Egeus Appears As Nothing Else But A Bully. How Relevant Is His Style Of Parenting Today?
In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Egeus' parenting style is bullying his daughter, and controlling her life as if it were his own. "I beg the ancient privilege of Athens: As she is mine, I may dispose of her, which shall be either to this gentleman, or to her death, according to law immediately provided in this case." This parenting style is to a certain extent relevant today, however, to a much lesser degree. In contemporary society, to force a child into marriage and to threaten disobedience with the punishment of death is generally unacceptable. However, parents must have a certain level of control over their children, without bullying them into making decisions and taking away all freedom of choice.
Marriage today is about two people choosing to share their lives with each other, and promising to love and care for each other for eternity. If parents force their children to marry someone, they are taking away the child's free will to decide whom they want to share their life with. Today, in most cultures, for parents to force their children into marriage is intolerable. Therefore, Egeus forcing Hermia to marry Demetrius is not relevant to society and parenting today. Parents today realise that marrying is for happiness of the child, not for themselves and many parents would not try to influence the decision of their child to marry someone. Also, parents would not attempt to find a suitable' husband or wife for their child.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Egeus threatens to kill Hermia should she not marry Demetrius. This parenting style, threatening a child with extreme punishment should they disobey the wishes of their parents, is not relevant to today as a parent today would not consider death or any other extreme punishment to discipline their children. Egeus is forcing Hermia into choosing between to horrible choices, either marrying a man she does not love or death. Today, to force a child into making this kind of decision is...
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