Love in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Love is a very inaccurate word, as it can be used in many different ways. It can be used to describe an object which one particularly likes, or to describe ones feelings towards a person. However it does not rest at just these two points. Love for someone can be in a material sense (sexual), or in a more moral sense for example.
Some of the various aspects of love are mentioned In William Shakespeare's, Midsummer Night's Dream. Here we are presented with the various characters, and their conflicts, which all have something to do with love.
The most important relationship in the play is that between Titania, the queen of the fairies,
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This brings me onto the first aspect of love in William Shakespeare's play.
"This man hath my consent to marry her."
Egeus demands that Hermia marries Demetrius. This tells us that for Egeus love is not the result of people living together in happiness, and caring for each other. For him love is a kind of business, which is to be sorted out by the "lovers" parents. It is something that is determined by the father of the family, and not by personal feelings.
However the love between Lysander and Hermia for example is one which came from the heart. By this I mean that it was not forced to be, but a natural attraction between the two people occurred, and consequentially they loved each other. Hermia seems to think that you are destined to lovers, and in the following she tries to explain this to her father, Egeus.
"If then true lovers have been ever cross'd,
It stands as an edict in destiny:"
This was also the case on assumes between the fairy king and queen however was not so harmonic, which is why they ended up having the quarrel.
This beings me back to the magic potion Oberon got out of the special flower, and carefully dropped onto Titania's eyes, in order to make her "fall in love" with the next person to pass her. The next person happened to be Bottom whose head was now that of a donkey. This is the other aspect of love discussed in
Both the play's humans and fairies try to shape love into forms that are advantageous not to the lovers, but to the leaders. Egeus insists that
Different Types of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, written in 1595 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This was when the society was dominated by men. During the period, England was ruled by a powerful and well respected queen.
Oberon, riddled with jealousy over his queen’s beloved “changeling”, plots to make a fool out of Titania with his magic potion so he may steal away the child. Oberon's love-potion has the same effect of that of the famed Cupid's arrows, it charms the sight of those it is anointed upon, and gets them to fall in “love” with the first creature they see. Oberon anoints the eyes of Titania and she ends up falling in “love” with the first creature she sees, Bottom, an actor who is rehearsing in the woods, who’s head has been turned into that of an ass by Puck. Oberon plan is successful, he is in fact able to steal away the child while his queen dotes upon Bottom, but then things start to get more complicated in the moonlit woods.
The story of A Midsummer Night's Dream was mainly about love and its abnormal dealings. In the play, Shakespeare tried to show that love is unpredictable, unreasonable, and at times is blind. The theme of love was constantly used during the play and basically everything that was said and done was related to the concept of love and its unpredictable ness. Shakespeare made all of the characters interact their lives to be based on each other’s. At first, everything was very confusing, and the characters were faced with many different problems. In the end, however, they were still able to persevere and win their true love, the love they were searching for in the first place.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as in many of Shakespeare's plays the main theme is love. Shakespeare presents many different aspects of love in the play. He shows how love can affect your vision of reality and make you behave in irrational ways. He presents many ways in which your behavior is affected by the different types and aspects of love. The main types of love he presents are; true love, unrequited love, sisterly love, jealous love, forced love, and parental love. Shakespeare tries to show what kinds of trouble, problems and confusion, love can get you into.
Love is a very common theme that is seen in literature, and love is one of the most powerful things that can be felt for someone or something. Love can drive a person to do incredible or horrible things, and we see many forms of love that take place in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is demonstrated in the book by many characters including Hermia and Lysander who demonstrate true love. Titania and Bottom show magical love. In the play, love is also the cause of a few broken hearts. While there is no one common definition of love that suits all of the characters, the romantic relationship in the play all leans to one simple rule laid out by Lysander, “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Furthermore, the law was another problem obstacle that influenced affected love negatively. The Athenian law states that every woman must obey obey her father. “To you your father should be as a god.” (Shakespeare, 11). This quote states that to women, their father should be their God, only obeying him. and the only one they should obey. Hermia’s father, Egeus, refuses to allow to her to marry Lysander, as we wants her to marry Demetrius. Egeus uses using the power of the law over Hermia and this is is demonstrated when he says “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.” (Shakespeare, 11). Lysander and Hermia’s relationship is affected because Hermia must obey her father or face the consequences of the law. Additionally, the law impacts affects the love between Hermia and Lysander because Egeus takes the issue to the Duke, Theseus. Theseus states;
Love is a theme which reoccurs through many of Shakespeare’s Plays. In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the theme ‘Love’ is presented from the very beginning in Act 1 Scene 1, through Shakespeare’s use of poetic language, structure and vivid imagery.
Shakespeare uses many different themes to present love; relationships, conflict, magic, dreams and fate. Overall, he presents it as something with the ability to make us act irrationally and foolishly. Within A Midsummer Night's Dream we see many examples of how being 'in love' can cause someone to change their perspective entirely. 'The path of true love never did run smooth' is a comment made from one of the main characters, Lysander, which sums up the play's idea that lovers always face difficult hurdles on the path to happiness and will usually turn them into madmen.
True love is the most powerful love in this story as it is the sort that hurts no one and is really from the heart. It is demonstrated when Lysander says " There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee, and to that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us. If thou lovest me, then, Steal forth thy father's house tomorrow night" act 1 scene 1 161-164. It shows that during those harsh
Staying true to one's love is so very important when one believes in their true love with every fibre of their being. Hermia and Lysander are so in love that nothing else seems to matter. They want to be together at all costs and they will not let anything get in their way, this is true especially for
Love is such an abstract and intangible thing, yet it is something that everyone longs for. In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the difficulty of love is explored through the obstacles that characters have to face while pursuing their loved ones. Those characters that are in love in the play were conflicted with troubles; however, the obstacles of love do not seem to stop them from being infatuated with each other. The concept of true love is examined throughout this play. By creating obstacles using authority and a higher power, Shakespeare examines the power of love. Through Hermia and Lysander’s loving words, it is reasonable to conclude that love conquers all if you believe in it.
Outside circumstances often play a role in love, but in the case of Titania and Bottom, an outside circumstance brought them together completely. A flower hit by cupid’s bow has the power to cause a person to fall
The magic potion causes conflict by influencing Demetrius and Lysander to fall in love with Helena when they previously loved Hermia. The comedic aspect of the play is shown when Titania falls in love with Bottom because of magic. Finally, the thematic idea that love is blind is reinforced by how the magic potion is applied to the victim’s eyes. In all great works of literature, magic has some contribution that not only enhances the story but makes it an inspiring and memorable
There are several types of love that can be found within the play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. I will cover the following three types of love found in the play, forced love, romantic love, and parental love. In the play Shakespeare actually tries to show the audience just how fickle love can be and even goes out of his way to poke fun at those who cannot let go of the love that they feel for another person. Another concept that Shakespeare seems to be trying to point out to the audience is the difference between real love, when the person has feelings for another automatically, and false love, that is forced upon a person.