How Does A Midsummer Night’s Dream Engage Questions Of Queer

How does A Midsummer Night’s Dream engage questions of queer desire and gender

Kelsey Henderson Professor Lynn Maxwell Intro to Shakespeare 8 October 2022 How does A Midsummer Night’s Dream engage questions of queer desire and gender identity/roles? You may want to consider Helena and Hermia’s relationship, Hippolyta role, Titania’s various relationships, etc. You might also want to take up the play’s insistence on marriage. Parameters: Write a 5-7 page MLA-formatted paper with a works cited. Your paper should present your own argument about a text (or texts) that we have studied together.

Paper For Above instruction

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, is a complex exploration of desire, gender roles, and social constructs through intertwined relationships and fantastical elements. The play actively engages with questions of queer desire and gender identity, challenging conventional patriarchal norms while simultaneously revealing how societal and theatrical representations shape perceptions of love and gender. Through characters such as Helena, Hermia, Titania, Hippolyta, and the interactions of the male and female characters, Shakespeare presents a layered commentary on gender dynamics, emphasizing the fluidity and performativity of gender roles.

One of the central relationships in the play, that between Helena and Hermia, exemplifies early portrayals of same-sex desire and female camaraderie, which Shakespeare complicates with elements of rivalry and societal expectations. Helena’s unrequited love for Demetrius and her subsequent hostility toward Hermia, who is also pursued by Demetrius, reflect a common trope of women fighting over male affection; however, these conflicts subtly hint at a deeper concern with female desire and identity. Helena’s overt jealousy and her obsessive pursuit of Demetrius unveil a desire that transcends mere romantic rivalry, suggesting an internal struggle with her own sexuality and subordinated desire, which was often suppressed or misunderstood in Elizabethan society.

Furthermore, Hermia’s resistance to her father's authority and her vows of love highlight themes of individual agency and the destabilization of traditional gender roles. Shakespeare depicts Hermia as assertive and independent, challenging the patriarchal expectation that women must conform to societal norms centered around marriage. Her defiance symbolizes a broader questioning of gender boundaries and the possibility of female autonomy in love, a radical notion within the context of the play's historical period.

The play also features powerful female figures such as Titania and Hippolyta, whose relationships extend beyond heterosexual norms. Titania’s romantic involvement with Oberon, and her subsequent love for Bottom magically transformed into an ass, exemplify non-normative desire and fluidity in gender expression. Titania’s dominance in her relationship with Oberon disrupts traditional gender hierarchies, illustrating her agency and asserting that female power and desire are as legitimate and complex as those of males. Similarly, Hippolyta’s role as the queen of the Amazons and her impending marriage to Theseus serve as commentary on female sovereignty, yet her subdued presence in the play may also symbolize the marginalization of female agency within a patriarchal framework.

Shakespeare's depiction of love and marriage further emphasizes gender's performative nature. The insistence on marriage, portrayed as both a comedic social expectation and a space for genuine affection, exposes the performative aspect of gender roles. The play’s humorous take on arranged and love-based marriages questions the authenticity of social norms governing gender and desire. Moreover, the theater's metafictional elements—such as the play within the play—highlight that much of human desire is performed or constructed, echoing contemporary theories of gender performativity as articulated by scholars like Judith Butler.

In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream engages with questions of queer desire and gender identity by portraying characters whose relationships challenge traditional norms and by emphasizing the fluid, performative nature of gender roles. The complex interactions among Helena, Hermia, Titania, Hippolyta, and other characters serve to critique societal expectations and reveal that gender and desire are multifaceted and constructed phenomena. Shakespeare’s playful yet critical portrayal invites audiences to reconsider fixed notions of gender, highlighting the diversity and complexity of human desire beyond normative boundaries.

References

• Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990.
• Greenblatt, Stephen. Shakespearean Negotiations. University of Chicago Press, 1997.
• Kermode, Frank. Shakespeare’s Language. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
• Neill, Michael. The Origins of Shakespeare’s Fantasy. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
• Showalter, Elaine. Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siècle. Penguin, 1991.
• Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Edited by Harold Bloom, Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2007.
• Thorne, Tony. “Queering the Dream: Homosocial Desire and Gender Subversion in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 62, no. 3, 2011, pp. 345-370.
• Vivity, Apurva. “Gender Performance and Transformation in Elizabethan Drama.” Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 2016, pp. 183-197.
• Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. Harcourt Brace, 1929.
• Zimmerman, Paul. “Reimagining Desire: Queer Readings of Shakespeare’s Plays.” Shakespeare Studies, vol. 54, 2019, pp. 120-137.