In his critical analysis of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, G. K. Chesterton introduces the idea that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not only the greatest piece of literature produced by Shakespeare, but also the greatest psychological analysis. On the surface, A Midsummer Night’s Dream seems to be an argument against the idea of eternal love and the societal standard of marriage; but under the surface, Shakespeare talks about the workings of human emotion, and the powerful connection that brings people together. Michael Taylor adds to this idea in his critical analysis, “The Darker Purpose of A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, in which he discusses that feelings of love require feelings of hate, in order to be expressed in their truest form. In a play that contains such a prominent motif of magic and wonder, it is obvious that mystic will play an important role in the overall theme. Often, the fairy world interacts with the human world, and influences the direction of the plot. There are many important characters and relationships expressed throughout the play; however, the role of the love flower is the most important. Even though it is an inanimate object and does not further the story through dialogue with characters, the love flower’s nectar acts as “a spirit that unites mankind… that seventh man who is the harmony of all of them” (G.K. Chesterton). Whenever the nectar is used on the eyelids of the characters, they find themselves further entangled in a web
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not simply a light-hearted comedy; it is a study of the abstract. Shakespeare shows that the divide between the dream world and reality is inconstant and oftentimes indefinable. Meanwhile, he writes about the power of the intangible emotions, jealousy and desire, to send the natural and supernatural worlds into chaos. Love and desire are the driving forces of this play’s plot, leaving the different characters and social classes to sort out the resulting pandemonium. While the overseeing nobles attack the predicament with poise and logic, the tradesmen and nobles stricken with love recede to foolishness. Yet, it is not the ‘wise’ nobles who find any truth within the haphazard happenings of
“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.
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.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
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
Throughout the play A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare uses both fate and free will to present his philosophy towards the nature of love. The characters struggle through confusion and conflicts to be with the one they love. Although the course of their love did not go well, love ultimately triumphs over all at the end of the play. The chaos reaches a climax causing great disruption among the lovers. However, the turmoil is eventually resolved by Puck, who fixes his mistake. The confusion then ends and the lovers are with their true love. Throughout the play Shakespeare's philosophy was displayed in various scenes, and his concept still holds true in modern society.
“Love is a familiar. Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love. (Love’s Labours Lost. 1.2.)” This Shakespearean quote relies on the fact that love can lead to many misfortunes, presented as one of the aspects of love in both William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and Wole Soyinka’s “The Lion and the Jewel”. One aspect of love demonstrates its brilliant sides, and with it, brings affection, faith, and intimacy. However, it is also noted that an equal aspect of love conveys the consequences and misfortunes, the negative connotations of love, which the essay will be exploring, broken down into several characteristics: lust, manipulation, and hatred, which both plays share in correspondence and in distinction. In A Midsummer
True love’s path is paved with every step. Through the assistance of fanciful elements as well as characters Puck and Oberon, the true message of love in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is revealed. The four lovers know the direction in which their hearts are inclined to turn, but when the love potion is administered, the bounds of their rectangle are thrashed without knowledge or consent. The rapid shifts in affection between the play’s “four lovers” is representative of the idea that love isn’t a conscious choice, but a cruel game in which we are the figurines, being controlled by whomever the player may be, relating the characters’ karmic fates.
“It is the nature of people to love, then destroy, then love again that which they value the most.” –Unknown. Countless authors have tried to display love as human nature, but no author does this better than the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. In both Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare exhibits how love can control a person. To understand how love controls a person, one must understand that human nature is the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans. All humans have exhibit love in one way or another, which explains how human nature relates to the controlling aspect of love. In Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, conflicts between loyalty to family and friends, lack of trustworthiness towards others,
Love comes with many complications and faces many obstacles. Shakespeare clearly portrays illustrates these difficulties this them through various relationships in his play, ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’. The characters face different obstacles which affect their relationships negatively. In the play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ the main obstacles that cause negative effects on love are the use of magic, the law, and misunderstandings as well as and false assumptions.
Love, a prominent theme in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” entangles an ensemble of characters into a compelling but also frustrating plot that ultimately questions whether “love at first sight” exists. As someone who doesn’t believe in “true love,” I see the concept of “love at first sight” as an unrealistic physical need that is ultimately a copping mechanism to subdue or numb the outside world. Ultimately, through the characters of Bottom and Titania this falsehood of falling of love at first glance is revealed through their magically developed relationship that occurs when the character of Puck places a “love juice” on Titania’s eyes.
Mandy Conway Mrs. Guynes English 12 16 March 2000 A Critical Analysis of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest writers in literature. He dies in 1616 after completing many sonnets and plays. One of which is "A Midsummer Night's Dream." They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare's comedies. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-with-in-a-play, which master writers only write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer. Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ many aspects of love are explored. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare conveys the theme of love including illusion, confusion, escape, harmony and lust. Historically, it has been suggested that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written for a wedding, signifying the importance of love in this play, however there is no real evidence to prove this myth.
In Twelfth Night, Feste asks the “most simple and at the same time most complex of questions,” “What is Love?” (The English Review). Some people believe that love is easy, effortless, and leads to fairytale endings. However, in Twelfth Night, Shakespeare shows the other side of love. Love is not a simple feeling, and it is a confusing emotion which leads to heartbreak, or pure happiness. These two polar opposites are derived from either true or false love. Shakespeare portrays the idea that love is not always easy, and differentiates between false and true love in Twelfth Night.
I had the pleasure of seeing one of William Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed beautifully at the Tucker Theatre at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. This performance space looks more like an industrial warehouse than an art house, but walking in we are transformed to the magical land of Midsummer. I chose A Midsummer Night’s Dream play because its major theme is love. There is plenty of comedy to entice those who are not interested in love, and there are some fairies. Another theme is friendship. Friends and what they think and say are extremely important. Most will have had some experience of two