Two Peas in a Pod: Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream

The texts Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare are very similar. At first the dramas appear different, one a tragedy and one a comedy. But, the brilliance of Shakespeare is evident in each, and thus they relate to each other. In metaphors, and even themes, the two texts are very alike. If you compare the acts from Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream you will find similarities between the two texts. Romeo and Juliet is very similar Midsummer Night’s Dream because in act one both texts discuss daughters with prearranged marriages, in act two Romeo and Lysander jump in and out of love, and in act three both plays contain terrible misconceptions.

In Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia is to be married to Demetrius, and in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is to be married to Paris. Just like in Romeo and Juliet, Hermia doesn’t love Demetrius. Instead she loves the dashing Lysander. The girl’s father holds a confidence with Theseus, the great ruler of Athens. “Stand forth Lysander; and my gracious duke, this man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.” Egeus says to Theseus in Act 1, Scene 1, and line 28. He is flabbergasted at the fact that Hermia could love Lysander and not Demetrius. In “Romeo and Juliet” There is much of the same confusion over love. Juliet is asked to love Paris. She will willingly subjugate herself to the Capulet’s rule, and so agrees to like Paris. Juliet says about her arranged marriage, “I’ll look to like if looking liking move, but no more deep will I endart mine eye than thy consent gives strength to make it fly.” Unlike in Midsummer Night’s Dream, the first act of Romeo and Juliet doesn’t portray angered parents. This is because that rise in the plot will come much later in the play...

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...Did not you tell me I should know the man by the Athenian garments he had on? And so far blameless proves my enterprise that I have ‘anointed an Athenian’s eyes.” Puck says in Act 3, scene 2, line 133. Both plays are imbued with terrible mistakes and misconceptions.

Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream are both plays written by Shakespeare. Like much of Shakespeare’s work, they contain beautiful language and rhyming patterns. Romeo and Juliet is very similar Midsummer Night’s Dream because in act one both texts discuss daughters with prearranged marriages, in act two Romeo and Lysander jump in and out of love, and in act three both plays contain terrible misconceptions. Clearly the plays contain similar content and ideas, but they are equally entertaining.

Works Cited

Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare