, because she does not want to marry Demetrious for she loves Lysander. And then both the men are chasing Hermia, trying to win her over. Even in Much Ado About Nothing, the male figures had much power, especially in making decisions for the ladies.
             Conflict Between Father and Daughter
             Again powered by other Shakespeare plays is the constant disagreement of a daughter with their ruling father's decisions. Here, Hermia does not want to marry Demetrious like her father is commanding her to. She wants to go with Lysander because she loves him. You hear of this first in Act 1, and then you never see Theseus again until Act 5 when all becomes well. Shakespeare writes many plays with this theme, so one might infer that he is trying to stand up for female rights, to a certain extent.
             Love is the most common theme not only in Shakespeare but also in the world. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, true and false love is explored, as well as how fragile it really is. As Lysander said in Act one Scene one, "The course of true love never did run smooth." However, I feel that love plays a smaller part in this play. It seems that Shakespeare wrote the characters to be distant from the audience so that the people watching the show could laugh and make fun of the people's messed up love lives. In a serious sense, the feelings and emotions the characters have are very, very serious, but never does anybody really carry a connection with the characters, so it is funny laughing at their hardships. Also, the play touches on how opposites can attract, even t
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