Imagine being a woman in 16th century Europe. Women were raised to believe that they were submissive and that men knew better on any subject. Basically, women had no rights. They were considered property, first “owned” by their fathers, then control was “transferred” to the husband chosen for them. Marriage was not about love, but in most cases it was a mutually beneficial business arrangement for both families. An interesting fact is that, like young women, most young men had no choice in choosing their future bride. These traditions and the gender roles assumed by men and women during this time had an impact on Shakespeare's writing and performances and a great example of this is evident in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Similar to other works of Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between the sexes when faced with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the fairy king and queen involved in a fight so fierce that it throws the natural world out of balance, and a girl who fights with her father over her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl's father chooses Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. She. Considering the fact that men were dominant during this time, while men pursued women and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dwells on these traditional roles and there are several possible reasons for this. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audiences a break from the plays and Shakespeare's poetry. Anne-Marie Hacht. 2nd ed. Flight. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007.578-613. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. November 24, 2013.Identity theft: the performance of gender in Shakespeare's England. Stephen Orgel.Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 1996. PrintObscured by Dreams: Race, Empire, and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.Margo Hendricks. Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Spring 1996), pp. 37-60Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University.Web. 24 November 2013University of Southern Queensland, USQ Home. School Resources, A MidsummerDream, Discussion of Key Questions. 2011. www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/school-resources/midsummer-nights-dream. Internet. November 24 2013