The law of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Mateo Orege and David Vilaboa. IES Pedro Floriani, Redondela, Interdepartamental Project 2015-16. Department of Philosophy, Department of English

1. The law of Athens
EGEUS
HERMIA
LYSANDER

2. The law of Athens
HELENA DEMETRIUS

3. The law of Athens
 In this part, A midsummer night´s dream
Hermia´s father (Egeus) wanted Hermia to
marry Demetrius.
 Hermia has madly fallen in love with Lysander
but Egeus told Hermia not to marry him,
otherwise she would die or become a nun.

4. The law
 Sometimes the law is convenient
but you can´t abuse it.
 At this time, the thinking is
rational. Shakespeare contrasts
the racional and irracional with
these series of scenes

5. The law of Athens
 Egeus is the patriarch, he is the father and he
dictates the law, in this case about Hermia´s
love.
 In this scene Shakespeare wanted to teach
about the society in that time. Men rule over
women.
 In our opinion this theory isn´t enough
because women have the right to make their
decisions about her life.

6. The woods
 They went to the woods to escape the law and
search for solutions for their wedding.
 Hermia and Lysander ran away from Athens through
the woods, once there, they met with fairies and
magic.
 The law in the woods is very different from Athens,
because the opinion of the patriarch isn´t enough.
 Some factors influence in the woods:
 Magic
 Dreams
 Fairies