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Compare And Contrast Richard III And A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Rebecca Christilaw
Essay #1 Prompt 5
Struggles of “Love” In Richard III and A Midsummer Night’s Dream the concept of love and marriage is complex. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (MND) is filled with many different relationships; some relationships are simple and others that seem to be struggling; throw in a little magic into this play and all of the relationships are easily changed. In Richard III, however, based on the time period, the marriage between Richard and Lady Anne seems “normal” as he wins her love through manipulation. Both plays have varying forms of love though; some normal and some not so much. The characters in both plays use a lot of coercion with regards to their relationship. Starting with Helena and Demetrius in MND, their relationship didn’t exactly form with both parties in love. Helena, in her self-pity, admittedly has an obsession with Demetrius. She is far too in love with him. He, on the other hand, hates her. He is very rude to her saying, “I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.” (2.1.173). He has fallen for Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, but Helena is too blind with love to give up. Most people when rejected get angry or vengeful, Helena on the other hand chases him, refusing to give up. She has a weird obsession saying, “And even for that do I love you the more. I am your spaniel. And, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.” (2.1.187-89). It is as if no matter what Demetrius does, she will still love him. Hermia and
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