Chaos In A Midsummer Night's Dream

There are many instances in A Midsummer Night's Dream where love is coerced from or foisted upon unwilling persons. This romantic bondage comes from both man-made edicts and the other-worldly enchantment of love potions. Tinkering with the natural progression of love has consequences. These human and fairy-led machinations, which are brought to light under the pale, watery moon, are an affront to nature. Shakespeare knows that all must be restored to its place under fate's thumb when the party of dreamers awaken.

A flower was struck by the arrow of cupid. Consequently, a love flower was born; the nectar of this flower when applied to someone’s eyes will make them fall in love with the next living thing they see. Oberon orders Robin to apply the nectar to Demetrius’ eyes because he notices how mean he is to Helena. Unfortunately, Robin anoints the eyes of Lysander instead. When Lysander awakes, the first person he sees is Helena. Lysander claims to Helena,”Content with Hermia? No, I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent”(1.1.118,119). The love flower makes Lysander fall in love with Helena. The flower is a major challenge for the couple because Lysander is suddenly madly in love with Helena. Lysander and Hermia left Athens to escape the law together. Unfortunately, Lysander despises Hermia. When Hermia awakes, she does not see Lysander and begins to worry. Hermia sobs to Demetrius, “If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep, Being o’er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep And kill me too”(1.1.49-51). Lysander is chasing Helena whom he loves because of the flower. Helena thinks Lysander is playing a practical joke. Meanwhile, Hermia believes that Demetrius kills Lysander. The quote demonstrates how much Hermia loves Lysander because it shows she would rather die than be without Lysander. The flower creates a huge complexity in Lysander and Hermia’s relationship by splitting them up and making Lysander love another

If there was no such thing as sympathy, empathy, or love in our world, it would be a hard place to live. If there was no hard law or reason in our world, it would be a crazy place to live. Neither of these worlds would be anybody’s first choice as a home - it's just common sense take away either of these two fundamental aspects of life, and everything is immediately chaos. In fact, it is only in a world such as ours, where legal and human emotion work together, that we are happy. In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare recognizes this truth and uses the two settings to represent the city of Athens as law, order, civility, and judgment, while the woods represent chaos, incivility, dreams, and love.

In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the plethora of comedic styles used by Shakespeare illustrate his intention to poke fun at love throughout the play. The play is notorious for its intricate and irrational plotline, mainly due to the constantly shifting love triangles. Once the powerful fairies become involved with the fate of the naive lovers – Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia – matters are further complicated. The complication inflicted by the fairies is credited to the powerful love potion that Oberon, King of the Fairies, hands over to Puck, a mischievous fairy, to use on his wife Titania, with intentions to embarrass and distract her. This spiteful attitude is due to Oberon and Titania’s argument over the custody of an

When the love potion was put on Lysander he had no feelings for Hermia but she still stayed true to him. Oberon wants to get involved in everybody's love life and Puck his sidekick puts the love potion on the wrong Athenian man and the love quadrilateral get confusing. Lysander said “ She doesn’t see Hermia- Hermia keep sleeping and do not come near me ever again! Eating too many sweets make people sick to their stomachs and people always hates mistakes they made in the past worse than anyone else hates those mistakes. Hermia, you're the sweet I’ve had too much of and the mistake I used to make so I hate you more than anyone else does.-I’ll use all my talents and efforts to serve Helena and bring her honor.” (Shakespeare.2.2.59-61.) Hermia

Displaying her anger, she tells Helena: “I am amazed at your passionate words. /I scorn you not: it seems that you scorn me.”(III.ii.223-224). Although it is nice that Oberon cared about Helena, he should not abuse his power by meddling with the affairs of humans. Though Oberon tried to blame Puck for all the problems: “This is thy negligence. Still thou mistakest, /Or else committ’st thy knaveries willfully.”(III.ii.356-357), It was of no fault to Puck that the love potion was used on the wrong man because the only way that Oberon described Demetrius was by his Athenian garments, and both Demetrius and Lysander were wearing Athenian garments: “Did you not tell me I should know the man /By the Athenian garment he had on?”(III.ii.359-360). It was Oberon’s fault that the four lovers had a confusion because he was the one who ordered Puck to use the juice on Demetrius and Lysander. Also, Oberon knew that Puck was careless and should not have trusted him with such an important task. Although Oberon did not give precise instructions, Puck rushed and acted without thinking, much like his Master often does. When he was searching through the forest, Puck said:

Thus the order Oberon gives to Puck is in contrast to Cupid’s concept of being blinded by love, Fetch me that flower; the herb I show’d thee once: The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2. 2.169-172). Puck, being the mischievous of fairies, had not correctly done what he was ordered to do by Oberon. In which, lead the chaos of making Lysander and Demetrius blinded by love towards Helena, whom was initially madly in love with Lysander without any love potion confused and betrayed. The setting and the concept of a dream like play due to the prevalence of the fairy world, which also creates an aspect of illusions. Which also is prevalent in the concept of blind love, and how it can be an illusion to those that are entrapped due to the love potion. Another important victim of the love potion was Titania, the Queen of Fairies by Oberon:

When Hermia cannot find Lysander, she runs into Demetrius in the forest. She exclaims, "If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep, / Being o'er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, / and kill me too." (3.2.47-49). Hermia, while crazed over Lysander's disappearance, easily believes that Demetrius would kill Lysander. She believes he would to anything, even kill, for their marriage.

Hermia trusts Helena that she and Lysander are going to run away. Helena decides to rat them out to Demetrius hoping to get some attention from him as said in ¨I´ll go tell Demetrius that Hermia is running away tomorrow night. He´ll run after her. If heś grateful for this information, it´ll be worth my pain in helping him pursue my rival Hermia.

So, instead of falling more in love with Hermia, He feels her for Helena. Then throughout the book Lysander chases after Helena trying to win her heart while breaking Hermia’s heart in the process. Throughout the play Hermia and Lysander’s love story does not run smooth because first they want to run away together and then Lysander runs away from Hermia claiming that he loves Helena and hates Hermia. However, at the very end of the play Puck reverses the potion causing Lysander to fall back in love

Helena discloses the plan Lysander creates for himself and Hermia to Demetrius (Act I, Scene II). Although in Act I Scene II, Demetrius clearly proclaims “I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.” Helena replies saying the more Demetrius hates her the more she shall love him and she would gladly be his dog. In Act III Scene II, Demetrius has love juice put upon his eyes so he may fall in love with Helena. The love is so sudden

After Oberon decides to apply the flower to Demetrius, he tells Puck, “A sweet Athenian lady is in love with a disdainful youth. Anoint his eyes… Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on.” II.i.268-272. Because Lysander and Hermia run away to the woods and sleep apart from each other, Puck follows the directions inaccurately. Oberon should have realized that multiple Athenian men could travel through the woods simultaneously. Lysander wears Athenian clothes similar to Demetrius’, and Puck finds Lysander first. Then, when Oberon finds out Puck applied the flower to Lysander, he gives the flower to Demetrius without removing the potion from Lysander. He tells Puck, “I’ll charm [Demetrius’] eyes against [Helena] do appear.” III.ii.101. Since Demetrius also falls in love with Helena, a serious argument between the lovers takes place about who loves who. This whole mix-up between the lovers occurs because of Oberon’s mistake in giving vague instructions and his attempt to fix the

Hermia and Lysander are deeply in love with one another; however, Oberon, the king of the fairies, instructs Puck, a mischievous fairy, to spread the love juice upon the eyes of Demetrious so that he will fall in love with Helena. Instead of following Oberon’s orders, Puck mistakenly spread the potion on the eyes Lysander. As soon as he awakes, he lays eyes upon Helena and falls in love with her and says, “... And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake/ Transparent Helena! Nature shows art/ That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart”(2.2. 103-105). Lysander shows that he no longer loves Hermia and loves her best friend, Helena. Shakespeare shows the weakness of Hermia and Lysander’s relationship, and as soon as magic influences them, their bond begins to crumble. As magic hurts one bond, it also threatens Hermia and Helena’s relationship. Hermia is furious with Helena for stealing away Lysander's love, but doesn’t know that magic is the only reason for it. Hermia accuses Helena of using her height to her advantage, and believes that is the reason

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play about four Athenian lovers. Theseus listens to both Hermia and her father’s request and he tells her to bend to her father’s will or die due to the old Athenian law. Hermia and Lysander flee Athens, into the domain of the fairy kingdom. At this time, Oberon is in a fight with Titania. This fight is over a human child of Titania’s friend. Oberon tells Puck, one of his loyal servants, to get a flower hit by Cupid’s arrow, and drop the oil into Demetrius’s and Titania’s eyes. However, Puck drops the oil into Lysander’s eyes due to Oberon’s vague description, making him fall in love with Helena and despise Hermia. Titania falls in love Bottom, who has the head of an ass, after Oberon places the oil

In the play, A Midsummer Night’s dream, Hermia, Egeus’s daughter is denied to wed her love Lysander, but has to comply with her father’s wishes and marry Demetrius. Infuriated, Hermia runs off with Lysander to his aunt’s house, sick of the Athenian law. As the lovers wander off into the forest, Helena, who is madly in love with Demetrius, tells him about the whereabouts of Hermia. In another part of the forest, Oberon, king of fairies meets Titania, the queen of fairies, arguing for a changeling child from India. When Titania refuses to give him up, Oberon plans revenge, by hiring Robin Goodfellow, also known as “Puck”, to retrieve a magical love flower, anointing her eyes and Demetrius’s, feeling bad for Helena after how Demetrius had treated her. Accidentally, Puck spreads it on Lysander’s eyes, creating major conflicts, later being resolved as the 4 lovers get married.