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A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

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In A Midsummer Night's Dream, what is the relationship between Egeus and Hermia?

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If a woman married, she lost her father's authority over her life. In the case of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Hermia is prevented from marrying Lysander due to her father's insistence that she marry Demetrius. If she chooses neither, then she will be executed. The only way out is for Helena, who loves Demetrius, to convince Demetrius to love her instead of Hermia. Egeus' relationship with his daughter is not an affectionate one; he does not appear to want to hear Hermia out on her desire to marry Lysander. He believes it is Hermia's duty to be absolutely obedient to him, no questions asked.

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The relationship between Egeus and Hermia is not an affectionate one. Egeus regards his fatherly role in tyrannical terms. He does not appear to want to hear Hermia out on her desire to wed Lysander. He believes it is Hermia's duty to be absolutely obedient to him, no questions asked. He takes this belief to its horrifying logical extreme: if she does not marry according to his wishes, then he would rather she be executed for it. In fact, his lines "As she is mine, I may dispose of her, / Which shall be either to this gentleman / Or to her death, according to our law" show he views Hermia as a possession rather than as an individual.

Egeus's favoring Lysander is suggested to be rather irrational, since, as Lysander points out in regards to any possible differences between himself and Demetrius,

I am, my lord, as well derived...

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as he,
As well possessed. My love is more than his,
My fortunes every way as fairly ranked,
If not with vantage, as Demetrius;
And—which is more than all these boasts can be—
I am beloved of beauteous Hermia (99–104).

By the end of act one, scene one, the impression one derives of Egeus is that of a tyrant who is more interested in making Hermia bend to his will than thinking about what might be in her best interests in the long term. Nothing he says suggests he is forcing her to marry Demetrius out of fatherly love or out of wanting her to be happy, seeing as the worst he can say about Lysander is the fact that he wooed Hermia.

Hermia is no wilting flower in this relationship. She knows what she wants and is willing to defy her father by leaving Athens outright with the man she adores. Her line "I know not by what power I am made bold" suggests that she normally acquiesces to her father's wishes but that in this case, her heart overrides social convention or familial obedience.

By the end of the play, Egeus has not changed his mind. When he and the Duke encounter the four lovers in the woods in act four, Egeus demands Hermia make her choice. When Demetrius reveals his heart belongs to Helena, the Duke overrides Egeus's will, since now neither Hermia nor Demetrius wish to marry one another. Egeus says nothing more on the matter, so chances are, he and Hermia will likely continue to have a rough relationship in the future. However, now that she is married, her father will have far less control over her life. When women married, their husbands became the biggest authority in their domestic lives.

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