Amanda Couture English 2100: Writing About Literature Spring 2013 Instructor: Jessica Camargo Annotated Bibliography

Dreher, Diane. Defiant Daughters. Domination and Definance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1986. 96-114. Print. Diane Dreher analyzes Shakespeares defiant daughters who followed their heart for love instead of giving into what their father wants. Dreher uses feminism and gender studies critical analysis as shown in the use of phrases and how women are perceived within the text. The author reaffirms this analysis through the continued support of the womans choice to marry who they pleased. Hermia rejects forced marriage to his lordship, the unwished yoke and sovereignty of traditional arranged marriage in which women too often became their husbands sexual slaves. Hermias refusal to give her body to Demetrius is her own act of power over men. This progressive thought is way before Shakespeares time which shows his forward thinking abilities. While Shakespeare empowered his women in his plays, the author continues to uplift women like Hermia, Juliet, and Katharina. Diane Dreher says, In his plays he consistently condemns both slavish obedience and unbridled appetite, upholding a personal bond of love and trust as the only moral basis for enduring human commitment. Hermia becomes an empowered woman through her fathers push for obedience. Even though her father insisted, with death and exile to a nunnery a likely possibility, Hermia followed her heart and went to the forest with Lysander to run away. She then faced losing the greatest love of her life and having to return to her father in disgrace. Through the event in the forest and her fathers hostility toward herself and Lysander, she evolved from a young woman infatuated with another man to an adult woman ready for marriage and the next stage in her life.

Dreher, Diane. The Paternal Role in Transition. Domination and Defiance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1986. 40-75. Print. Fathers play a key role in all of Shakespeares play and Diane Dreher emphasizes the major changes the father goes through in each play in the Paternal Role in Transition. Dreher uses the gender studies critical analysis in this chapter by giving examples of the changing roles that fathers experience and word choice when describing how women are portrayed. In the

beginning of the chapter the author states, The conflict between traditional and progressive social forces only intensified the personal conflict of parents and their children. At the time when these plays were written, during the Renissance, there was a change between feudalism to capitalism. This then caused a change in family dynamic giving the men more paternal power within their household. However, as the times became more progressive, so did the ideals of the people. The change is reflected in the play as well. While men are trying to keep hold of their control over their family, the women seek to find their own path to marriage. Egeus in A Midsummer Nights Dream, plays the role of the mercenary father. The mercenary father, as stated by Diane Dreher, is the thought of their daughters as personal property and a valuable commodity. Upset at Lysanders remark, Egeus continues to call Hermia his property saying she is mine and I do estate unto Demetrius, continuing to refuse to give up his valuable item. However, even though he is Hermias father, Hermia rebels and still marries Lysander after the consent of Theseus. Shakespeare continued to challenge what was accepted in his own times by creating roles like Hermia and Egeus to contest what was the status quo. Dreher, Diane. A Psychological Perspective. Domination and Defiance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1986. 1-15. Print.

In the chapter A Psychological Perspective in Domination and Defiance, Diane Dreher outlines why fathers in Shakespeares plays have a difficult time giving away their daughters. The critical approach used in this chapter is psychological analysis which is shown through the authors use of psychological theories from famous psychologists and phrases. The main idea presented by the author is that the father is reaching his middle life stage. In the text Dreher states that, Repeatedly, his plays depict the father at middle life, reluctant to release his daughter into adulthood and face his own decline, while she stands at the threshold of adult commitment in marriage. Freud states that the young girl gives her affection completely to her father as a child. Now that his daughter has grown up, the father has to relinquish his power and realize he is aging. All of these factors played a part with the fathers urge to want to continue to dominate his daughter and prevent her from marrying the man she loves. In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Egeus refuses to allow Hermia to marry Lysander even though he has the same qualifications as

Demetrius; Egeus becomes so stubborn that he would rather have his daughter dead or in a nunnery than to be happy with the man she loves. Even towards the end of the lay after Thesues tells the lovers they can marry who they want, Egeus is still not pleased. Egeus faces a difficult time, his daughter is leaving and becoming a woman, he is getting older, and he realizes this is his last true chance to control his daughter.

Reflection At the beginning of this annotated bibliography, I felt very uncomfortable using secondary sources. Most of the time I used only online articles and many times, they were not that helpful. This time, I requested books from the library in hopes that they would help me more than online articles have. I read Domination and Defiance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare and Broken Nuptials in Shakespeares Plays. One book, Domination and Defiance, was definitely more helpful than Broken Nuptials. I found Domination and Defiance to be more relatable to my topics even when it wasnt using A Midsummer Nights Dream as its base for research. I found many quotes in the book that helped me write my annotated bibliography. When reading Broken Nuptials, I found it hard to find usable research to help me in my paper. I used all three annotations from Domination and Defiance because each had a different perspective that I could use to relate to A Midsummer Nights Dream. After working on this annotated bibliography, I feel a lot more comfortable using secondary sources, especially books. While online resources maybe more accessible and easier to attain, the books contained a lot more information than what I could find online.