Romantic Obstacles in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Pride and Prejudice Anonymous College

In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the major external obstacle faced by Hermia and Lysander appears in the form of Hermia’s father, Egeus, who intends for his daughter to marry another man, Demetrius. Throughout the play, Shakespeare reveals the authoritative reasoning behind Egeus’ objection to Lysander by proving Lysander and Demetrius to be essentially the same person. Egeus has no reason to prefer Demetrius over Lysander, for they both possess equal wealth and social status along with their love for Hermia. Shakespeare writes their parts so similarly that when they both pursue Helena under the spell of Oberon, an inattentive audience may have difficulty distinguishing between the two actors. Egeus insists on invoking Athenian law to ensure Hermia’s marriage to Demetrius because in a patriarchal society, allowing his daughter to overrule him would suggest weakness.

Hermia and Lysander’s idea to run away and get married at Lysander’s aunt’s house would have worked if not for the meddling of Helena. Shakespeare clearly communicates the frivolity often shown by youth in love when Helena tells Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander’s plans to leave. If Helena had let the pair slip off quietly, Demetrius may have...