摘 要

威廉·莎士比亚（1564—1616）是英国文学史上最杰出的戏剧家，也是欧洲文艺复兴时期最重要、最伟大的作家，全世界卓越的剧作家。他被人们称为英国民族诗人和吟游诗人。莎士比亚流传下来的作品包括39部戏剧、154首十四行诗、两首长叙事诗。他的戏剧有各种主要语言的译本，且表演次数远远超过其他所有戏剧家的作品。他的作品包含广泛的社会题材，不仅体现了时代的精神，还闪耀着人性的光辉。

《仲夏夜之梦》是威廉·莎士比亚于1595-1596年创作的一部喜剧。它是莎士比亚最受欢迎的戏剧之一且在世界范围内表演过多次。它描绘了希腊公爵Theseus和亚马逊皇后Hippolyta的婚礼，围绕着希腊四个年轻爱侣和六个业余演员展开叙述。

本文旨在分析《仲夏夜之梦》中的女性主义。剧中有两个主要方面体现了女性主义。一是女性主体意识的觉醒，包括了女性追求婚姻自由，追求平等；二是人与自然和谐相处。最后，本文讨论了女性和自然的关系。

关键词： 女性主义 生态女性主义 平等 自然 自由

1. Introduction

1.1 Shakespeare and A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare (1564 –1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon.” His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. His works contain a wide range of social problems, not only embody the spirit of the times but also shine the glory of human nature.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595-1596. The play is one of Shakespeare’s most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons, and revolves around the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies that inhabit the forest.

The play opens with Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, resistant to her father Egeus’s demand that she marry Demetrius. Enraged, Egeus invokes an ancient Athenian law before Theseus, Duke of Athens, whereby a daughter needs to marry a suitor chosen by her father, or else face death. Theseus offers Hermia another choice: Lifelong chastity while worshipping the goddess Artemis as a nun. Hermia decides to escape into the woods with Lysander because she does not want to succumb to the power of Theseus or Egeus. Helena, Hermia’s best friend, pines unrequitedly for Demetrius, who broke up with her to be with Hermia. Helena is desperate to reclaim Demetrius's love, tells Demetrius about the plan. Then she follows Demetrius to the forest in search of Hermia. In the forest, the four young men and women meet Oberon, the king of fairies, Titania, the queen of fairies and six amateur actors who are rehearsing the play which is prepared for the duke and duchess’s wedding ceremony. Oberon knows the love and hatred between the four young men and women. He wants to help them, so he orders his servant Puck to spread some magical flower juice on Demetrius’s eyelid. When Demetrius wakes up, he will be in love with the first living thing he sees. Instead, Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius. As a result, Lysander falls in love with Helena. Oberon is confused that Demetrius still follows Hermia. Then he uses his magic power to mesmerize Demetrius and asks Puck to bring Helena back. Upon waking up, Demetrius sees Helena. Now, both men (Lysander and Demetrius) are in love with Helena. However, Helena is convinced that her two suitors are mocking her, as neither of them loved her originally. Hermia finds Lysander and asks why he left her, but Lysander claims he never loved Hermia. Hermia accuses Helena of stealing Lysander away from her while Helena believes Hermia joined the two men in mocking her. Hermia tries to attack Helena, but the two men protect Helena. Lysander, tired of Hermia’s presence, insults her and tells her to leave. Lysander and Demetrius decide to seek a place to duel to prove whose love for Helena is the greater. Oberon realizes Puck made a big mistake. He orders Puck to keep Lysander and Demetrius from catching up with one another and to remove the charm from Lysander. In that way, Lysander can return to love Hermia while Demetrius continues to love Helena.

Meanwhile, the six workmen are rehearsing their play for Theseus’s wedding in the forest, near Titania’s bower. Bottom is one of the six workmen. He is spotted by Puck, who plays a trick on him and transforms his head into that of a donkey. When Bottom returns for his next lines, the other workmen run screaming in terror. Determined to await his friends, he begins to sing to himself. Titania, having received the magic juice, is awakened by Bottom’s singing and immediately falls in love with him. It’s all Oberon’s scheme. He wants to get Titania’s changeling boy to be his henchman. But Titania refuses his request. Then he instructs Puck to use the magic flower juice and to make Titania fall in love with an animal. It will shame her into giving up the little Indian changeling boy. Having achieved his goals, Oberon removes the charm from Titania and orders Puck to remove the donkey’s head from Bottom. In addition, he also makes Helena, Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander believe they have been dreaming when they awaken.

Eventually, all four find themselves separately falling asleep in the glade. Then Theseus and Hippolyta arrive on the scene, during an early morning hunt. They wake up the lovers. Since Demetrius no longer loves Hermia, Theseus overrules Egeus’s demands and arranges a group wedding. In Athens, Theseus, Hippolyta and the lovers watch the six workmen perform Pyramus and Thisbe. The performers are so terrible playing their roles that the guests laugh as if it were meant to be a comedy. In the night, everyone goes to bed. Oberon, Titania, Puck, and other fairies enter, and bless the house and its occupants with good fortune. After all the other characters leave, Puck appears and suggests that what the audience experienced might just be a dream.

1.2 Need for the study

In recent years, researches on Shakespeare’s works are increasingly booming. However, most research and criticism focus on the study of his tragic ideas, revenge, human ability, female characters and historical view while few people have made a systematic study of his view on women reflected in the plays. Though a small number of people have made some comments, they consider Shakespeare aims to maintain “patriarchal law” in most of his plays. But Shakespeare creates a new realm of women who can resist the suppression and express their desires to be independent and free.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are women who are not willing to be victims of patriarchy and the authority of husband. They are Hermia and Titania. Hermia is forced to marry the person chosen by her father. She does not accept the arranged marriage because she has her own lover. However, she will face punishment (death or being a nun) if she does not submit to his father’s will. She makes up her mind to elope with her lover in order to be free of patriarchal suppression. Titania. The queen of fairies has a quarrel with Oberon, the king of fairies over an Indian changeling. Oberon wants to get the boy to be his henchman. Titania says the child’s mother was one of her worshippers and refused his request. Titania dares to challenge the authority of husband. She is not a wife that always obeys the authority of husband. It is her great attempt of pursuing freedom and equality although she was humiliated.

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the women characters depicted by Shakespeare are not just as docile lambs of males and victims of the traditional mode which are shaped by male writers in patriarchal society. Instead, he has shaped some anti-traditional women who are beautiful, brilliant and brave. They pursue the independence and the freedom of love, and bravely struggle against the patriarchal society. It reflects their subjective awareness and embodies the idea of feminism. Based on this point, the author attempts to study A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the perspective of feminism, especially focus on women’s pursuit of freedom and equality.

1. Literature Review

2.1 An overview of feminism and ecofeminism

Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: To define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes. This includes seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men. A variety of movements of feminist ideology have developed over the years. They vary in goals, strategies, and affiliations. They often overlap, and some feminists identify themselves with several branches of feminist thought.