Willima Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Unbalanced Love

In this play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, true love plays a huge role in the play.

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.

By the play's finale, the grand and much-anticipated wedding for Theseus and Hippolyta, Bottom is rehumanized, Hermia and Helena are loved by the right men, and Titania and Oberon have settled their differences, rediscovering their own passion. Oberon is proved correct in

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.

Shakespeare’s usage of metaphor and simile in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is best understood as an attempt to provide some useful context for relationships and emotions, most often love and friendship, or the lack thereof. One example of such a usage is in Act 3, Scene 2 of the play. Here, the two Athenian couples wake up in the forest and fall under the effects of the flower, thus confusing the romantic relationships between them. Hermia comes to find her Lysander has fallen for Helena. Hermia suspects that the two have both conspired against her in some cruel joke, and begins lashing out against Helena. She says “We, Hermia, like two artificial gods, / Have with our needles created both one flower, / Both one sampler sitting on one cushion, / Both warbling of one song, both in one key; / As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds, / Had been incorporate. So we grew together, / Like a double cherry, seeming parted; / But yet a union in partition / Two lovely berries moulded on one stem: / So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart; / Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, / Due but to one, and crowned with one crest.” (Shakespeare 2.3.206-13). Shakespeare writes this list of vibrant metaphors to establish the prior relationship between these two characters and to make it evident how affected Helena is by this unexpected turn of events, as well as to add a greater range of emotion to the comedy, thereby lending it more literary and popular appeal.

Different Aspects of Love Presented in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander + Hermia = True love? Sexual Attraction (Lust) ------------------------------------------------------- Titania + Oberon = Love or hate (Married )

In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, a literary technique known as “doubling” is used to convey entertainment, mystery and reality as the story line for Lysander and Demetrius, Helena and Hermia, Oberon and Theseus, and Titania and Hippolyta. ”Doubling” shows indistinguishable personalities of each character but completely contrapositive background stories and actions. Lysander and Demetrius are completely identical except for their personality, actions, and the fact that Egeus and Theseus do not approve of Lysander as Hermia’s spouse. Helena and Hermia are very alike except for the minor differences in their appearances. The third doubling relationship is shown in between the rulers of the different worlds who are Oberon and Theseus as well as Titania and Hippolyta. Throughout the play, three pairs of people who are all tantamount to each other in appearance but completely different in actions continue to have comedic and humorous scenes while hidden clues along the way disclose information to unveil a delightful and realistic story.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most famous comedy of the legendary playwright - William Shakespeare. The play features relationships, hatred, fantasies, dreams and especially love. Throughout the play, the theme “reason and love keep little company” is portrayed continuously, most notably in act 3.2. In the real world, scientific researches show that when two people are in love, their bodies produce special hormones called Vasopressin and Oxytocin. These hormones create “romantic feelings” that only the people who are in love can feel, making them do and say saccharine things. Another research also shows that when two people are in love, they see each other as flawless, especially the male gender. Thus, science has proven that love makes people do unreasonable things. A Midsummer Night’s Dream clearly shows that love keeps little company with reason.

Different Types of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, written in 1595 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This was when the society was dominated by men. During the period, England was ruled by a powerful and well respected queen.

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.”

In ancient Greece, the father had control over who his daughter had to marry. This is the main conflict in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this play, William Shakespeare tells us the story of four young Athenians; Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius. Although it’s a comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows these young adults as they discover that love has the power to build up and tear down.

“Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, such shaping fantasies, that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends” (Act 5, scene 1). This quote taken from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, summarizes the nature of the play, love. Shakespeare’s analysis of love and reason is depicted through multiple couples. This specific quote spoken by Theseus to his future wife Hippolyta was meant to describe the relationship between those that are in love and those that are crazy.

Love isn't always easy . . . especially in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the play, two people fell in love with each other, but they were forbidden to be together. Helena was madly in love with Demetrius, but he didn't love her back.

In Athens, women had very little rights. Womens fathers were the ones who got to choose whom they married, and that caused trouble for the lovers. Hermia’s father, Egeus, strongly believed in this rule. At the beginning, Egeus decides that he wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, which is good for Demetrius but bad for Hermia. Hermia, daringly refuses her father’s wishes, so they seek the help of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Theseus listens to their situation, and being the authority in the situation, tells Hermia: “Either to die the death, or to abjure for the society of men. Therefore, fair Hermia,... if you yield not to your father’s choice, you can endure the livery of a nun...”(24). This shows how authority, in this case the law, gets in the way of “the course of true love…”(28). Egeus’s decision to have Hermia marry Demetrius does not only affect Hermia but also affects Helena. When Hermia’s father chooses Demetris to be her

Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning the most rational people into crazed, irrational lovers. In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare centralizes his comedy around the theme of human love as a powerful, transformative force. Through the use of a magical love potion, the characters within the play are blinded by fierce passion and their sight is narrowed to see only what the lover selectively chooses to see. As a result of the power of love, the sensible become irrational and emotions that stem from love, such as jealousy and desperation, give birth to hysterical chaos. In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare presents love as an uncontrollable, indiscriminate, and transformative force that prevents those infected with its power