William Shakespeare’s comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” offers sinful insight on the depth of romantic and sexual relationships. Hermia and Lysander, two Athenians who plan to secretly elope, become disenchanted with love. As both are mentally raped, through annointing their eyes with the love potion, each stray from purity under the fairy Puck. Shakespeare’s word choice implies that sin forms due to aggression. The Oxford English Dictionary offers insight through their definitions and historical context. Christianity furthers these implications within the story of Genesis and original sin. Hermia, as a symbol of Eve, is raped by the devil Puck, demonstrating how purity and consent can not exist outside of dream-like states spurred by love. 

Puck’s symbolic rape of Lysander wounds Hermia, allowing Puck to seize her as a Satantic figure. Puck, accidentally swaying from Oberon’s demands, anoints Lysander’s eyes with a love potion. He involuntarily falls in love with Helena, instead of remaining loyal to Hermia. After Hermia awakens, she calls out “Ay me, for pity! What a dream was here!/Lysander, look how I do quake with fear/Methought a serpent ate my heart away” (II.ii.155-158). Immediately, Hermia seeks out “pity”; with the loss of her love, she forsakes herself. She does not rely upon her own heart, instead seeking out Lysander, and falls to Puck. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines the serpent as “the Tempter, the Devil, Satan” (OED). The “serpent” is symbolic of Puck’s genitalia. The phallic shape, as it “ate my heart away”, demonstrates how Puck’s raping erodes others. As the tempter, Puck acts as Satan himself. Puck tempts Hermia to sin, or to give up. As Hermia “quake[s] with fear”, it produces submission. With the serpent, or his genitalia, Puck uses his masculinity to diminish Hermia’s femininity. She resembles Eve, as she succumbs to the evil upon her lover. The eating of the heart constructs a gory, violent image. It pierces what she uses to love others. Puck feeds on who she is; a caring but strong woman. Puck’s virility creates aggressive destruction. As a snake preys on weaker creatures, Puck utilizes his status as an inhuman fairy to seize on loving humans. Throughout Genesis, the snake brings down the fall of Eden and innocence. With Puck continuously influencing Lysander, Hermia can no longer share the youthful love with him. Their dreams dissipate. This furthers the deceit snakes, or Puck, bring. As Puck rapes Lysander, both him and Hermia both fall from grace and lose their pure love.      

Hermia and Lysander’s love represents the garden of Eden, which Puck destroys as the serpent and demonstrates how rape preys on innocence. Hermia notes after, “What a dream was here!” (II.ii.155-158). The Oxford English Dictionary defines dream as “Joy, pleasure, gladness, mirth, rejoicing…” (OED). Eden is God’s gift to humans, acting as a place of pleasure and security, similar to love and relationships. Hermia and Lysander’s dream to elope was their form of Eden. The fairies, such as Puck, engage frequently with dreams. Dreams play upon the joy experienced in reality. This joy grows distorted as one is vulnerable in their sleep. Puck preys not only on her spirit, but her mind. She grows disillusioned under the influence of Puck. With him in her mind, acting like the devil, he causes Hermia to question her beliefs and identity. Like Eve, Hermia gains the knowledge of sin. She loses this sense of Eden, the dream that was once present in her love with Lysander. Her dream and Eden grow disarray through sin as Puck utilizes his sexuality to corrupt others’. Both Lysander and Hermia grow fearful of pleasure, as it remains tainted. Therefore, sex shifts from an act of love to something sinister.  Dreams are holy as it is a way to connect with spirituality and pleasure and acts as a guide. Without a God or holy figure in her life, a man to follow, Hermia is forced to engage with Puck as the devil. Her mind and spirit are raped alongside Lysander’s, evoking deep, psychological damage. There is no longer any rejoicing as neither consent to this. Again, Hermia seeks out “pity” from Lysander. As Eve was built from Adam, Hermia’s heart finds strength and love through her relationship. She relies on him to engage with her dream and joy, as he is a vessel through Adam. With Puck invading the mind, it implies that through excessive sin, spirituality decays. Hermia strays from a holy path as she involuntarily leaves joy and dreams behind. There is no longer any opportunity for growth in love or possibility for her marriage. She is now forced to take upon Eve’s original punishment and loses Lysander along with Eden. As Hermia and Lysander attempt to cope in the aftermath, it grows impossible for both to easily love and dream again.  

The comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare demonstrates how a lack of consent and sin involuntarily corrupts individuals and their spirituality.  The Oxford English Dictionary’s historical content and definitions advances the religious connotations.  Hermia’s figurative rape breaks her as she transforms in Eve. She engages with the original sin through Puck, acting as the serpent. He tempts her and utilizes his sexuality to prey upon both of the lovers. Lysander’s rape displays how a lack of consent does not create genuine love, rather an illusion. As both lose their dream, they also lose their joy. The dream, acting as Eden, resembled the pleasure and happiness in their love.Without consent, no love truly exists and sex becomes sinister. Lysander and Hermia lose their sense of self as Puck destroys it through acting as Satan. Through engaging with the original sin, and gaining knowledge of evil with rape, Hermia loses her innocence and her love under Puck’s overwhelming sexual corruption.

Horror’s incorporation of young girls stems from the fear of women itself: the unknown, power of emotions, and connotations with witchcraft. The coven, a group of witches, is frequently utilized to portray the dependency and power women hold with one another. Through a collective mindset, the group is able to combine power and move as one, portraying the fear of being overwhelmed, but also the need for acceptance in women. The group’s foundation is rooted in a desire to feel validated and to embrace themselves. These emotions translate to the experience of a teenage girl. The confusing array of adolescence, as friends and mindsets shift, present the opportunity for sinister to fester. Lust, stereotypically recognized with women, is employed in horror to illustrate this such as with succubus. The fear of a woman’s sexuality and her adoption of it suddenly transforms into a powerful tool for a woman; the ability to utilize emotional and sexual power alongside a group grants a sense of agency. 

Mariana Enriquez’s Our Lady of the Quarry delves into the friendship of a group of teenage girls and Silvia. The younger girls’ envy of Silvia causes them to frequently villainize her, however a significant rift occurs when Diego appears. Diego, an attractive and older man, becomes an object of lust for the teenage girls. As his relationship with Silvia develops, the girls’ anger heightens and leads to the adults’ presumed deaths. Enriquez’s electrifying prose, while utilizing the teenage girl character and lust, presents a vindictive collective organism that translates into the realistic fear of power and wildness.   

Enriquez employs a charged narrative style, providing insight on the hivemind of teenage girls, conveying a powerful coven-like structure. The girls envy Silvia due to her limitless knowledge and access to adult experiences. They describe: “…we wanted her ruined, helpless, destroyed. Because Silvia always knew more…” (Enriquez, 13). The girls move collectively as one; the entirety of the group wants to see Silvia’s downfall and ruin. This combination of desire fuels their hatred for the adult, Silvia. As she “always knew more,” the girls’ response to a lack of knowledge is similarly anger. They do not hold the same experiences with Enriquez frequently portraying it as out of their reach. She describes the contrast between Silvia and the teenagers; hair color, drug access, money, life experiences, and familial ties. Silvia suddenly becomes a scapegoat for their anger and subsequently, insecurity. In comparison, the teenage girls have little to none of this. In the beginning and throughout the story, Enriquez frequently utilizes ‘we,’ in reference to opinions or wants of the teenagers. Their only valuable aspect is in their powerful friendship with one another. They seemingly refute Silvia’s claims, using ‘we’ with charged insults or mocking tones in the beginning. This attempt to appear more powerful reveals how the girls feed off of one another’s anger, but as well as their hatred of Silvia and her lifestyle.   

The usage of the quarry, a traditionally man-made setting, presents a tumultuous landscape, reflecting the relationship between Silvia and the girls. Enriquez describes the quarry, planting significant details such as, “…the owner would drive out from behind a hill and start shooting. Sometimes he also set his dogs on them. He had decorated his private quarry pool with a giant altar, a grotto for the Virgin on one side of the main pool” (16). A quarry is used to extract stone, often abandoned after usage. The juxtaposition between usually clear water and white stone with hidden, sinister figures constructs a deadly setting. Within this quarry, there is “a grotto from the Virgin on one side of the main pool.” The extractions in quarries represent looking within, to find deeper knowledge of oneself and attributes. The Virgin statue, alongside this beautifully naturalistic setting, aligns with all of the girls. This is particularly significant for Silvia, as she is the first to suggest the quarry and engages with it heavily. Silvia and the quarry are synchronous: she appears the most virginal and desirable out of the group, only revealing a more devious nature later on alongside the quarry. If individuals were found at the quarry, the hidden owner “would drive out from behind a hill and start shooting.” Enriquez deliberately makes this decision to convey the deception of appearances and to leave readers more suspicious of characters’ motivations. Diego’s and most notably Silvia’s motivations are left unclear. Enriquez never reveals their true intentions with one another or in relation to the teenage girls. As Silvia is characterized as the more mature woman, her lack of responsibility and care presents a horrifying revelation: she is not who she is meant to be. The group uses this to their advantage, continuing to patronize her and beginning to use sex as a resource.     

The teenage girls view sex as power, revealing their intense jealousy and need for success which illustrates the corruption found in sinister girlhood practices. When Silvia and Diego’s relationship is revealed, the girls instantly become furious and give into their anger. In rage, they question how “…he preferred her? Why? Because he screwed her? But we wanted to screw too, that was all we wanted! How could he not realize…” (Enriquez, 21). The incorporation of Diego’s character by Enriquez presents a timeless insecurity for young girls, being unable to attain sexual interests and growing envious of those who do. While Diego’s character is not fully developed, his symbolic representation to the girls is significant in their hatred for Silvia. The girls stated that sex was “all we wanted.” The emphasis on all denotes that the girls do not care for love or romance; instead, their focus on sex demonstrates more of a succubus archetype. 

The succubus is a form of a demon, usually sexual in nature, aspiring to seduce men for power. These beings present themselves as attractive, glamorous, and ultimately, desirable. As the girls’ power is infringed upon, “because he screwed her,” it leaves them feeling rattled. They are unable to use or engage with their abilities pertaining to sex. In past folklore, succubi need sex to survive. The girls’ idolization of Diego caricatures this. They believe that without Diego or sex, they are not as well-achieved compared to their peers. He is viewed as a prize, almost like a toy. The usage of “we” in this paragraph is significant as the girls, the coven of demons, are combining their power against Silvia and Diego. Through their perspective, Silvia is reduced to merely her appearance and sexual capabilities. Within the story, Enriquez describes the girls’ words to Silvia as insults regarding her body, hair, or more. In contrast, they portray themselves as attractive and flawless much like a succubus. Their collective, demonic anger drives their envy.

With the girls frequently targeting Silvia, Enqriuez illustrates how jealousy and fear intertwine to conjure irrational mindsets. The girls describe how Silvia had “tubby legs…a flat ass and broad hips…black hairs she never really got rid of” (Enriquez, 16). This occurs throughout a majority of the story, demonstrating how the girls’ fixation on Silvia leaves them jealous. As they describe her they compare it to themselves, in an effort to appear more superior and mature. Their unstable beliefs enable one another. Towards the story’s ending, Enqriuez includes Natalia’s obsession with Diego. She writes, “…but Diego, no—he preferred that flat assed-skank! We all agreed it was incomprehensible.” (Enriquez, 20) Their villainization of Silvia begins to escalate, now including Diego. However, the direct reference to Natalia indicates her powerful energy. She suddenly becomes a more notable demon-like figure, as Enqriuez heightens her descriptions. Natalia transforms into a significant force for the conclusion of the story.          

The virgin statue symbolizes the lack of purity within Natalia and the group, demonstrating their inner corruption inevitably bleeding into the outer world. The statue is described as having “a white sheet to hide it, to cover it, but it’s not a Virgin. It’s a red woman made of plaster, and she’s naked. She has black nipples” (Enriquez, 23). The virgin statute ultimately represents a Lilith-like figure. Natalia becomes synonymous with it, as she deceives Silvia and Diego initially. However, as Natalia reveals information to her friends, Enqriuez demonstrates how she has become the leader of their coven. She is noted to be the most unstable, especially when provoked. With “a white sheet to hide it,” Natalia and the group hide their true intentions of allowing Silvia and Diego to die. None of the girls are virginial or pure. They attempt to cover up their sins, as their bloodlust hides underneath. This further plays into the succubus archetypes, highlighting the fear of what is hidden. The title of the story represents how the girls worship the powerful statute, women, and Lilith-like figures. The statue and Natalia become their salvation, as they conquer Silvia and subsequently, Diego. Their lack of morals and being driven by revenge represents the horror of deception and sin.

Enriquez’s characterization, symbolism, and prose presents a fearful story relating to the occult in girlhood. She incorporates succubus and demon archetypes, as well as lust, to demonstrate how it is a driving force for panic. Her inclusion of a teenage girl friend group represents coven-like structures, with Natalia growing the most powerful. As the girls move as one, seen in the pronoun ‘we,’ Enriquez writes about common insecurities and fear relating to jealousy and sex. As the girls quickly become more corrupt and wild as the story develops, their loss of purity and morals exhibits how women are essential parts of the horror genre.

The narrow definition of a refugee as determined in the 1951 Convention detrimentally impacted the legal system concerning migration; it has deeply complexed the relationship between the refugee and lived experience that showcases why individuals migrate.

The reasoning behind migration is a mixture of various elements, presenting an intricate narrative of why people relocate. Push and pull factors, while problematic, can be utilized to differentiate. Push factors are based on a native country’s conditions, such as violence or environmental change. Refugees are forced out due to, “…escaping situations that are threatening their lives, such as persecution, war, or a natural disaster” (Abdelaaty and Hamlin, 2021, 86). Political instability and corruption, demonstrated in countries like El Salvador, can cause a mass exodus to other nations. These conditions also cause individual persecution. Women from El Salvador endure gendered violence, as a result of increased gang activity. This has caused a collective group to migrate toward the U.S., hoping for safety (Abrego, 2017). Similar actions have occurred in Myanmar, against the Rohingya people. The country’s government has harshly discriminated against this group, murdering and stripping them of their citizenship (Abdelaaty and Hamlin, 91). Persecution remains a strong case for migration as people are targeted because of various facets of their identities. In relation to safety, people may migrate as climate change occurs. Floods, a lack of fertile soil or crops, and drought cause others to venture elsewhere to try and escape dangerous conditions (Black, 448). Environmental changes will affect socioeconomic factors; the potential of new work opportunities is another factor in migration.  

In contrast, pull factors pertain to economic pursuits and overall better quality of life. Poverty is another reason to migrate, again demonstrated in El Salvador. In Qatar, a country comprised primarily of labor migrants the “…economic pull-and-push factors are so strong that people are quite likely to ultimately stay, leading to second, third, and more generations of migrants…” (Sater, 2014, 297) This country presents an opportunity for migrants to gain wealth. They are more likely to obtain work or better jobs compared to their home countries, which may have a lack of other options. The film Which Way Home also centers around this topic; several children state that their purpose in traveling to the U.S. is for job opportunities and improved lifestyles. It is heavily depicted with both Fito and Yuriko, two children who seek a better life away from their native country and families (HBO, 2009). While these wishes are deeply felt and comprised of several different factors, the law fails to recognize these nuances and in reality, hinders potential migration. 

  The definition of a refugee has significantly impacted one’s ability to seek a new life elsewhere. At the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee was defined as an individual who left their native country and can not return because of a “well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular group, or political opinion” (Abdelaaty and Hamlin, 2021, 89). This definition is extremely narrow and can not encompass the true migration experience. It creates a significant amount of tension between the sovereign right to control a state’s borders and the refugee. States acknowledge whether or not someone has refugee status, leaving them dependent and hopeful; it is critical to acknowledge that the refugee concept is drawn from the European experience applicable to other European refugees. While there are individual hearings, barriers between translation, trauma, difficulty in obtaining and showing evidence, and interpretation exist. The choice to label an individual a refugee or not is a political statement and reflective of policy agendas. A refugee is a man-made concept that is not widely applicable (Crawley and Skleparis, 2018, 5). Persecution, a criterion, can be hard to meet. It is difficult to provide evidence for individualized persecution if it is an ordinary citizen experiencing generalized violence. As women from El Salvador migrate towards the U.S., due to gender-based violence, there can be little to no refugee recognition. It can regarded as individual collateral damage, leaving them vulnerable and without the necessary help. 

The refugee definition prioritizes those who can fit into the category well. It does not acknowledge that people exist as a fusion of both refugees and migrants. It also prioritizes statehood, as an attempt to benefit them, depicted in Germany. This country categorizes refugees based on their age, assigning different benefits to each category, and determining the applicability of certain laws. Minors, traditionally seen as vulnerable, receive better care compared to adults. Individuals who migrate to Germany attempt to look younger to receive this status as a way to better assimilate into the country and receive proper care (Bialas, 2023). Germany, among other countries, does not recognize the complex lived experiences in migration. The categorical fetishism and refugee definition benefits no one but the state. 

The definition is also reflective of colonialism, continuing previous patterns and promoting state sovereignty. International law and state law act as antagonists concerning movement, contributing and reflecting on past and present colonialist actions. In our present migration patterns and challenges, previous “Imperial powers carved up territories, displaced populations, and imposed borders, thus creating enduring geopolitical configurations.” (Sadiq and Tsourapas, 2023, 1) With a past rooted in labor coercion, the British Empire was able to exert control as they were seen as the exclusive creator of law. While this era has ended, powerful states and entities are still unable to address past tensions as current practices reproduce colonialism. This is reflected again in Which Way Home, where children undergo a dangerous journey to the U.S. and are still unable to seek necessary help as they do not fit the refugee criteria. The definition’s Eurocentric focus does not reflect on the poverty, violence, familial separation, lack of resources and other experiences one may face. Instead, it pushes those out that can not be used for a political or labor agenda.  

The outdated definition of a refugee does not reflect the current political and environmental challenges that thousands of migrants face. Its foundation in colonialism hinders one’s ability to seek a lifestyle change and potentially, safety.

Healthcare is recognized as a human right globally, with health insurance aiding in maintaining and exercising this right. It exists as a financial safety net with widened affordability and accessibility. Medicaid, one of the most used insurances in America, is administered by the state with federal requirements. Several states are currently limiting insurances from covering gender affirming care. They are usually worded as services related to sex, transgender procedures not covered, gender identity disorder, or sex reassignment. Transgender communities face numerous barriers to health services accessibility, often being uninsured and overall lower incomes. Medicaid currently has no requirements on coverage or exclusion in gender-affirming care. Targeting insurance used mostly by low-income groups, a community transgender people may identify with, may widen the accessibility of gender-affirming care.

Medicaid care plans enacted through the state must comply with federal and state law. Federal law states that state Medicaid plans must cover a variety of gender-affirming services if they are deemed medically necessary. Sex-specific procedures may not be denied as it is discriminatory. Several states are notably not following these laws. The Biden administration recently proposed an amendment to Section 1157 of the Affordable Care Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity; it also clarifies that it applies to all health insurances that receive federal funding. Maintaining a clear federal stance on whether or not states must be required to offer gender-affirming care may advance transgendered enrollees to receive standard care. Coverage must be guaranteed in order to do this. 

In my opinion, it would be best to target states that have explicit policies on banning gender-affirming care related to Medicaid. It also may be beneficial to target states that have no policies, as this still narrows the health disparities. I think these cases have a foundation under the Affordable Care Act as Section 1157 still prevents discrimination based on sex. Sex and gender discrimination is when a person is treated less favorably because of their sex. If an individual is not receiving gender-affirming care, it is discriminatory as they are not receiving certain treatments due to their sex. Several states have already interpreted the statute as such, before the proposal. I also think it would be best to first focus on gender-affirming hormone therapy, as it is covered in more states compared to gender-affirming surgery. Utilizing this first may help transition the focus on surgery, a severely controversial topic. This precedent, as seen in other states, provides a stronger argument for more states to cover and provide gender affirming care under Medicaid. To combat this issue, a lawyering campaign must start in these states in federal courts. This widens its impact and demonstrates its national importance throughout the country. Other federal courts, such as Georgia and West Virginia, have ruled it necessary for their Medicaid programs to cover gender-affirming care. Under this lawyering campaign, states can be forced to either overturn or explicitly state their policies.                

Traversing through clear insurance policies and receiving care is necessary for all, but notably the transgender community. Gender affirming care provides one with a well-rounded and genuine experience in their lives, uplifting their mental and physical health. Without it, many experience severe mental illness and disorder. Medicaid provides coverage for low-income individuals who are eligible. This benefits the community, as they frequently face severe disparities. With explicitly stated policies and decreasing discrimination, insurance companies can benefit transgender people through coverage, accessibility, and proper medical care.