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Love in a midsummer night dream essay
A midsummer night's dream essay on love
A midsummer dream love essay
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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. Also, an important factor is the notion of
love and reason; in Athens, for example, marriage is rarely a matter
of love, which is brought into existence chiefly by Egeus when he
tried to force Hermia to marry Demetrius: "As she is mine, I may
dispose of her" and "And she is mine, and all my right of her/ I do
estate unto Demetrius". This all fair in the realms of man, but is
irrelevant in the forest, where Oberon rules love. The final aspect of
love introduced in A Midsummer Night's Dream is infatuation. A major
theme in Romeo and Juliet, it is summoned into A Midsummer Night's
Dream through Bottom's infatuation of Titania. Whereas Titania is in
an induced, doting love with Bottom: "Oh how I love thee, how I dote
on thee", Bottom is simply visually in "love" with Titania's beauty.
"Induced love". This is a love created by Oberon's love potion. It is
the main contributor in Titania's love for Bottom, Lysander's brief
love for Helena and Demetrius' love for Helena. It gives in all three
cases the same symptoms: t...
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...of the watery moon".
To summarise, Shakespeare uses love and the themes mentioned above, to
give the audience a presentation of love and marriage in Athens, which
is actually a general overview of the relationship between love and
marriage throughout the world at the time the play was written. It is
presented through numerous repeating themes, symbols and motifs and is
highly influential in the outcome and path of the plot. He uses the
couples in their situations to present us with a deep and extensive
theme in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Finally, in A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Shakespeare presents the audience with different types of love,
from infatuation to true love. Using a range of techniques, he links
the notion of love to that of reason, concluding that, to one degree
or another, the two are mutually exclusive.
When love is in attendance it brings care, faith, affection and intimacy. This is proved true in the spectacular play A Midsummer Night's Dream written by William Shakespeare. This play displays the facts about lust, hatred, jealousy and their roles in something powerfully desirable. It is entitled love. Love is present everywhere, in every form, in every condition and even when one least expects it.
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
Demetrius is willing to go to any extent to have Hermia marry him, even allowing Hermia to be subject to a life of a nun or death, if she does not marry him. Demetrius? infatuation with Hermia brings out the tyrannical and possessive part of his character, as can be seen when he says ?and, Lysander, yield thy crazed title to my certain right?
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 )
William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known authors in history. His works of literature have been studied for years. Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is one of seventeen. Shakespeare knew he was a fantastic author whose work would be admired much after he passed away. He used creative literary devices to add suspense and interest to his writings. One of those includes using a play within a play. Shakespeare uses a play within a play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to add depth and elaboration to the comedy’s theme.
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ many aspects of love are explored. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare conveys the theme of love including illusion, confusion, escape, harmony and lust. Historically, it has been suggested that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written for a wedding, signifying the importance of love in this play, however there is no real evidence to prove this myth. Rather, the Lord Chamberlain’s men performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on the London stage.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a play based on a romantic love story. In this play, there are several types of love displayed between several of the main characters in the play. One of the most famous quotes from the play was by Lysander and it was “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Act 1, Scene 1). This meant that with any type of love, a person will experience its ups and downs, they will agree to disagree, but more importantly, love is unpredictable. Parenteral love, forced love, and true love are 3 types of love displayed/expressed in the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
William Shakespeare, an illustrious and eminent playwright from the Elizabethan Age (16th Century) and part owner of the Globe theatre wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which he portrays the theme of love in many different ways. These include the paternal love seen in the troubled times for Egeus and his rebellious daughter Hermia, true Love displayed with the valiant acts of Lysander and Hermia and the destructive love present in the agonizing acts of Titania towards her desperate lover Oberon. Through the highs and lows of love, the first love we clasp is the paternal love from our family.
Shakespeare wrote his acclaimed comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream more than a thousand years after Apuleius’ Roman novel, The Golden Ass. Although separated by thousands of years and different in terms of plot and setting, these works share the common theme of a confused and vulnerable man finding direction by relying on a supernatural female. One of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s many subplots is the story of Bottom, a comical figure determined to be taken seriously in his production of a Pyramus and Thisbe. As Bottom becomes caught up in a quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies, the commanders of the enchanted forest where Bottom and his players practice, the “shrewd and knavish sprite” Puck transforms his head into an ass’ s and leads him to be enthralled in a one night stand with the queen, Titania. (2.1.33) Apuleius’s protagonist Lucius endures a similar transformation, after his mistress’s slave girl accidentally bewitches him into a donkey, leaving him even without the ability to speak. Although Lucius’ transformation lasts longer and is more severe, he and Bottom both undergo similar experiences resulting from their animal forms. Lucius’ suffering ultimately leads him to salvation through devotion the cult of Isis, and Bottom’s affair with Titania grants him clarity and a glimpse into similar divine beauty. Ultimately, both asinine characters are saved through their surrender to the goddesses.
Love plays a very significant role in this Shakespearian comedy, as it is the driving force of the play: Hermia and Lysander’s forbidden love and their choice to flee Athens is what sets the plot into motion. Love is also what drives many of the characters, and through readers’ perspectives, their actions may seem strange, even comical to us: from Helena pursuing Demetrius and risking her reputation, to fairy queen Titania falling in love with Bottom. However, all these things are done out of love. In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream displays the blindness of love and how it greatly contradicts with reason.
something of a shock as she did not expect for him to grab her hand as
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, several events occur that cause chaos and confusion among the people. The writer of the play, Shakespeare draws the reader to focus on the small but important details in the story, to understand what is happening, and why. I believe Shakespeare focuses on these characters mainly and their stories; the young Athenian lovers, Titania & Oberon, and Nick Bottom. These are the characters that are greatly affected by the magic of Cupid’s arrow and Oberon’s mischievous works. The theme magic is what really begins each characters story and what carries it, but what also causes all of the problems. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare emphasizes the theme magic to allow the reader to view how the power of magic affects each character differently.
Several relationships begin true love such as Hermia and Lysander’s and Hypolyta and Thesus’ but some that did not begin in true love, end as true love such as Helena and Demetrius’.
The relationship between Demetrius and Hermia is problematic, in that Demetrius is seeking the affections of Hermia, while she is in love with Lysander. However, Hermia’s father approves of Demetrius and tries to force her to marry him, but Hermia refuses because of her love for Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.22-82). Lysander points out the flaw in the situation through this comment, “You have her father 's love, Demetrius –/Let me have Hermia 's. Do you marry him,” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.93-94). The second flawed relationship is between Lysander and Helena, as a result of an enchantment put on Lysander that made him fall in love with Helena. Helena does not want the affections of Lysander, but rather the love of Demetrius, and believes that Lysander is taunting her. In addition, this relationship creates tensions because Hermia is in love with Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.2.109-140). Both relationships are not desirable due to a lack of mutual admiration and the creation of non-peaceful and unsatisfying
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by William Shakespeare is a play that offers an interesting insight into the conflicting emotions of the human psyche. Throughout the play Shakespeare uses his settings to provide us insight into human conflict; rational versus the irrational and more emotional characteristics we encounter. The logical, more rational side would be the palace, with its society and rules. The fun yet wild emotional side is represented by the woods, where human logic is overtaken by magical things that do not make sense and appear more dream like.