Despite the fact that Demetrius was profusely adamant in gaining Hermia’s hand in marriage, instead, the young man was recently spotted betraying his promises to wholly devote to Hermia. After disappearing into the forest for some days, Demetrius’s intention of pursuing his fiancée was replaced, and Demetrius proclaimed his love to another maiden: Helena.
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...
In the story, the supreme ruler of Athens, Thesius ends up marrying Hippolyta, the Queen of the Jungle. However, during the whole story, Hippolyta never throughly discusses her feelings and ideas about the marriage. She acts as if she has no choice but to marry Thesius. This can be proven by examining Hippolyta's position in the relationship between herself and Thesius. Hippolyta was captured by Thesius during battle and Thesius intimidates Hippolyta into marrying him since he is a supreme ruler and she was defeated by him. Thesius reveals that he capture Hippolyta in battle in the following quote, "I wood thee by my sword/ And won thy love doing thee injuries" (Act I, Pg 7). The above quote and the fact that Hippolyta never discusses her feelings about the wedding leads the re...
Love truly has a great effect on the couples of Hippolyta and Theseus, and Titania and Oberon. In the case of Hippolyta and Theseus, Hippolyta is able to manipulate the gender roles in the relationship because Theseus’ love for her trumps all. However, in the relationship of Titania and Oberon, Oberon values controlling their hierarchy of power before his love for Titania, and thus, gender roles do not change, but are in fact worsened. Whether or not gender roles are changed, love is a chaotic process that causes people to act in ways that seem implausible to the outside world.
Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...
Love can be a very fragile yet powerful thing that can endure many dilemmas. Shakespeare’s play not only demonstrates both his learning and expansiveness of his imagination, but also references his attribute towards the Greek mythology. His play also focuses on the conventions of English Renaissance theater. In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare utilizes the characters, Lysander and Hermia, to reveal that the two lovers will endure many challenges in society.
The structure and rhyme scheme of the young nobles’ dialogue during their frenzied foray into the forest accentuates the fool’s ability to resolve the complications of the abstract realm. Following Theseus’ proclamation that Hermia must marry Demetrius according to her father’s will or be put to death, in Act II, Scene ii, Hermia steals away to the woods with her lover Lysander to evade Demetrius. Demetrius himself has been involved with another woman, Helena. The Duke could not truly resolve the love polygon between the young nobles with a simple edict; a solution would require an actual understanding of the nature of love in order to untangle the intertwined lovers. ...
The play Midsummer Nights Dream is written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan times comedies were popular and this play is also written as a comedy. Comedies during the Elizabethan times consisted of a specific story of lovers and ends with everyone marrying and living happily ever after again, some of these plays were also very funny e.g. Pyramas and Thisbe. This is very different to what we think is a comedy nowadays. In our minds a comedy would be something that makes the audience laugh and consists of many jokes. The play would have been played in the Globe arena where the audience would have consisted of both rich and poor or what they would say ‘peasants’. In the Elizabethan Era the rich and the poor were divided into two different classes. The rich were counted as first class and were given the seats in the stands to sit on. Whereas on the other hand the Peasants were forced to stand on the floor where it...
Helena represents the passion for love in this text, as she runs after Demetrius into a forest seeking love between them, even after Demetrius has told her to stay away. This passion for love is significant to the play, because this play is displaying how love triumphs the social hierarchy, even though magic is a deciding factor. “The more I love, the more he hateth me” (I.i.199). Helena says this of Demetrius as her love to him is deemed unwanted and repulsive. Her passion for love is so strong that she is willing shed blood for it, “I am your spaniel. And Demetrius the more you beat me, I will faun on you. Use me as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me” (II.i.204-206). Even to an extent where she would die for Demetrius, “Stay, thou kill me, sweet Demetrius” (II.ii.84). At one point in the play Helena loses her sight of having a passion for love, when Demetrius and Lysander both fall head over heels for Helena, she can't believe them. It seems Helena has disbursed so much time rationalizing why she isn't loved that, when the moment comes along whether it is reality or falsehood, she can't embrace it and enjoy it for how it is seen. She develops even more self-pity for herself when she trusts that she has gone from being unloved to a person of pure mockery. As time passes her love for Demetriu...
Unlike the four main lovers, Theseus, Duke of Athens, believes that men should never be out of touch with the real world. In short, he views the four lovers story as nothing but an illusion concocted in their imaginations. The entire idea of being infatuated with one’s lover to the point of losing touch with the real world is ludicrous to him. At first, Theseus’ love for Hippolyta may be viewed as cold, but once one realizes Theseus’ realistic and noble character, it is obvious that he strongly desires his bride.
Hippolyta is a strong yet silent amazonian beauty who is the love of Theseus, Duke of Athens. Although Hippolyta is largely silent in her dealings with love in the patriarchal society, her physical presence speaks for the untold voice she might profit from. Of the four main female characters Hippolyta is the more silent of the four. However, since Hippolyta is the maiden of Theseus she bears heavy in the decisions Theseus makes about the love quarrels within the play. From the words of Theseus the reader can associate that Hippolyta has a strong impact on the actions he takes when dealing with love and marriage:
Unlike the four main lovers, Theseus, Duke of Athens, believes that men should never be out of touch with the real world. In short, he views the four lovers’ story as nothing but an illusion concocted in their imaginations. The entire idea of being infatuated with one’s lover to the point of losing touch with the real world is ludicrous to him. At first, Theseus’ love for Hippolyta may be viewed as cold, but once one realizes Theseus’ realistic and noble character, it is obvious that he strongly desires his bride.
...ularly touches on how complicated love is and how love is blind. On the other hand, the outlandish, farcical scenes contribute to the moral that love is irrational and ridiculous. Throughout the play, it is evident that Shakespeare intends to create a crucial moral about love, while also entertaining the audience. The comedic aspect of the play as a whole; however, is clearly not intended just to entertain the audience, but also serves as a way to help symbolize this larger message about love. This moral is clearly not intended, but rather makes a point and pokes fun at love, and even in the biggest picture, society. Although some may interpret morals differently from others, when reading or watching A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is critical to not only understand the humor but also harvest the moral about love and realize that humor can contribute to that moral.
Following this scene, Lysander and Hermia elope and run to the neighboring woods pursued by Demetrius and his crazed admirer, Helena. Helena is desperately trying to receive mutual admira...
These three couples are captured in the endless game of love in a land of fairies and a world of reality. A sexual desire runs strong through these characters especially in the men, Lysander and Demetrius. Helena is truly in love with Demetrius because of their shared night together. Lysander and Hermia are deeply in love, but Lysander decides to take it one more step. "One turf shall serve as pillow for us both; one heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth... O, take the sense sweet, of my innocence!" (Pg 57. Line 47- 51) Here Lysander begs for her body while he has already gained her heart. The love is real, but Hermia replies, "Nay, good Lysander. For my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Do not lie so near." Men are driven to that desire, even in the farthest and most fantasyland years ago.