Explain the theme of male dominance in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Both Theseus and his fairy counterpart, Oberon, show male dominance in the play.
Theseus kidnaps Hypolita, Queen of the Amazons, and is forcing her to marry him as the play opens. He admits this is not the kindest way to get a wife but promises to "woo" her more gently after they are married. He also shows male dominance by backing Egeus, Hermia's father, in the question of marriage. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Hermia, however, is in love with and wants to marry Lysander. Theseus tells Hermia that she must obey her father, conforming to his will. He tells her that if she does not marry the man her father chooses, she will have to face death or banishment to a nunnery.
Oberon wants the little Indian boy that Titania, his wife, has adopted, for his own retinue. Titania promised the boy's mother, a close friend who died, that she would raise the boy as her own. Therefore, she refuses to give him up to Oberon. This is not satisfactory to Oberon: he wants what he wants and must have the child. Therefore, he uses his power to command Puck to put a love potion in Titania's eyes so that she falls in love with the first creature she sees. Oberon believes this will preoccupy her and cause her to lose interest in the Indian boy, and this ploy works.
At the end of the play, Oberon allows Lysander and Hermia to marry. However, this is after Shakespeare has illustrated that both Oberon and Theseus are dominant males who are used to having their own way. They both expect women to give in to men's desires.