A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay: Aspects of Love

765 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Relationships in a midsummer night's dream

Love in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love is a very inaccurate word, as it can be used in many different ways. It can be used to describe an object which one particularly likes, or to describe ones feelings towards a person. However it does not rest at just these two points. Love for someone can be in a material sense (sexual), or in a more moral sense for example.

Some of the various aspects of love are mentioned In William Shakespeare's, Midsummer Night's Dream. Here we are presented with the various characters, and their conflicts, which all have something to do with love.

The most important relationship in the play is that between Titania, the queen of the fairies, and Oberon, who is the king of the fairies. Oberon seems to love Titania in the sense that he wishes to dominate her, and also be her king. Their relationship is about authority and dominance.

After a quarrel Titania does not wish to have anything to do with Oberon anymore. Oberon is angry at this, and takes out his anger on Titania, by placing a spell on her. He squeezes a drop from a special flower onto her eyes, which will make her love the ugliest beast she is to come across. This then happens to be Bottom the weaver, whose head is turned to that of an donkey. Through Oberon and Titania's little dispute, the entire world seems to be tipped upside down. Oberon is generous when it comes to dishing out his love potion, which confuses everything for the "real people" (in other words not meaning the fairies).

Amongst the people, there are also some disputes, that can be directly related to love. Lysander and Demetrius are both in love with Hermia, who only loves...

... middle of paper ...

...for who he was, but for what she saw. Their relationship had nothing to do with a romantic and passionate love, but mainly consisted out of lust and desire. Titania desired Bottom, and was obsessed over him as a result of the magic potion.

So by A Midsummer Nights Dream we can see some of the many aspects of love, and are familiarised with them. The various relationships between the "real" characters, and the fairies (king and queen). Of course there are a few more aspects one might mention, however many are very similar. Love basically consists out of many different factors. There should be the love of a person that comes from the heart, but there is also a side of you that desires the other person in a physical way. Love is not just a simply definable word, but love is a highly complicated act of expressing ones feelings towards another person.

Show More
Related

  • The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Understanding the 1999 Columbine High School Shooting

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    April 20th, 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, experienced a mass shooting. Thirteen people were injured and more than twenty were injured. Twelve were students and one was a teacher. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their high school for forty one minutes before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. School shootings are notorious for making headline news but in 1999, school shooting were not as prevalent as they are in the present day. The media blew up on the catastrophe that was Columbine and many questions were raised, who were these kids and why did they do this? Speculation arose about why they did it. Maybe they were bullied for being goth and social outcasts or maybe they

    Read More

  • Love, Lust and Infatuation in Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    Love, lust and infatuation all beguile the senses of the characters in this dreamy and whimsical work of Shakespeare, and leads them to act in outlandish ways, which throughly amuses the reader. True love does prevail in the end for Hermia and Lysander, and the initial charm of infatuation ends up proving to have happy consequence for Helena and Demetrius as well. Even when at first the reader thinks that, in theory, the effects the potion will wear off and Lysander will once again reject Helena, Oberon places a blessings on all the couples that they should live happily ever after.

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and Measure for Measure

    2231 Words  | 5 Pages

    The play moves into the woods which is haunted by fairies who are there to bless the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta.  The quarreling between Oberon and Titania over the changeling boy leads to the king wanting to embarrass Titania with the love juice by making her fall in love with a monster.  The first person she sees is Bottom and she falls violently in love with him.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Architect of New World Discovery

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    Columbus was in command of three separate ships. The Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. Columbus taking overall command captained the Santa María. the Pinta was captained by Martín Alonso Pinzón and the Niña by Vicente Yañez Pinzón. First landfall was on the island of San Salvador. The land turned out to be a small island in the present-day Bahamas. Columbus named the island San Salvador, although he remarked in his journal that the natives referred to it as Guanahani. (Knopf). The second landfall was in Cuba. Columbus being far off on his navigation believed they had found part of China. He sent two men to investigate them being the first two people to observe the smoking of tobacco. The third landfall was Hispaniola or modern day Haití. Columbus grounded the Santa María and had to abandon ship taking command of the Niña. Columbus negotiating with the chief arranged to leave 39 men for settlement. On January 16th, the final two ships the Pinta and the Santa María reunited and departed for Spain and made landfall on March 4th. On my research of the first voyage Columbus made I found an intriguing paragraph written by Christopher Minster,

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Love in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

    2433 Words  | 5 Pages

    A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most widely read comedies about love. This seems somewhat strange, however, in light of the fact that so few of its characters seem to display any kind of full or true love. A close examination of the actions and words of each of the players will reveal that only one of them, by the end of Act V, should be considered a "lover".

    Read More

  • The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado killing thirteen students and teachers shocked the world. “They were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage – or at least fueled their urges” (Carey 1). The shooters of this incident learned their deadly skills from video games. Seventy percent of children ages eight to eighteen have access to violent video games at their home. “Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month”(Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R). Children that play violent video games at such a young age and experiencing such violent actions will start to increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggressive behavior.

    Read More

  • Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Power of Love

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.

    Read More

  • The Theme of True Love in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," William Shakespeare explains the difficulties of the nature of love. Both false love and true love prevail in the end, leading the reader to come to the conclusion that all types of love can triumph. Hermia and Lysander represent the existence of a "true love", while Helena and Demertrius represent the opposite extreme. Shakespeare presents the idea that love is unpredictable and can cause great confusion. Love is something that cannot be explained, it can only be experienced. Shakespeare challenges us to develop our own idea of what love truly is.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Ruthless Explorer or History Changer?

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Christopher Columbus has a mixed legacy, many know the man to be a ruthless tenacious explorer and master navigator who was the first to discover the new world of Americano, and paved the way for European exploration yet his travels had a multi-century trickle-down effect. A single life that will change history forever by persistence and the will of motivation to explore outside the safe comfort of the banks along Spain. New boundaries were breached and the world will be melodramatically different from actions of a single indusial.

    Read More

  • Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...uch like Helena, who overlooks Demetrius’ shortcomings, Titania looks past Bottom’s very apparent ignorance out of love.

    Read More

  • School Shootings: The Consequences Of School Violence

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    School shootings have been a crime for quite some time, in the past three years they have unfortunately become a more common issue. On April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, a school shooting occurred (“Columbine”). This shooting was done by two teens who attended Columbine. The teens’ reasoning behind committing such crime is due to the fact that they were bullied by students of Columbine High School. This was a very tragic event for Columbine High School. With 13 people killed and 20 wounded, it left a mark on the community. After the two teens went about this shooting, they committed suicide. School shootings are a very serious matter, and for years following shootings like Columbine, the atmosphere of the school, as well as the community, is damaged. The Columbine High School shooting is labeled the worst shooting in United States History (“Columbine”). Schools never fully mend from tragic events like school shootings; however, there is more prevention that can be done to reduce the chances of school shootings happening.

    Read More

  • True Love and Unrequited Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

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

    Read More

  • The Relationship Dynamics Of A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, the ideal relationships are not immune to experiencing unharmonious periods. Despite this, the ideal couples eventually found harmony which allowed them to experience a joyous ending. Lysander and Hermia have a harmonious relationship in that they display similar desires and mindsets. In the beginning, after declaring their love for one another Lysander and Hermia devise a plan to run away and elope (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.156-178). Even when they are not of the same mindset Hermia and Lysander find an amicable solution. After becoming lost in the forest, Lysander’s desire is for them to sleep together, Hermia refuses for fear of the disgrace that would be placed upon her if for some reason they did not become married. Even though Lysander is a reluctant he respects her wishes (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.1.47-67). On the other hand, the relationship between Oberon and Titania in spite of being plagued by dysfunction comes to a harmonious agreement. At the beginning Titania and Oberon are quarreling over the control of an Indian changeling boy (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.1.18-31). While under the influence of an enchantment that Oberon had placed on her Titania relinquishes the control of the changeling boy to Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 4.1.56-60). After the enchantment is removed from her Titania no longer has feelings of defiance toward Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the first trip on Aug. 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa María, commanded by Columbus himself, the Pinta under Martín Pinzón, and the Niña under Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. After halting at the Canary Islands, he sailed due west from Sept. 6 until Oct. 7, when he changed his course to the southwest. On Oct. 10 a small mutiny was quelled, and on Oct. 12 he landed on a small island (Watling Island; or San Salvadort) in the Bahamas group. He took possession for Spain and, with impressed natives aboard, discovered other islands in the neighborhood. On Oct. 27 he sighted Cuba and on Dec. 5 reached Hispaniola. On Christmas Eve the Santa María was wrecked on the north coast of Hispaniola, and Columbus, leaving men there to found a colony, hurried back to Spain on the Niña. His reception was all he could wish; according to his contract with the Spanish sovereigns he was made “admiral of the ocean sea” and governor-general of all new lands he had discovered or should discover.

    Read More

More about A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay: Aspects of Love

Open Document