A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare was written in either 1595 or 1596, Romeo and Juliet was written a bit earlier but also published around 1595. In Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers are torn apart by the prejudice of a family feud. At the end of the tragedy, the suicides of these two lovers mends the age old hatred between their parents. In A Midsummer NIght’s Dream, a comedy, a forbidden love obstructs a father’s marriage plans for his daughter. His daughter and her true lover make plans to run away, which are hindered by their friends, who have equally passionate but conflicting loves, as well fairies who play tricks on their hearts. Meanwhile, the Queen of Fairies, Titania, is made a fool by her husband and his servant, …show more content…
In the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, it appears Romeo’s love for Rosaline must be definite and well-grounded, he strikes one as being amorous and determined, perhaps even stubborn. Then it is revealed that as well as being ornery, Romeo is also fickle, because his feelings change in the second he meets Juliet. This characteristic, indecisiveness, is also a trait of Demetrius’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The background for the play is that Demetrius was in love with Helena, in fact they were engaged, but after meeting Hermia, he became enchanted with her and began to detest Helena. Helena explains this in a monologue when she says, “For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne, He hailed down oaths that he was only mine; And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt, So he dissolved, and show’rs of oaths did melt.” (1.1.248-251) This quote explains that Demetrius too had of change of heart once he saw someone new. However, while Romeo and Demetrius may have had similar struggles, there are other characters in A Midsummer NIght’s Dream who fall in love against their natural will. For example, Titania, an esteemed nymph, Queen of the Fairies, is bewitched to fall in love with a lowly mortal, Bottom, whose head has been changed into that of a donkey’s. Although she falls in love with him at first sight, (the moment she opens her eyes she proclaims “What …show more content…
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love often appears to be a joke to many of the characters, and the characters who are seriously invested in their infatuation are comical to the audience. Bottom, a character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream whose head is transformed into that of a donkey’s, is an actor of rather indelicate comedy, yet he is able to realize the fickleness of love. He says “....to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” (3.1.143-144) Another character, Helena, does not appear to have a sense of humor about being in love, or at least it is not revealed to the audience for she is depressed and angry for the majority of the play. She does however seem to have some sort of twisted wisdom about love, for she says “Loves looks not with the eyes but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgement taste. Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste.” Both characters state the same viewpoint, that love does not have any rhyme or reason, although while Bottom puts this plainly, Helena uses the metaphor of blindfolded Cupid armed with his bow and arrows to explain why feelings are not logical. On the other hand, in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence warns Romeo not of the triviality of love, but of it’s madness. He warns against
(3.1.145-146). There are many situations in the play where this quote applies, such as Helena’s love for Demetrius, Titania’s (temporary) love for Bottom, Hermia and Lysander’s love, etc. The characters only love each other because of a habitual (or forceful) attraction to the other person. There is no particular reason given as to why the characters are in love, but through the clues in the play, we can tell that the love shown here is unconditional. Through this we can tell that love shown in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is portrayed as preposterous and
Demetrius’s love is a whole other negative portrayal of love. His love can mostly be seen as superficial. Up until meeting Hermia, Demetrius was betrothed to Helena and in love with her as well. “ Demetrius, I 'll avouch it to his head, Made love to Nedar 's daughter, Helena, And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes, Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry, Upon this spotted and inconstant man. “(1.1.2) The way Shakespeare portrays Demetrius’s love vs Helenas love shows the difference in love between men and women. This may not always be the cause, and definitely goes both ways, but in this particular play it is how it’s portrayed. Helena’s love for Demetrius is never ending with her willing to do anything for him. Demetrius on the other hand only loved her until
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, the theme of love is developed through out the play’s characters falling in love and setting. The play takes place in the Green World, it’s a chaotic environment, and the characters in the play happen to be there. Shakespeare develops the theme of love in his play in order to reveal deeper meaning about real life, that one has no control over who they fall in love with. In the play the characters Demetrius, Lysander, and Queen Titania are put under a love potion and don’t have control over who they fall in love with. One can argue that one does have control who they love because they are not under a love potion, however the characters are in the Green World and have no control
With its majority of scenes set in a fairy land, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream still feels much more authentic and tangible than many other love stories, such as Romeo and Juliet, because the play greatly exposes the real difficulties of love. Such difficulties come not from external causes, but instead from the dark vision of our own human natures. In real life, the various impediments of love that Lysander and Hermia have mentioned, including “war, death, or sickness,” actually barely exist, but what we do face is the all-thwarting tests given by our own hearts (Shakespeare 1.1.142). To be more specific, in “The Darker Purpose of A Midsummer Night’s
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.
To provide some context, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream interferes with love through the deception of fairies. When Hermia’s father insists she marry Demetrius, she runs away with Hermia and Lysander. Contrastingly, Helena chases after an uninterested Demetrius, helplessly in love. The fairies meddle with these two couples by accidentally casting a love
The play A Midsummer Night's Dream is centered around themes that are seemingly apparent and clear: those of true love, false love, love's blindness and the inconstancy of love. However, this pattern of the themes of love dissipate to reveal that these themes are only apparent to the reader who wants them to exist. We want Lysander and Hermia to be in love; we want Demetrius to love Helena as she loves him, but the question arises as to whether these lovers are actually in love. Is Shakespeare providing us with a wholesome tale of true love or is he conveying something more raw, more provocative than that? When taking a closer look at this play, one sees a recurring pattern
Certain parallels can be drawn between William Shakespeare's plays, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Romeo and Juliet". These parallels concern themes and prototypical Shakespearian character types. Both plays have a distinct pair of 'lovers', Hermia and Lysander, and Romeo and Juliet, respectively. Both plays could have also easily been tragedy or comedy with a few simple changes. A tragic play is a play in which one or more characters has a moral flaw that leads to his/her downfall. A comedic play has at least one humorous character, and a successful or happy ending. Comparing these two plays is useful to find how
In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare uses the character Demetrius to portray that often when one becomes consumed with hatred rooted in their own insecurities it causes one's life to be greatly tampered with, creating social illusions, that affect one's perspective on their life, leading one to be controlled through their insecurities by the actions of others. As it is, this is the case for the character of Demetrius as his hatred for others allows the supernatural to take effect on his life ultimately resulting in his loss of freedom of choice. The hatred Demetrius feels towards others is due to his lowered self worth and the rejection he faces against it. When accepting the betrothal to Hermia, Demetrius
Love is one of the most difficult mysteries of life. The difficulty of love is shown throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the play, the characters have to deal with jealousy that comes along with being in love. Love’s difficulty in the play comes from love being out of balance. Love being out of balance is a romantic situation where a difference gets in the way of happiness in the relationship. William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream demonstrates these conflicts with a little bit of humor and buoyancy. The four young Athenians have many difficulties with love. Hermia loves Lysander and Lysander returns the feelings; Helena loves Demetrius but Demetrius loves Hermia. The two men love the same women, which leaves Hermia
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.”
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare explores the subjectivity of love. The play shows the absurdity of love through its characters like an episode of “MTV The Real World”: they fall in love, break up, lose friendships, and someone will ultimately look like an ass. Shakespeare’s play examines the combination of both traditional and non-traditional gender roles affecting the character’s perception of their respective romantic relationships. Shakespeare then questions whether love is real through Lysander and Helena. Shakespeare’s play as a whole demonstrates how initial perceptions of love are subject to transformation. Both the characters and the play debunk that love is static, but rather an ever metamorphosing reality.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander. Helena, hearing about their plans, tells Demetrius, and all four of them end up in the woods where Lysander’s quotation, “The course of true love never did run smooth”(28), becomes extremely evident due to several
Although many Shakespearean plays are very similar to one another, two stand out from the rest as sharing a great deal in common. Specific, solid parallels can be drawn between Shakespeare's plays "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Romeo and Juliet." The themes and characters are remarkably similar in many aspects. Firstly, both plays highlight the stereotypical young lovers - Hermia and Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Romeo and Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet." Secondly, both plays are very ambiguously categorized. By this I mean that each could have been a tragedy just as easily as a drama (with a few minor modifications). By definition, a tragic play is a play in which the main character has a fatal flaw that leads to
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents us with multiple types of love by using numerous couples in various different situations. For example: Doting loves, the love induced by Oberon's potion and in some aspects, Lysander and Hermia's love for each other; there are true loves: Oberon and Titania, Lysander and Hermia (for the first half at least, as Lysander's love switches to Helena temporarily) and Theseus and Hippolyta. Also, there is Helena's love for Demetrius, which could be described as a true love, even though at first it is unrequited.