A Midsummer Nights Dream
A Midsummer Nights Dream is a fanciful comedy written by William Shakespeare in the late 1500s. Love is the primary concern of the play, which begins as Theseus and Hippolyta make plans for their upcoming wedding. In a Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare explores the primary aspects of love and the barriers to loves fulfillment.
The magic in a Midsummer Nights Dream brings out the irrationality of love. For example, love makes a difference where there is no difference. In act III, scene i, Puck gives Bottom an ass-head. As Bottom walks through the woods, Titania awakens and immediately falls in love with Bottom because Puck gives her love juice. Once she is under the spell of love, she lavishes a donkey-headed man with affection. This is one of the most grotesque examples of the rationalization because Titania argues how reasonable her choice is. Love worsens its own irrationality by insisting that its choices are very rational when indeed theyre not.
To Shakespeare, love is both simultaneously emotional and moving but can make one behave like a fool. Loves irrationality also grabs hold of Hermia and Lysander. For instance, Hermia is willing to die in order to be with Lysander. She would rather die than marry a man she doesnt love, Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander run off into the woods together to escape the obstacles of their love.
Helena is also caught by loves madness. She falls in love with Demetrius even though he left her in favor of Hermia and now wants nothing to do with her. Helena is so desperate for Demetriuss love that she betrays her best friend. Helena told Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander ran out into the woods so she could follow him out there and try to win over his love. Although Demetrius threatens to harm her if she doesnt leave him alone, she continues to follow him like a puppy. She says, I am your Spaniel, and Demetrius, the more you beat me, I will fawn on you.
Love has many barriers and obstacles. The first obstacle in a Midsummer Nights Dream is Athenian Law, which allows the father to choose his daughters spouse. Egeus, Hermias father, wants her to marry Demetrius, not Lysander. Egeus, Hermia, and her two suitors talk with Theseus, who gives Hermia three options: marry Demetrius, die, or go into a nunnery. This is an obstacle for Hermia because she does not love Demetrius; she loves Lysander.
Another obstacle is Demetrius, Hermias rival lover. After Lysander and Hermia run away together in the woods, Demetrius follows. He follows Hermia because he desires her. Hermias tyrannical father is also an obstacle. He is so fixated on his daughter marrying Demetrius that he would have her sent to death if she disobeys.
Despite all three major obstacles and loves madness, everything works out for the lovers in the end. Hermia and Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, Titania and Oberon, and Theseus and Hippolyta end up with one another. Shakespeares comedy mimics the line Lysander tells Hermia early in the play, the course of true love never did run smooth.
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Nights Dream
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