In today's society, women have almost achieved equality. However, there was a time when women weren't really seen as women, but rather as objects. At the time of many of Shakespeare's plays, Queen Elizabeth ruled England, which was a big step toward the deobjectification of women. While many people tried to keep women under the control of men, some people began to work for change. Shakespeare uses his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to comment on the objectification of women and feminism. In “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the “Political Economy” of Sex,” Gayle Rubin discusses the role of a woman in a capitalist society. She first talks about Marxist ideas. She says women are often not seen as part of the workforce and their tasks reside better at home. She says that Marx believes that “the difference between the reproduction of labor power and its products therefore depends on determining what it takes to reproduce labor power. » (Rubin 162) Fundamentally, workers need ways to recharge their batteries. They need things like food, clothing, shelter and fuel. What Rubin argues is that none of these things can be considered sustenance as given. “Food must be cooked, clothes cleaned, beds made, wood cut, etc. » (Rubin 162) Additional work must be done, which is not factored into the equation. Because it is women who do the cleaning at home and their work is not taken into account, they often represent the “surplus value” made by the capitalist. In short, women are the property of the capitalist. A woman as state property is also seen in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In the first scene of Act 1, Theseus, Duke of Athens, claims the future of Hermia. Hermia...... middle of paper ...... to say whether Shakespeare promotes the objectification of women or opposes it. However, even with some moments of ambiguity, Shakespeare seems to be saying that women in his society have come a long way since the time his play is set. Queen Elizabeth is positive enough proof that women can be strong and don't need to be used. as objects of male fantasy. Shakespeare showed himself to be a progressive person through his plays and sonnets. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is another Shakespeare work that quietly calls for change. Shakespeare would have been incapable of standing on a soap box and shouting his beliefs as a liberated woman, but he was able to use “A Midsummer Night's Dream” to subtly make his point. As we can see in today's society, women have come a long way, but again, there is still a long way to go..