As both prisoner and bride, Hippolyta establishes marriage as bondage (with its simultaneous associations of erotic and domestic servitude), setting the scene for Egeus, who brings for judgement by the duke the case of his disobedient daughter, Hermia. Hermia wishes to marry Lysander; Egeus favours Demetrius as her suitor. Again, marital choice is constrained, and love and imprisonment are aligned.
