Patriarchy in 1001 Nights and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Patriarchal societies play a major role in many fairy tales. These societies are especially evident in A Thousand and One Nights, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In each of these tales, the patriarchal system inherent in the story causes obvious opposition between either a husband and wife, or a father and daughter. In general, the apparent higher authority of the relationship rested with the male, however, in each of these stories, the real power rested or was transferred to the female. Patriarchy in stories, particularly fairy tales, is a very common social struct