Relationships In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Hermia, originally the Apple of all Athens’ eye, put on an impossible pedestal by both Lysander and Demetrius, seems to trade social standings with the outcast Helena. It seems that Hermia doesn’t fully appreciate the quality of her state. She complains that her father will not allow her to merry her true love Lysander, and pawns her off to the inadequate Demetrius. Never can she accept the flattery of Demetrius’ unrequited love which her best friend would do anything to sincerely receive. Instead she revels in wonderment: “The more I [Hermia] hate, the more he [Demetrius] follows me” (I.i.198). Her unhappiness is far heightened when her two followers are given the love potion, turning them against her and beckoning to Helena. The cruel swap of fates lets the two female characters feel as though in the others’ shoes. It’s Hermia’s karma for being ungrateful at the attention bestowed upon her all these years that leads her to this harsh lesson.

By telling Demetrius of the planned elopement between Lysander and Hermia, she mind get her man and help her friend in the process. On the other hand, we have the workmen who put the play together. Although they all have different professions, they know each other well and able to tell which character would fit them well. When it was being decided who plays who, there is a bit of argument between them.

The mood immediately changes and we discover that Hermia rather than being filled with filial love is determined to marry Lysander rather than her father’s choice for her. And so the love theme is made more complex as we

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.”

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

When Helena and Demetrius were together, she was perfectly content and satisfied with herself. She knew of her magnificent beauty and high potential. Unfortunately, when Demetrius strayed from her, her self-confidence dropped several notches, and she no longer thinks of herself as desirable nor beautiful. Then, after Puck anoints Demetrius’ eyes with the love potion, he falls back in love with Helena. However, she thinks he is mocking her, and in her eyes, it is a very repulsive deed. Love’s misfortunes consequently vanquish all of Helena’s self-confidence and prompt her judgement to become

Occurring in Act 2 scene 1, Helena informs Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plans to run away together in hopes of winning Demetrius’s heart. After hearing about their plan, Demetrius is determined to stop Hermia and pursues after her into the woods. Helena isn’t far behind and tries to reason with Demetrius. Once again she expresses her love for him and even offers him to do anything

At one time, Demetrius loved Helena, and then he fell in love with someone else. Initially, Demetrius had given his love to Helena: “He hailed down oaths that he was only mine, / And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt, / So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt” (MND 1.1.243-245). Helena loved Demetrius, and he promised to be with her forever. However once he met her friend, Hermia, Demetrius left Helena to chase after her friend. Helena’s jealousy of Demetrius’ love drives her to think about what he really wants. Helena believes that Hermia’s beauty is why Demetrius desires her. She tells Hermia, “Demetrius loves your fair”, and she goes further to say, “Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated, / The rest I’d give to be to you translated” (MND 1.1.182, 190-191). Her jealousy of Demetrius’ love has turned into jealousy of Hermia’s beauty. Helena obsesses over having Demetrius back to the point that she continuously follows him around. Demetrius is tired of Helena chasing him: “Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?” (MND 2.1.199). Demetrius does not understand why she tries so hard to be with him when he does not even compliment her. Demetrius threatens Helena to leave him alone: “I’ll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, / And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts” (MND 2.1.227-228). At this point, he is beyond exhausted with Helena, and he will do anything to get away from her.

After being unengaged to Demetrius, an Athenian man, she looks for love in Lysander, her best friend’s soon to be husband. One can conclude that Helena acts very foolish because of love and will do anything to have it because of her endless longing for Demetrius and jealousy over Hermia.

When compared to the other couples in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia and Lysander seem to be the only ones who truly love each other. As previously stated, Theseus claims to have won the love of Hippolyta through battle, therefore, it cannot be assumed that their love matches that of Hermia and Lysander. Other couples like Oberon and Titania, and Demetrius and Helena, also pale in comparison to Hermia and Lysander. Oberon and Titania often fight and have cheated on one another, and Demetrius is only in love with Helena because of the magical flower.

Considered to be one of William Shakespeare's greatest plays, A Midsummer Nights Dream is a ingenious as well as an imaginative tale; but most importantly, its poetic lines and the relationships between various characters contain a message of love. All of the pairs of lovers who get matched eventually become mismatched and rematched in the play which causes conflict between these characters throughout the play. Love is portrayed as the central idea in much of William Shakespeare's writing and undoubtedly plays an essential role in A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare. Three themes of love that are found throughout the play are unrequited love, jealous love, and love that’s deemed as forbidden.

These relationships ended up respecting each other and hoping the best for one another. Lysander and Demetrius finally found the peace they had awaited for so long hoping for when they became able to finally communicate with each other without any worries. Likewise, Demetrius and Helena also found the love they once had, while others wish they had the same thing. That special flower that went onto the eyelids of Demetrius helped hone in their love for one another. “...somehow something made my love for Hermia melt away like snow…..

Hermia was hurt and suffering because her Lysander left her unpredictably and so sudden. Was she not good enough, who is to blame? Hermia’s answer to these questions were Helena, her dear childhood friend. Hermia blamed her for the chaos that was brought into her life and the sudden loss of her loved one’s interest. But unfortunately, Hermia was unaware that Helena had nothing to do with this chaos. It was all love that twisted a perfect relationship of true love into a chaotic monster.

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.