In A Midsummer Night's Dream' why does Egeus want his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius?

Answer 1

In Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Demetrius is in love with Hermia, but Hermia hates Demetrius, as he won't leave her alone, tries to steal her away from Lysander and tries to force her to marry him by saying that she is his 'certain right'. He also previously wooed her best friend Helena, promised to marry her, and then left her as soon as he saw Hermia, so part of her hatred is loyalty to her friend.

Answer 2

She is expected to go along with her father's wishes. Arranged marriages were the norm in medieval society, as they continue to be in a number of countries today. In 16th and 17th century Europe, however, an unsatisfactory arranged marriage was a plot device in many plays. Usually the father of the girl wants her to marry someone rich, ugly, and the same age as her father, where the girl wants to marry someone about her age, handsome, and in love with her. The girl generally wins out.

Shakespeare frequently used the device of the unsatisfactory arranged marriage for the heroine: not only in Midsummer Night's Dream, but also in Romeo and Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor. In Othello and Cymbeline we have women who choose their own husbands without their fathers' consent, which angers them.

All's Well that Ends Well is a curious counterexample in that it is the man that is being forced to marry against his will, and the woman who is doing the forcing (through the father-figure of the King). It is clear that we are meant to sympathize with her, and to think that Bertram is a spoiled brat for not submissively accepting the marriage arranged for him. Funny how we never think that about Hermia . . .

Answer 3

Who knows? Egeus doesn't say. And when Lysander points out that Demetrius doesn't have any advantages over him, Egeus, rather than try to deny it, gets all huffy and says that it is his decision to make and he has made it, and he doesn't have to justify himself. If you were playing the part of Egeus, and you needed some subtext, you might consider imagining that Demetrius has basically bribed Egeus with money to support his suit. Probably Egeus would want to keep that quiet, at least in front of Hermia and the Duke.

Answer 4

hermaia's fate if she refuses to marry demetrius would be death or she would become single for the rest of her life.

Answer 5

because her father is forcing her to marry him. she does not wish to.

Answer 6

They run away from Athens to a place where Lysander's auntie lives, which is outside of Athens and where the Athenian law Hermia's father is citing does not apply.

Answer 7

demitrius