Theme Of Magic 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.

Eqeus attempts to steal Hermia’s free will through the Athenian Law. For example, “Full of vexation come I, with complaint against my child, my daughter Hermia” (1.1, 23-34, Shakespeare). In this quote, Eqeus is attempting to steal Hermia’s free will. Eqeus is explaining to Theseus that Hermia is disobeying his command. Hermia wishes to marry Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Therefore, Eqeus is attempting to strip Hermia of her free will and use power to carry out his actions. Furthermore, in Act Two, Shakespeare incorporates fairies. The reader is introduced to Puck, Oberon, and Titania. Oberon, the king of the fairies, Titania, the queen of the fairies, and Puck, a servant. Using lines, “Churl, upon thy eyes I throw all the power this charm doth owe” (2.2, 78-79, Shakespeare), the reader learns fairies can use magic to manipulate free will. Puck placed a love potion on Lysander’s eyes, which results in chaos. The lines, “Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word. Is that vile name to perish on my sword!” (2.2, 106-107, Shakespeare), show this chaos, Lysander now wishes to kill Demetrius for

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.

Despite magic and freedom there is also a hierarchy commitment, Puck serves to Oberon, Fairies serves to Titania. Oberon used the magic and deception to obtain desired. But he doesn’t like the results of misunderstood between lovers caused with magic, he orders Puck to prevent fight between Lysander and Demetrius “and all things shall be peace”.

Titania gets deceived by Oberon because he ordered Puck to put a love potion into Titania’s eyes.He did it because he wanted her attention and wanted the child for himself. “I'll watch Titania when she is asleep, And drop the liquor of it in her eyes” (II,1,551-552). Titania was busy with the child and never payed attention to Oberon. “Give me that boy, and I will go with thee” (II,1,513). Oberon deceiving Titania wasn't the only deception, the second deception was the love potion. The love potion made Bottom to appear handsome, but in reality Bottom had a face of an ass (donkey). “I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing

Furthermore, the lines earlier shows Oberon’s plan to control and submit Titania to his will. His plan to make her fall in love with animals by using a potion indicates that he wants to embarrass Titania. He wants to use his power to manipulate her feelings. He craves the control that he did not have earlier in the play when Titania did what she wanted to do. Therefore, his desire to gain control results in the changing of Titania’s fate. Titania’s actions are based on Oberon’s power. Likewise, Oberon gains satisfaction by executing his plan which empowers him and gives authority. Further, not only does Oberon make plans to control Titania, but he also becomes the cause of the conflict among Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena. Oberon’s decision to meddle in their affairs directly impacts their fate as they become powerless over their situation. Oberon’s overwhelming sense of entitlement for utter control affects the events that transpire in their lives. Specifically, Oberon’s interference changes how two of the main characters, Lysander and Hermia interact with each other. Their mutual attraction to each other is altered as a result of Lysander’s will becoming influenced by Oberon. Thus, Lysander professes his love for Helena. Then, Hermia verbally attacks Helena:

Have you ever been pulled over by a police officer? Or been told what to do by a boss at work? If you have and you do what the person asks then that person has succeeded in controlling you. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, control is a major theme. Within this play there are many characters that are able to control others and there are people that are controlled. The play is about Hermia, an Athenian lady, who wants to marry her true love, Lysander, but can not because her father is forcing her to marry a man she doesn’t love. Another manipulative character in this play is Oberon, the Fairy King. He puts a magic love spell on three of the characters throughout the play. A character

The two had been on bad terms with each other, constantly arguing. Oberon was acting childish as he refused to join Titania and her fairies in their dance, unless given the chageling boy that he wished for. He thought to play with Titania's feelings after again being told he may not have the boy. He tricked her heart so that he could ask her for the changeling boy without her being in her right mind to refuse. He took things to an extreme, brainwashing her just to obtain the child.

Love is constantly changing or being manipulated and an example of this love is when Oberon, the king of the Fairies, gives his wife, Titania, the queen of the Fairies, a potion that makes her fall in love with an ass (77). Oberon does this act out of spite because his wife does not want to give him a changeling boy, an ugly idiot, stupid, fairy baby left in the human world, as a servant. Oberon instructs his personal fairy servant, Puck, to give a potion to Oberon’s wife and make her fall in love with an ass. There are two dreams in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that critics say are the only two that really matter.

Initially, Oberon tried to manipulate his wife into giving up the Indian boy she adopted for his convenience. Subsequently, Oberon asked his sidekick, Puck the mischievous fairy, to retrieve a flower. Not to mention, that this flower had a special juice, so if you put it in a person’s eyes, they would fall in love with whomever they saw next. Oberon said, “Having once this juice, I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep and drop the liquor of it in her eyes. The next thing she waking looks upon… she shall pursue it with the soul of love… I’ll make her render up her page to me”.

Another conflict that shows the contrast between rationality and irrationality is the relationship dynamics of Titania and Oberon, the queen and king of the fairies. They are both extremely stubborn and selfish, which causes a disturbance in the typical weather patterns of their realm. In spite of their responsibility to ensure the well-being of the forest, they argue over foolish things-especially over the Indian boy that Titania has been raising. Oberon decides he cannot be happy unless he has the boy for himself, and resorts to desperate measures to get his way. In this case, irrationality wins against rationality. Rather than working through his marriage problems with Titania, Oberon sends Puck to put a potion on Titania’s eye, which makes her fall in love with the first thing she sees. This conspiracy allows Oberon to snatch away the child while Titania is distracted. Although the marriage worked out in the end, it is based on the deception of a desperate husband who wanted his way.

The fairy king and queen live in a type of parallel universe to their human counterparts. The forest that they live in represents a break from reality, or at least the reality initially presented. Despite their supernatural abilities, Oberon and Titania endure arguments like any couple, which instantly creates a blurring of reality and fantasy in the play. It is from an argument regarding the young Indian prince that propels Oberon to be at odds with his wife, which compels him to create chaos through magic. He is driven by the love for his wife, and love is also a prevalent theme throughout the play. It is love that drives all the characters, and not always rationally. As Robert Dent writes in his article, “Imagination in A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “love sees with that part of the mind that has no taste of judgment (177)”, which is clearly displayed by the couples in the play. Interestingly, the blurring of reality and illusion originates with a lover’s spat, highlighting the impact that love can have on reality.

I am here to present my arguments regarding the importance of magic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the symbols that support it. The theme, magic, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream has a lot of support from two symbols; the love potion and fairies. In addition, there is a lot of supporting events that tells readers that these two symbols are relevant to the theme and the play. To begin, the fairies use magic.

Some people believe in magic, while others do not. Magic alters something or someone using supernatural forces. In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, magic is a secret, mysterious force. Characters are influenced into love by the power of a magic potion. Titania, the queen of the fairies, falls in love with Nick Bottom, a mechanical actor, who is a non-magical character. Lysander, one of the four lovers, falls in love with Helena after being desperately in love with Hermia. Finally, Demetrius falls in love with Helena, whom he hated before, changing the entire love triangle within the play. Magic influences the characters in the play because it clouds their judgement by making them fall in love with someone who they did not think of loving before.

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.