A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was the most enjoyable drama for me. This Shakespearean play mixed two very different worlds into an entertaining story about love, magic, and an extremely bad play. In true Shakespearean fashion, this play is complex, multilayered, and filled with many symbols. Some of these symbols include dreams, a love potion, and again, one very bad play. One of the main elements in this play is the mixing of different worlds. I also believe that it is important to acknowledge that this mixing only occurred within the mystical setting of a forest. I believe that Shakespeare is trying to show that people cannot intermix, grow, and find love until they go outside of their normal world. Within the forest there was a world of common …show more content…
Although there was definitely hints towards the struggles couples have when they are in love, the greatest difficulties came when magic intervened with true love. The reader gets to see the difficulties of true love through Lysander and Hermia at the beginning of the story. Hermia is to be wed to Demetrius or sent to a convent. She tells her parents of her love for Lysander, however their decision is final. This is what brings Lysander and Hermia into the forest in the first place. The reader also sees true love through Helena. She tells Demetrius of the couples plan’s to elope in hopes that he will let go of Hermia and fall in love with her, Helena. The reader can also see the love between Titania and Oberon despite their bickering when we are first introduced to these characters. Love is an important part of the play, however magic is what truly holds the story …show more content…
First, Puck places the love spell on the wrong Athenian man, Lysander. Then also puts the spell on Demetrius. They both become infatuated with Helena, although they were recently in love with Hermia. Magic is not limited to humans, for it also affected Titania. The fairy queen falls in love with Bottom, even though Oberon’s intent was for Titania to fall back in love with him. As the reader can see, love is obvious to the plot line, however most of the love we are talking about is love fro a spell, not true love. This makes magic the biggest theme of the story. Another large symbol is the play the Athenian craftsmen give to the four main characters and Hermia’s parents. Theseus and Hippolyta, the play, describes a young couple very in control. They represent order and stability. Shakespeare uses this play to show contrast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a whole. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is full of uncertainty, magic, and darkness, comparatively. In true Shakespearean order, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is full of symbols and a variety of themes. The symbols include Thesus and Hippolyta to show contrast to the rest of the story. The story also includes multiple love stories, although I believe magic is the true underlying theme of the story. Shakespeare decides to mix the world of fairies, with the real world to create a complex, rather confusing, entertaining story of a ensemble who
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream he entices the reader using character development, imagery, and symbolism. These tools help make it a wonderful play for teens, teaching them what a well-written comedy looks like. As well as taking them into a story they won’t soon forget.
This is evident in the quote where Lysander says, “Athenian law cannot pursue us.” This would not of been a trial for them, but fate had something else in store. “Content with Hermia? No, I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Not Hermia, but Helena I love” (II.i ll. 118-12). Puck, a fairy, put cupid’s love juice into Lysander’s eyes. This is evident in the quote, “Night and silence! Who is here? Weeds of Athens he doth wear. This is he my master said, despised the Athenian maid, and here the maiden, sleeping on the ground. Pretty soul, she durst not lie near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw all the power of this charm doth owe” (II.i ll. 76-85). As it states in the quote, it made him fall in love with the first person he saw, which happened to be Helena. This is proven when Lysander said, “but Helena I love”. Lysander told Hermia he was in love with Helena, not her, so the elopement was off. This is evident when he says, “I repent the minutes I spent with her.” This is difficult for Hermia because she is confused, and does not know what is going on, or why Lysander was acting this way. This is evident when she takes her
What is love? Love is a very powerful emotion! Love is something that can come at any time in your life. It can appear in any way, shape, or form. In the famous play “Midsummer Night's Dream,” by William Shakespeare, love is a major theme that affects many people and causes many challenges. In order for love to conquer these challenges one needs to stay true to their love, they may need the help of some magic, and must be persistent.
Even his lightest plays have serious undertones to them. Each one depicts life as it once was, complete with the rules and expectations which were common at the time. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare reflects society’s views on love and gender, both in his own time and in ancient Athens.
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream may come off as a simple comedy but is a complex play with many interesting aspects. Passion, a significant characteristic, is often expressed through the play. Characters in the play show passion for different reasons; Puck passions for mischief, Helena for Demetrius’ love and Bottom for theatrics, are a few of the many examples. Passion shows much significance, being the most important characteristic in the play.
The three major themes in "A midsummer nights dream" that, Shakespeare heavily contrasts is, by using three groups of extremely different
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.
All of literature is littered with symbolic archetypes, from the night to the forest to the hero to the star crossed lovers, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream is no exception. In this piece, as with every other great work of fiction, Shakespeare shapes his characters and the setting to fit into these universally recognized molds. Before analyzing this piece of literature through these archetypal eyeglasses, it is crucial to understand what archetypes are, and why they are used.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander.
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.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays magic through many places in the text. Magic is a key component to the plot of the story. Magic can make a problem disappear, or it can intensify the problem. There are many reasons magic is powerful, but one of the main ones is because not everyone understands it. Magic in one way or another affects everyone in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the perspective with which each character views magic is different. The power of magic is something that is hard to understand, even those who use magic often cannot fully understand magic because in many ways it is irrational and inexplicable.
William Shakespeare’s writings are famous for containing timeless, universal themes. A particular theme that is explored frequently in his writings is the relationship between men and women. A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains a multitude of couplings, which are often attributed to the fairies in the play. Each of these pairings has positive and negative aspects, however, some relationships are more ideal than others. From A Midsummer Night’s Dream the optimal pairings are Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania; while the less desirable pairings are Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Demetrius, Lysander and Helena, and Titania and Bottom. Throughout A Midsummer
Next, the misuse of magic causes conflict among the four Athenian lovers. When Puck mistakenly applies the love potion to Lysander’s eyelids. At this point, both male characters of the main plot have fallen in love with Helena, leaving Hermia out of balance. The struggle of the four lovers is one of the more complicated conflicts in the play. The conflict could have been avoided if Puck did not misuse his magic. However, because Puck mistakenly used his magic on Lysander, conflict erupted.
Considered to be the greatest playwright to ever have lived, William Shakespeare’s works continue to fascinate and entrance audiences around the world. Imbued with imagery, his comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is perhaps one of his more fantastic but none the less intricate plays. Presiding over the proceedings, the moon is the uniting feature of the play. With its multi-layered symbolism it is the thread that connects the different characters and weaves the tale together.
Miller, Ronald F. “ A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Fairies, The Bottom, and the Mystery of Things”. Shakespeare Quarterly 26.3 (1975): 254-68. Web.