How Does Shakespeare Use A Love Triangle In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love has complications in Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer’s Night Dream, these complications can arise in our relationships as well. The path of true love never runs smoothly; there are always obstacles put in the way by fate. Titania and Oberon, Hermia and Lysander and Thisbe and Pyramus all had obstacles put in the way by fate to test their relationships.

One thing that is timeless is that teenagers will always fall in and out of love quickly. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, the theme of love is evident among the characters and love affects them all differently. Like many other Shakespearean plays, “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” delves into the lives of young lovers who fall in and out of love magically all in the span of one night. This paper will explore how Shakespeare shows the reality of, loves difficulty on Hermia through her trials, tribulations and triumphs.

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.

“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.

Hermia’s father, Egeus, strongly disapproved of Lysander courting his daughter. In order to escape her father’s harsh rules, Hermia and Lysander attempt to run away together. Similarly, teens today face difficulties in dating due to their parent’s opinions and rules. Most teens aren’t allowed to date until they are 15-16, yet the average age for first relationships is 12. Therefore, like the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, young people may go against their parent’s rules to pursue a relationship. From the very start, Lysander and Demetrius fight over Hermia (and later Helena). They both try to prove themselves worthy, causing tension between them. Lysander tells Egeus, “I am, my lord, as well derived as he . . . ” (Shakespeare 1.1.99-102). In addition, Lysander attempts to show that Demetrius is unfaithful by bringing up his past affairs with Helena. Today, this is commonly called a “love triangle.” Examples of this can be found in many popular novels, including The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. This situation isn’t just found in fiction, however. It is common for multiple people to be interested in the same person. Therefore, this situation most definitely still happens

Four lovers each with his or her own challenge in love, Lysander and Hermia who love each other but may never be together, and Demetrius who loves Hermia and rejects Helena’s truthful devotion. Shakespeare’s writing style is the essence that brings forth the emotions within his works. Throughout a Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, commonplace literary devices are used to emphasize his style of writing. , Shakespeare depicts the theme of love’s difficulty, especially with the use of figurative language, such as metaphor and personification, to show that though complications arise in complex situations, the ability to overcome becomes the true meaning of love. wise

The biggest obstacle in this play occurs when the power of love is challenged by authority. The play starts with Theseus, duke of Athens, being eager to marry Hippolyta, who he wooed with his sword in combat. Although Theseus promises Hippolyta that he will wed her “with pomp, with triumph, with reveling,” true love between them is questionable. By starting the play with Theseus and Hippolyta, Shakespeare hints the audience of the authority involved in their marriage and leaves the audience wonder if they actually love each other. The focus is then shifted to the four lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena - by establishing the story of Hermia being forced by her father, Egeus, to marry Demetrius, when the person she actually wants to marry is Lysander. However, Egeus

We share love with many people, love exists in many ways, one of them is romantic love, this type of love can only work when you are with the right person. In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, the playwright reflects love in his characters. Shakespeare does this by using Hermia and Lysander to demonstrate true love. While Helena and Demetrius represent a false love. He uses Hermia by creating a test whether she chooses duty over love. The catalyst of all the drama where Hermia needs to marry Demetrius was Egeus, Hermia’s father. He is in total disagreement of Hermia marrying Lysander that he decides to give her two options: she marries Demetrius,get killed, or stays nun.

In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about the love quadrangle that develops among Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius. While a group of actors rehearse a play in the woods, and find their lives changed by the doings of Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies. It begins with Hermia refusing to marry Demetrius and her running into the woods with Lysander. When Hermia finds out and reports this to Demetrius in hopes of gaining his attention. Hermia likes him but he does not like her back. These relationships on who likes who all get messed up thanks to Puck, who on Oberon’s orders puts a love potion in Lysander's eyes creating the love quadrangle. The reason for the love potion being Oberon is jealous of Titania and the changeling boy. Matt Groening once said “Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun.” and the audience can see this play out in a Midsummer Night’s Dream when things like the love potion come into effect and everyone is falling in love with the people they do not want to.

Shakespeare presents love through the relationship shared by Hermia and Lysander. This relationship, at the start of the play, is portrayed as the traditional true love;

Shakespeare uses the “doubling theme” between Demetrius and Lysander to relax and entertain the audience.The beginning of the story starts with Egeus, Hermia’s dad, and Theseus, the duke of Athens, talking with Demetrius, Lysander, and Hermia. They discuss how Lysander wooed Hermia unfairly when she was rightfully Demetrius’s. “This man [Lysander] has bewitched the bosom of my child: Thou, thou

Hermia’s love for Lysander can be seen as genuine as she states ‘I would my father looked but with my eyes’ which means she wishes her father could see Lysander the way she does. This suggests that she is not under his spell as she truly sees him with her own eyes, and loves him. The audience also sees that she is very passionate about Lysander, as she chooses to ‘yield my virgin patent up’ and live the life of a nun or die rather than ‘wed Demetrius’. We also see the love between Lysander and Hermia is genuine later in Act 1 Scene 1 when ‘Exeunt all but Lysander and Hermia’, as it appears that Lysander is finishing Hermia’s sentences, indicating they are very familiar with each other, and he is comforting her lovingly. Lysander also states ‘true love never did run smooth’ which suggests they truly believe what they feel is true love. Another technique used by Shakespeare to emphasise their love is vivid imagery. Hermia’s speech declaring that she would meet Lysander in ‘the wood’ is filled with imagery suggesting love and passion, such as ‘by Cupid’s strongest bow’ and her reference to the Greek Goddess Venus: ‘By the simplicity of Venus’ doves’, emphasises her passion for Lysander.

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

Lysander and Hermia also portray true love. Refusing to marry her suitor, Demetrius, she willingly gives up everything and runs away from Athens with her lover, Lysander, “There my Lysander and I shall meet, and thence from Athens turn away our eyes.” In the play within the play, Pyramus and Thisbe also present us with true love. Their situation

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.