A Midsummer Night's Dream Research Paper

In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, three completely different situations that have to do with different topics become intertwined in the magical forest locates in the suburbs of Ancient Athens. Throughout the play, there are many representations of the character’s emotions and feelings, such as jealousy, betrayal, and most importantly, love. The main reason everyone get into their troubles is due to one reason; love. Hermia and Lysander made a decision to elope because of their love for each other; Demetrius chases after her because he loves her; Helena chases Demetrius due to love, etc. In this comedy of Shakespeare’s, love is displayed as something fantastical and bizarre.

Love, while considered to be a wonderful experience, can also be a turbulent force that causes chaos. In Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, love contributes much to the conflict involving Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia. This conflict is shown in three ways: Hermia's life is threatened for wanting to marry the man she loves. Hermia and Lysander are forced to make a risky decision to preserve their love, and a hateful relationship forms between Demetrius and Lysander due to their love for Hermia. The confused relationships between these lovers causes turmoil within A Midsummer Night's Dream.

O the gods forbid! -In earnest shall I say?" (Lines 271-277). Hermia is deeply in love with Lysander, and he is too, deep down, but cannot express it because he thinks he is in love with Helena due to the love potion. Hermia is even more heartbroken because Lysander is the only man that she truly loves and wants to be with, and she believed they

Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena were good friends with each other. However, because of their blind love, they had a quarrel caused by jealousy. For example Lysander and Demetrius, because they loved Hermia at the same time, just kept arguing with and insulting each other even though they were good friends before. Demetrius said, “Relent, sweet Hermia, and Lysander, yield Thy crazed title to my certain right.” But Lysander answered, “You have her father’s love, Demetrius. Let me have Hermia’s; do you marry him.” (1.1.91-94) Love was predominant over friendship, showing they were socially blinded by

Helena has always loved Demetrius and at one point in time he loved her as well, but as soon as he met Hermia, he left Helena behind in pursue of Hermia. However, Helena could not get over the lost of her love so she became desperate in her attempt to make him love her again. There trial was one not loving the other, but loving another; making their love rough and hard to look at. When it came to be known that Demetrius wanted to marry Hermia, but Hermia was going to run away, Helena decided to tell Demetrius in hopes that he would want to see her again. Furthermore, Helena hoped to be alone with Demetrius in hopes of convincing him to love her again, “The more you beat me I will fawn on you. Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me; only give me leave (unworthy as I am) to follow you”(II.i.211-214). Helena is saying that she wants Demetrius to love her and not Hermia, so she is willing to be his dog. This was this couples biggest trial and there were many more, but there is one last couple to

Another example of Love present in the play is unrequited love. This love is presented through the characters Helena and Demetrius. Helena is deeply in love with Demetrius, but

She does not like her father’s decision and wants to fight against it. Although she is advised to do as her father wants, the love she feels for Lysander is to strong for her to ignore. In modern day society, parents tend to know what is best for the children and try to lead them into doing what they want. It all goes to show their love but sometimes it is taken too far.

Although throughout the first act Helena claims that she is “thought fair as she” (1.1.233), but later begs Hermia to tell her how she woos over Demetrius. She even claims that she is “as ugly as a bear” (2.2.100). Helena says to Demetrius that she is “a spaniel” (2.2.210) and that he could “spurn me, strike me, neglect me, and lose me” (2.2.212-213). This displays the lack of respect that Helena has for herself She also becomes very faithful to Hermia, like when Lysander is placed under the spell that makes him fall in love with Helena. She refuses his love and declares that “These vows are Hermia’s” (3.2.132).

Demetrius delivers this line in the forest after Helena has provided him with the information concerning Hermia and Lysander's plans to elope. Since Demetrius has taken what he wants from her and tells her to leave him alone. This shows that love can possess a cruel and abusive nature.

(include hook and bridge)William Shakespeare’s well-known play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream talks about love and its obstacles. The play revolves around four young Athenian lovers’ quarrel in an enchanted forest. It also involves Theseus; the Duke of Athens who is planning to have a big wedding. Among the already mentioned characters are a fairy king and a fairy queen who fight over an Indian changeling. The fairy king orders his sprite Puck to put a magical love juice on some of the lovers, and even his wife. This causes a love fiasco between the characters. In addition, a group of novice actors setting themselves up to perform at Theseus’s wedding. The quote "The course of

It is possible to love one person deeply, but then fall in love with an entirely different person. This occurs in several instances in the play. Lysander, although under the influence of the love potion, strangely develops a hatred for Hermia, leaving her dumbfounded. He spontaneously develops feelings for Helena, and tells Hermia, “Content with Hermia? No!

Love is the common cause of lovers getting broken hearts. One of the few characters that experience this pain is Hermia. After finding out that Lysander now loves Helena, and hearing his cruel words, “Be certain, nothing truer: ‘tis no jest. That I do hate thee and love Helena,” Hermia then turns her anger upon Helena. It is a fact that Demetrius loves Helena, but that was before Egeus asks him to be Hermia’s suitor, and so he turns his back on Helena, causing her grief. In the play within the play, Pyramus and Thisbe also went

Her reality of love is questioned because there is no significant reasoning to why she loves Demetrius. So, her love is viewed as pure lust. The more she tries to chase Demetrius, the more he will distance himself from her--their love is based on just honest disinterest. Also, she is a fixed character of gender reversal by pursuing love more aggressively than a woman in her era is suppose to because they are meant to be chased, not be the chasers: “We cannot fight for love as men may do:/ We should be wooed, and were not meant to woo”(2.1.241-242). When Helena talks about the difficultness of fighting for love between men and women, she explains that women are not “meant to” have the power or strength to continously to fight for love like men because that chase should be the men’s role. Helena’s perspective can be illustrated as her love not having the same worth as if Demetrious were to chase her. Also, it shows Helena as a paradox of the non-tradition of chasing men but needing the tradition to design the worth of love. Likewise, Helena is persistent in chasing Demetrious until he loves her back. Her perspective of love is viewed as being childish, blinded by love. She attempts to seduce him in multiple occasions but he continously dismisses her and Helena uses comical language to tell him that she will never give up on him: “I am your spaniel, and, Demetrius/ The more you beat me I will fawn on you”(2.1.203-204). Shakespeare explores the subjectivity of the character’s different views of reality when it comes to understanding

During much of the play, Helena relentlessly chases Demetrius, giving him love no matter how many times he spurns her. While in pursuit of him in

Lysander on the other hand was not able to hold on to his love for Hermia during the time in the woods. In the beginning he started out madly in love with Hermia and unable to hide his true feelings for her. He was forced by the spell to forget about Hermia and instead he wanted her friend Helena, because of the nectar in his eyes, which made him fall in love with the first person he sees (intervention of supernatural, to change destiny). Lysander chased Helena and begged for her love. The spell from the nectar caused Lysander to take a totally different view on his life. Now, he wanted Helena and he could not even stand to look at