Theseus' judgement on Hermia isn't as harsh as her father's — marry Demetrius, spend her life in a nunnery or die — yet she has little opportunity for happiness. Notice the military imagery used in the exchange between Theseus and Hermia: For example, Hermia needs to "arm" herself against her father's wishes. She needs to fit her "fancies" to her father's "will" (118), suggesting that Hermia's love and imagination need to be combated by her father's authority or will; otherwise, the law of Athens will sacrifice her on the pyre of reason. Yet, as noted earlier, her father's choice of Demetrius seems as fanciful and arbitrary as Hermia's choice of Lysander. Fortunately, Theseus is less willing than Egeus is to condemn Hermia to death or to celibacy.
In this play, which celebrates love, magic, and sexuality, the choice of a single life is, perhaps, worse than death. Although this play presents the difficulties of love and, in particular, of women's lack of choice in marriage (shown especially strongly through the character of Hippolyta, who appears to have lost all of her spirit following her defeat by Theseus), its goal is to celebrate love and sex; it prefers passion over pedagogy, relationship over celibacy, and life over death.
