Egeus appears as nothing else but a bully. How relevant is his style of parenting today?
...es 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 unheard of. In the time of the play, this type of punishment was acceptable and legal, unlike today. In society today, to some degree parents must have control over the lives of their children, however not to the same extent as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Parents must be able to monitor the behaviour of their children, and should have control over things such as which school ...