Category: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, one of the many themes of the play is love. During the play, there is a major wedding happening for The Duke and Amazon Queen, Theseus and Hippolyta. The play takes place in Athens, Greece, and is mainly focused around four lovers: Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the main types of love shown are false, sexual, and parental which should not triumph all.

False love is presented to us by Oberon, The Fairy King, at the beginning of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There are three people who are compelled by false love: Lysander, Titania, and Demetrius. Lysander was mistaken by Puck for Demetrius. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, Oberon’s jester, is a troublesome fairy who plays tricks on mortals. When Oberon found out about Puck’s mistake, he was not pleased and he says, “What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite/ And laid the love juice on some true love’s sight/ Of thy misprision must perforce ensue/ Some true love turned and not a false turned true” (3.2.89-91). Lysander was in true love with Hermia, but when Puck puts the love juice on his eyes, he falls in false love with Helena. Helena was caught completely off guard by Lysander and this sudden change of heart and decides that Lysander must be mocking her because she already suffers from her unshared love for Demetrius. Declaring his love for her, Lysander follows Helena into the wood deserting Hermia all alone in the woods asleep. Lysander under the love potion begins to praise her beauty and to declare his undying passion: “ Context with Hermia? No, I do not repent/ the tedious minutes I with her have spent/ Not Hermia, but Helena I love/ Who will not change a raven for a dove/ The will of man is by his reason swayed/ … Reason to becomes the marshall to my will/ And leads me to your eyes, where I o’erlook” (2.2.118-128). Lysander is in love with Hermia but the love for her is not true it is false. His true love for Hermia was washed away when Puck puts the love juice on Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius. Although false love was presented to us by Oberon the mistake was soon corrected.

Sexual love is a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction, Titania and Bottom have a sexual relationship because of Oberon. In the play Oberon and Titania are have a big fight in the first half of the play about Titania’s rejecting to relinquish the changeling. The changeling boys mother had been a friend of hers and she dies giving birth to the boy. Oberon is driven by jealousy that he makes Robin Goodfellow, Puck, go get a flower that acts like one of Cupid’s arrows. Oberon does this so he can recall her attention and striping her of the changeling boy. Puck retrieves the flower and gives it to Oberon. Once Titania is asleep Oberon puts the love juice on Titania’s eyelids. When Titania wakes up she hears Nick Bottom sing and states, “ I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again/ Mine ear is such enamored of thy note/ … On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee” (3.1.139-143). Titania is awakened by Nick Bottoms who has been recently transformed into an “ass-head” by Puck and falls in love with him. Titania calls her fairies over to meet Bottom and she tells them to give him anything he wants. Then after she states her fairies “ Come, wait upon him. Lead him to my bower/ The moon, methinks, looks with wat’ry eye/ And when she weeps, weeps every little flower/ Lamenting some enforced chastity/ Tie up my lovers tongue. Bring him silently” (3.1.204-208). Love is not just about sexual intercourse it is strong and lasting affection between spouses or lovers who are in a happy, passionate and fulfilling relationship. Titania and Bottom have a sexual relationship because she is telling her fairies to take her lover to her bed so they can sleep together.

Parental love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is introduced to us by Egeus, Hermia’s dad. Egeus take the three lovers: Lysander, Demetruis, and Hermia to the Duke of Athens, Theseus. Egeus clearly states that he wants Demetrius to marry Hermia but Hermia does not love Demetrius. Egeus says, “Stand forth, Demetrius My Noble lord/ This man hath my consent to marry her/ Stand forth, Lysander. And my gracious Duke/ This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child” (1.1.24-28). Hermia loves Lysander and her father is not happy with this and thats why he says he believes Lysander is unworthy and that he does not truly love Hermia and he is trying to undermine Egeus’s authority as a father. As this conversation goes on Hermia only has three options to choose from to become a nun, marry a man she doesn’t love, or go against her father and die. Hermia is not happy with the choices she has, so she chose to run away from Athens with Lysander. They tell their trustworthy friend Helena about their plans to run away but Helena goes behind their backs tells Demetruis of the plan. Later towards the end of the story Lysander and Hermia are back together and Demetrius is final in love with Helena. Egeus hears of what happened and pronounce, “Enough, enough, my lord. You have enough!/ I beg the law, the law, upon his head/ They would have stol’n away, they would, Demetrius/ Thereby to have defeated you and me/ You of your wife and me of my consent/ Of my consent that she should be your wife” (4.1.160-166). Egeus is saying to the Duke that you heard enough evidence that they were going to run away together and he insists that the law punishes Lysander. Demetrius tells Egeus and Theseus that he no longer loves Hermia but he now loves Helena. Theseus overrules Egeus commands and lets the lovers stay with each other. In the end the two lovers get married with The Duke and Amazon Queen.

There are many types of love such as friendly, unrequited, argumentative, and passionative. The main types of love shown in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are false, sexual, and parental. False love is presented to us by Oberon at the beginning of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This type of love is an excessive desire to control other people and it resembles over-protection sometimes, in some cases the person is trying to downgrade the other person. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream false love is not the definition of false love, in the play it is true love turned false but feels true. Furthermore in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Titania and Bottom introduce sexual love to us. Sexul love is a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction, Titania and Bottom have a sexual relationship in A Midsummer Night’s Dream due to Oberon wanting the changeling boy. The only way to gain possession is to recall her attention and striping her of the changeling boy. In addition to the types of love Parental love is a big part of their daughters and sons loving someone. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, parental love does take some part but it does not triumph at all. Your parent does have a saying you’re life but it does not always make them your decision maker. Our parents play an important role in our mental, physical, social, financial and career development. They help us in every step of our life, they trained us for the challenges that come up in the future. Our parents are the people who support and love you, and the people you can trust in.

The works of William Shakespeare evince great fascination and entertainment for the overarching themes orchestrated by the plot and characters. The theme of illusion versus reality is employed in many Shakespearean plays, allowing for the saturation of dramatic irony. In this way, the audience becomes increasingly aware of the feelings, motives, and behaviours of each character and their situation as the plot advances. This enhances the play as it can evoke humour, suspense, or empathy. Throughout Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, the characters exemplify the theme of how individuals convey or implement deceptive appearances to fulfill their goals, ultimately eliciting empathy and magnifying the emotions of the audience.

Firstly, different characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream conceal reality by using magic to achieve their goals. For example, Oberon, King of the Fairies, is a quarrelsome and selfish character who conspires to steal an Indian boy page from his wife, fairy Queen Titania. To do this, Oberon commands Puck, his mischievous fairy servant, to find a magic pansy and inflict Titania with infatuation for a beast. Oberon proclaims:

Having once this juice,

I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep,

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:

The next things then she waking looks upon-

Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,

On meddling monkey, or on busy ape-

She shall pursue it with the soul of love.

And ere I take this charm from off her sight-

As I can take it with another herb-

I’ll make her render up her page to me (Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, II.i.176-185).

Oberon’s plans to distort Titania’s emotions demonstrates the theme of illusion versus reality as fictitious dispositions are used for personal gain. His scheme allows the audience to experience a sense of empathy for Titania and a growing anticipation as they await Oberon’s impending torment. Additionally, Puck, a knavish trickster, decides that he will transform Nick Bottom, an Athenian craftsman, into the beast that will enchant Titania. Puck declares to Oberon, “An ass’s nole I fixed on his head/ … Titania waked, and straightway loved an ass” (III.ii.16, 34). Since Bottom is a clownish character and behaves with absurdity, the disfiguring of his appearance provides humour and amusement for the audience as it reflects his bizarre nature.

Similarly, the characters in Hamlet exhibit the theme of illusion versus reality by adopting personas contradictory to their true nature to accomplish their goals. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his late father, King Hamlet of Denmark, and learns that his Uncle Claudius murdered his father to obtain the throne. Succeeding this revelation, Hamlet decides to avenge his father by investigating his death, and then assassinating Claudius if he is the killer. Hamlet vows “to put an antic disposition on” (Hamlet, I.v.71) and feign madness to scrutinize the ghost’s allegations and avoid raising suspicion to his agenda. Hamlet’s resolve creates suspense and induces curiosity for the audience as he plans to corroborate the ghost’s claims under the guise of a madman. Furthermore, Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain of the King’s court, uses charm and wisdom as artifices to conceal his greed and arrogance. Before his son Laertes departs for France, Polonius advises, “This above all: to thine own self be true/ And it must follow, as the night the day/ Thou canst not then be false to any man” (I.iii.78-80). Polonius seems to be a father who extends care for his son by sharing important virtues. However, Polonius dispatches Reynaldo, his spy, to track Laertes’s actions and “make inquire/ Of his behavior” (II.i.4-5) after Laertes leaves Denmark. Polonius is hypocritical as the advice he imparts contradicts his true motives. Laertes believes that his father cares for his well being, causing the audience to pity him as they understand that Polonius is self-absorbed and exudes false goodwill to achieve control over his son.

It is evident that the use of illusions by magic or deceit throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet enhances the humour, suspense, and empathy experienced by the audience. This theme of illusion versus reality aids the audience in understanding the significance of manipulating reality to depict specific impressions or accomplish hidden ambitions. This state of omniscience of each character’s intentions and actions ultimately intensifies the emotions of the audience.

Works Cited

1. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2008.
2. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Canadian School Book Exchange, 1963.

In Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has many comedic moments and the acting is quite humorous. There is also plenty of chaos ( love and hate relationship) between lovers that is resolved by the end, resulting in marriage. However, as a reader, I find that whole idea about women is not so humorous when you look at a plot closely. Throughout the play, women are constantly involved in severe mental suffering due to complex of love with male characters. Furthermore, women are subjected to harsh treatment of men which ending in their death. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream appears to be a romantic love comedy. But the truth behind the comedy is Shakespeare is actually making fun of women’s right in a male dominated society.

I am from South Korea which is a nation known to be male dominated society. As a korean woman, we taught to be respect men as they are head of household. However, I see a different perspective of wrongly understood women in Shakespeare’s play such as he uses women as an object for physical or emotional satisfaction of male’s ego. Author Muhammad Ayub Jajja concludes that Shakespeare’s comedies “reinforce the patriarchy and all the major patriarchal ideas and ideals” (118). However, he stated “It presents men as strong, decisive, rational, capable and competent beings” (113) which seems contradicting himself by overlooking Shakespeare’s feminist perspective.

In the very first scene, Theseus and Hippolyta are talking about their future wedding ceremony. In regards to the theme of Shakespeare’s play, the male dominated society rule, it was perfect in regards to choice of character in the play. In the myth, when Hippolyta refuses marry Theseus, he kidnaps her from the Amazons and forcing her to marry him and then abandons her with all other his women. In response to her abandonment, Hippolyta returns with her troops to Amazon and storms the wedding of Theseus and Phaedra to revenge him but her and her army defeated greatly by Theseus. In regards to Theseus dealings with Hippolyta’s disobedient, represents the torment that men put women through, as Louis Adrian Montrose, in his article “‘Shaping Fantasies,” explains that, “Theseus habitual victimization of women, the chronicle of his rapes and disastrous marriages, is a discourse of anxious misogyny which persists as an echo within Shakespeare’s text” (75). He recognized Theseus himself as a total asshole who has no hesitation in use of force to gain love from women and even harming Hippolyta physically. This gives audience a big messages through Shakespeare’s play is about men ruling authority over women is suffer greatly resulting tragic end for women, under the patriarchal rule men.

The story continues with horrendous treatment of women. Shakespeare represent opening scene with a mythological character, Egeus, father of Hermia. He wants her to marry a guy who he think perfect for her regardless of her opinion. But Hermia disagrees her father because she believes Demetrius is the one for her to marry with. The father, Egeus becomes so furious over her disagreement, he irrationally react only to preserve his dominance over his daughter even if that means threatening of her well being. In her article, “Law of the Father,” Stephanie Chamberlain supports Egeus’ lack of concern for his daughter, writing that, “What apparently motivates Egeus to disregard a daughter’s wishes is neither concern for her happiness nor her future economic or social well-being; it is rather the ‘ancient privilege of Athens,’ the law of the father that forces this confrontation before the court of the Duke” (34). In this scene Shakespeare is not only mocking the irrational behavior of Egeus, but also taking a women as they can be harmed by the laws of a patriarchal system of extreme parenting.

The Shakespeare’s play turns from comedy to serious matter when the father, Egeus decided to use dominance over his daughter even though it means harming her. This can compare 17th century parenting style from Stephanie Chamberlain which she describes the “extraordinary measures” one father took to bring a disobedient daughter under control:

Coke purportedly broke into a kinsman’s house where his daughter Frances was hiding with her mother, Lady Elizabeth Hatton. Frances was subsequently imprisoned where she was verbally and physically assaulted until she agreed to marry the suitor Coke had selected for her. Coke’s abuse, while no doubt extreme, does illustrate the measure at least one early modern parent undertook to force obedience to patriarchal authority. (33)

Although Egeus has a different approach than Sir Edward Coke to his daughter, Shakespeare still has Egeus act just as irrationally to maintain his authority over Hermia, going as far as threatening death if she does not comply. Even though extreme parenting means to show their love for children however, it is a bit crossing the line in regards to father’s selfishness and considering his opinion comes first before his daughter’s wellbeing. Both Egeus and Coke’s extreme parenting act demonstrate how absurd men can be in their treatment of women, especially when it comes to their own authority. Shakespeare’s play shows great deal of men ruling over women and yet it is humorous as if it is mocking this serious matter.

It even shows in the play among fairies when conflict begins between Oberon and Titania. TItania challenges Oberon’s authority to claim a changeling boy. Shakespeare writes:

“A lovely boy, stolen from an Indian king;

She never had so sweet a changeling;

And jealous Oberon would have the child

Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild;

But she perforce withholds the loved boy,

Crowns him with flowers and makes him all her joy”

Oberon telling her that the boy is his because he is not “thy Lord?” (Shakespeare 2.1. 63). In response, Titania argue that the boy was born to a friend who died at childbirth, so it is her responsibility to raise the boy(Shakespeare 2.1. 128-137). In the result, Oberon gets agitated by her disobedience(Shakespeare 2.1. 147). While Shakespeare has switched from the natural to supernatural world, the rule of patriarchy remains. The result is the same as before-while Oberon mirroring Egeus, Shakespeare once again shows suffering women under the rule of a patriarchal man.

There are countless scenes where women falling in love with the ignorant men has to pay the price. Though, Shakespeare continues to represent women weaker than men emotionally and physically which in reality, it is not all true. It is humorous play when you look at how love can lead human’s life miserable but it is not so humorous in regards of idea in superior men authority ruling society perspective. Comedian George Carlin once said, “Here’s all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.” Shakespeare would agree and yet Shakespeare’s play seems constant mistreatment of women throughout. It is tragic that parallel the hardships suffered by Helena and Hermia while Shakespeare remains to reinforce patriarchy and mocking men’s authority. In my opinion, it remains disgusting taste in my tongue at the end of play. We should acknowledge women’s suffering is tragic history and yet Shakespeare’s play has sarcastic tone throughout in comedic play of Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Works Cited

1. Chamberlain, Stephanie. “The Law of the Father: Patriarchal Economy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Journal of the Wooden O Symposium 11 (2011): 28-40. Print.
2. Jajja, Muhammad Ayub. “Women in Shakespearean Comedies: A Feminist Perspective.”
3. Journal of Educational Research 16.1 (2013): 112-119. Print.
4. Montrose, Louis Adrian. “‘Shaping Fantasies’: Figurations of Gender and Power in Elizabethan Culture.” Representations 2 (Spring 1983): 61-94. Print.
5. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ed. Wolfgang Clemen. New York: Signet Classics, 1998. Print.

The spaces between reality and illusion in theatre are important for shaping the audience’s perceptions of the world. The Bell Shakespeare team describes this as “the ultimate ‘liminal spaces’, neither reality nor pure illusion”. William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ explores the aspect of liminality by blurring the boundaries of the real word with fantasy. This is done through many contrasts in the play, two major aspects being the states of time and the conflicted worlds of the fairy and human form. By utilising these liminal spaces Shakespeare is able to inform the viewer’s perceptions of the world.

Time is a problematic concept in the play. Shakespeare utilises this aspect of liminality to explore perceptions of illusions and reality. A prime example of this is the introduction of Theseus and Hippolyta, when they are discussing their marriage: “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; Four nights will quickly dream away the time” (1.1. 8-9). This is where time becomes an issue as the nights that go by do not line up. This is used for dramatic purposes to convey the symbolic meaning behind these periods and how it differs between dream states and reality. The confusion created could possibly suggest how an uninterrupted dream has the power to speed up lengths of time. The differences between time in the two worlds of fantasy and reality can be clearly seen when Shakespeare makes use of the woods as a place to invite the audience into a dream state. Through Iambic pentameter, the rhythm in the lines of the play reflect the different spaces of time taking place between the two worlds in the dreaming and awakening states.

As time is a questionable concept, the confusion of the waking and sleeping patterns throughout the play gives the audience a sense of uncertainty when trying to distinguish between the states of characters – whether they are awake or if they are in a dream state. Nearly every character in some point of the play falls asleep. This suggests that the events that occur could truly be part of their dream, as they may still be in their sleeping state. This can be seen in the quote by Demetrius, “Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream” (4.1.192-93). During the play the mechanicals and lovers experience some hilarious and mean tricks from the fairies during their sleep, and only the audience witnesses these. Once all the characters awake, they are confused and unsure about what has happened, showing the ironic effect of the love potion. The continual theme of sleep and dreaming states are used as a transitional period separating the characters from the fantasy and illusion of magic and reality. These liminal spaces represent sleep in a number of ways. For Hermia and Lysander, and for Bottom and Titania, sleep represents the uniting of lovers. However, for Puck and Oberon sleep represents the concept of making reality a dream.

While the concept of time is played interchangeably, setting is a major aspect that adds to this effect. The two major settings throughout the play are the city of Athens and the magical forest. The city is structured and ordered whereas the forest is place for anarchy. Shakespeare creates two different universes that have the ability to connect in diverse ways, however they have the capability to co-exist even through their differences. The outcome of the consistency of Titania and Oberon’s fighting is representing the climates unpredictable traits. As a result of their dispute, it is further emphasised that their conflict is not confined to the magical forest but further extended to the real world. “Contagious fogs; which falling in the land” (2.1.90), “The childing autumn, angry winter change” (2.1.112) show how the quarrel between Titania and Oberon has altered the native climate of the seasons. This aspect of liminality shows how the various weather states are symbolising the consequences of arguments and how this can cause hardship, even between characters of the mystical world. From this, the play replaces the well-known world where government structures society into a disordered world with no laws. Waking and sleeping, day and night, love and abuse, and court and forest builds numerous kinds of states, and because of this, most characters struggle to know what space they are truly in.

The forest is a strong symbol of untamed nature that is tied to the illusion of the world of fairies. Because of this Shakespeare is able to benefit the audience by letting them experience travel, parting Athens and arriving into a new universe and welcoming the audience to experience a dream. On their journey through the liminal spaces of the play, Shakespeare utilises the forest setting as a land of chaos more so than a land of order. When Puck says “Through the forest have I gone… Night and silence – Who is here?” (2.2.72-76), it shows how dreams have the capability to confuse and even strip someone of an identity. This space between the two worlds allows the audience to formulate their own perception of illusion versus reality. It pushes viewers to see through spaces of liminality the effects behind the dream state.

By making use of the conflicting aspects of time between the waking and sleeping states as well as the two worlds of the play, William Shakespeare is able to blur together illusion and reality to inform the audience’s views on the world. These liminal spaces invite the viewer into the settings of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ through the contrasts between the human and fairy form and through how time differs between each of their worlds. These become the most important aspects for shaping its audience’s perceptions.

Introduction to Archetypes and Myths in Shakespeare’s Comedy

“The course of true love never did run smooth” (Crowther, ed., 2005). Nor do dreams; a series of thoughts, images and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. A Midsummer Night’s Dream gives us a conscious fantasy, a doubting reality. The plot revolves around the desire for well-matched love and the struggle to achieve it, with love and marriage being two fundamental points which make up the beginning and the end of the Shakespearean comedy. While the comedy is romantic, it freely mixes the light and the serious, by switching points of views from time to time, avoiding the audience from relating and feeling bad for the characters before they are given too much emphasis on, it shifts throughout the play to give us an equal insight on all the characters. William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has changed perceptions on archetypal characters, their roles and ancient myths. In this work, a trickster makes amends, women brawl and fairies are much more kind than they are believed to be.

The Interplay of Love and Conflict Among Characters

The play opens on a positive note, as Theseus, Duke of Athens, anticipates his wedding to Hippolyta, giving the play a festive mood. The main conflict is introduced when other lovers enter, with the fairies’ interference the conflict further complicates. Reflecting the drama among the Athenians, the monarchs of the fairy kingdom are also troubled with love. Oberon instructs Puck to put the “love-in-idleness” flower’s juice upon Titania and Demetrius’ eyes to fall in love with the next person they see. With the tension rising as the night pushes toward dawn, Oberon orders Puck to reverse the enchantment and set things right among the lovers. Meanwhile all this, the Mechanicals have been preparing to perform their adaption of the tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe”, Shakespeare includes this plot throughout the entire play to have an opposing factor against the play’s tangle of troubling love. This mix of tragedy and comedy forms the sense that none of the action should be taken seriously. The play ends with Puck saying, “Think you have but slumbered here / While these visions did appear / And this weak and idle theme / No more yielding but a dream”.

Puck: The Quintessential Trickster and His Role

Notice this, Puck is reassuring the audience, and though there is little character development in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and goes from one perspective to another with no protagonist being fully identified, critics generally point to Puck as the most important character of the play. He, Robin Goodfellow, or whom we are more familiar with as Puck, creates the play’s fun and rowdy atmosphere, making him put the story in motion with his pranks, and even in mistakes he manages to make the plot more engrossing. These are usually what Tricksters do, but should Puck only be limited to the title and role of a Trickster? He may be limited to the title, but that should not limit his actions to those of our typical Tricksters. By “typical Tricksters”, they are incarnated as a clever, mischievous man or creature who tries to survive the dangers and challenges of the world using trickery and deceit as a defense, and even entertains people similar to how a clown does.

But Puck is more than a witty troublemaker, he does meddle with people and laugh at them, but he is loyal to Oberon, admits to his mistakes and has enough good will to realize and fix them. Because Puck whizzes around the entire play to fetch the “love-in-idleness”, to sprinkle it upon eyes and set comical misunderstandings in motion, it is fitting then that Puck should close the play by delivering the Epilogue. He seems to be the only character with the credibility to tell the audience that he knows that the play is unreal, and he promises that, if we didn’t like the play, he’ll soon make it up with another one.

Puck cannot be simply be similar to our well-known archetypal tricksters such as foxes, coyotes and rabbits in children’s books. Puck is a whirlwind of archetypes rolled into one and labelled from his most immediate approach, a trickster. But what makes tricksters so special? According to Chris Colfer’s novel The Land of Stories, “… what the world fails to realize is a villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.” Tricksters could also be heroes in their own right, they believe what they want and do what they need. They are more independent than our archetypal heroes, a wonderful example is Loki, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was an ever-scheming individual; the God of Mischief, he meddled with people’s lives as it made him feel powerful, and often used superior ploys upon his enemies. However, deep down Loki loves his family to some degree and after three Thor movies, we see that Loki is constantly a physical manifestation of brilliant evil plots, to the point that it is quite predictable. But despite possibly knowing what Loki could be up to, he is still able to draw so much attraction to him, and in the end, he still surprises us. Which is exactly how Puck is.

Listening to these characters think about and try to define their own lives and their own natures, you discover zestful and visionary creative minds in action. Shakespeare was not just a great artist, but a creator of beings, with their desires, values, ambitions, and imaginative sensibilities all their own. Throughout the play, Shakespeare also questions some stereotypes about traditional gender roles when it comes to romance. Like many Shakespearean comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream dramatizes gender tensions that arise from complicated familial and romantic relationships. In the play, we see Hippolyta is about to be wed to a man who had only won their marriage through battle, Egeus threatens to place a death penalty on his daughter Hermia if she would not marry Demetrius and Titania falling for Nick Bottom with an ass’ head while under a love magic that Oberon planned. Can the women in the story be considered victims and their male counterparts as attackers?

Challenging Gender Norms and Stereotypes

Yes, the women are the victims, but that does not mean they are the only ones– majority of them are mortals. Nick Bottom is a victim as well, despite not being emotionally harmed and altered. We also see that stereotypical gender roles are being questioned in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; men are usually aggressive while the women are rather passive, yet we see Helena and Hermia wanting to claw each other’s faces off. The play shows that the typical gender roles, especially in romance, cannot always be the case for every single situation. Titania, Helena and Hermia defy traditional gender roles by how they aggressively pursue love. Titania for the changeling boy, Helena for Demetrius and Hermia going against her father’s wishes. The main thing that Shakespeare is trying to show us is that love never did run smooth. He changes perspectives by showing that; women don’t have to be apathetic, magical couples aren’t perfect and the top of the political system is not absolute.

But other than questioning gender roles, Shakespeare has also changed beliefs about mythical creatures. Superstitions were very much believed back in the time of the Elizabethans, before that and even years after. It was a time when Science barely existed and people were only discovering new lands that they never thought were there.

Redefining Fairies: From Malevolent to Benevolent Beings

The history of fairies, though debatable, is rich and magical. Fairies were a source of fascination, fear, evil, superstition, and mystery among the people of the 16th century. The Elizabethans believed in fairies, though the ones they believed in were cruel and scary things; in Scottish and Irish belief, fairies are fallen angels that were condemned by god to be part of the elements of the earth and there was a theory that fairies could be the pagan dead who are unbaptized, which highly contrast the fairies that Shakespeare has created. The beliefs and portrayal of fairies has been greatly changed through the years most notoriously by William Shakespeare. The fairy world Shakespeare created differed greatly from the fairy world that existed before and during his time. His work helped to begin changing people’s perceptions of fairies from creatures of ill-will to more amiable creatures. He made them graceful and beautiful, while in popular belief back in the day, fairies were fallen angels.

Evil fairies have always been hard to imagine, due to the influence that Shakespeare had spread throughout the world. Fairies are magical and nice beings, they have always been to the people in today, who grew up without having to know the terrifying image that fairies used to have. Gender roles have been freer in literature, it had never been rare to see at least a female lead such as; Hermione Granger, America Singer and Katniss Everdeen, who face stereotypes and beliefs. The three mentioned heroines either were the smartest, were breadwinners or were competitors in gladiator games. Most archetypal characters these days also surpass the labels that were placed upon them; villains could be heroes, like Maleficent. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is able to prove all these things to us, despite its main theme being love and the possibility that it was never real, like dreams. And with diverse characters, alternating points of view and the stereotypes that William Shakespeare deconstructs, it gives us new ideas that could be endless. All because the course of true love never ran so smooth.

References

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3. Brown, John Russell, et al. ‘William Shakespeare.’ Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare
4. Daily Life in the Elizabethan Era ‘Daily Life in the Elizabethan Era.’ – https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/daily-life-elizabethan-era
5. Jack-Welch. ‘What is Shakespeare’s art of characterization?’ eNotes, 29 Aug. 2016, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-shakespeares-art-characterization-746223. Accessed 26 Jan. 2019.
6. Loki. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Loki
7. Menudramatica®the Next Chapter in Story Development http://dramatica.com/theory/book/characters
8. Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Puck (a.k.a. Robin Goodfellow) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Retrieved January 25, 2019, from https://www.shmoop.com/midsummer-nights-dream/puck.html
9. Shmoop Editorial Team. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream Theme of Gender.’ Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. web. 7 Dec. 2018. sparknotes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2019. .
10. Whitesides, Leeann. ‘Shakespeare and the Fairy.’ Word Press, whitesides2018

To what extent does A Midsummer Night’s Dream endorse male superiority? A Midsummer Night’s Dream amplifies gender tensions that derive from problematic family and romantic relationships. When the play begins, a young woman squabbles with her father for the right to choose her own husband, the duke is set to marry a woman he overthrew in battle, and the King and Queen of Fairies are fighting with each other, executing a battle of the sexes so intense it rattles the natural world. My main aim is to fathom throughout this play to what extent male superiority is endorsed. When it comes to romance throughout the play, traditional gender roles stereotypes are questioned. For example, while men are usually expected to be hostile and assertive, a woman is expected to remain quiet and meek.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream shows us this is not automatically the case, especially when magic love juice is involved. There are components of Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream that for a contemporary reader instantaneously seem to echo inequality and endorse male superiority. Given the position of women in society in the sixteenth century, it is hardly shocking. Furthermore, the play is written by a male author and in the original production, the female roles would have been played by men. To get an accurate view of what’s happening in the play, some historical context is required. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written in the late 16th century and set in the time of Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greece, equality did not exist. Men had a higher status while women and slaves were accepted as having a lower status. In Shakespeare’s England, unless they were royalty, women still had little to no status. There’s a passage in Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay “A Room of One’s Own” that refers to an imaginary sister of William’s who yearned to be a writer but had no opportunity to do so. Shakespeare’s writing undoubtedly mirrors how women were looked upon in that age whether it is through words, actions or treatment from others.

The play endorses male superiority to a certain extent as Shakespeare depict many women, such as Helena, Hermia, Hippolyta, as conforming to the typical gender standards and societal principals of their time period. There is a level of authority contained in the ruling class. Theseus, as king, has control over all of his subjects. The controversy at the start of the comedy is that Egeus’ daughter Hermia refuses to marry the man her father has chosen for her, Demetrius. She prefers Lysander, who is also in love with her. In one pivotal scene, the king declares that Hermia is her father’s property and he can do whatever he wants with her. Modern readers say the play endorses male superiority, asking why on earth Hermia should follow his rules. However, she doesn’t intend to, as she and Lysander arrange to run into the forest to escape the Athenian law. Next, there is the affair between King and Queen of the fairy realm, Oberon and Titania. Oberon manages to get revenge at Titania showing once again that male is the superior gender. Oberon and Titania are omnipotent creatures ostensibly involved in a continual power contest. And what about the marriage between Theseus and Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons? The play endorses male superiority as in Greek mythology, Hippolyta is recognized as the symbol for strong, independent women.

Yet, in Shakespeare’s play, Theseus’ army has crushed her female warriors, and in result won Hippolyta’s hand in marriage. The message seems that men will always win and that women will eventually be happy to be won. Male superiority also appears as Hermia and Helena attain the husbands they desire only because the authority of Oberon and Theseus that overrules that of Egeus. It is interesting to note that once Hermia and Helena are married and in their role as wives, they cease to contribute any dialogue. In keeping with this emphasis on male authority and superiority, acknowledgment is made of the young woman’s fathers, Egeus and Nedar, but not their mothers. The only mother referred to in the whole play is the “votress” whose name is not even mentioned. Male and female are so opposed in the play that even the tale of the ‘changeling boy’ are biased by gender, Robin articulating that the child was stolen from an Indian king.

Titania that his mother died in childbirth leaving him an orphan. It is thought-provoking that the life of a newly born male was chosen over that of an older female with friends and connections, a female died in giving life to a male. This could be perceived that Shakespeare’s view is that males come first and are the superior gender. It is also curious that Titania’s attachment to the boy seems more propelled by the love for his late mother than for her affection of the boy himself. She declares how the two women shared the experience of the votress’s pregnancy and mocked the merchant ships, the symbol of male authority. The ‘changeling boy’ is that of a memento to Titania of her time with the ‘votress.’ Such all female groupings are portrayed as happy ones, but not allowed to persist. Hippolyta has to leave her fellow Amazons, and although Helena reminds Hermia of their loving girlhood together, her nostalgic picture of their pre-adolescent happiness is soon dispelled by their quarrels over men. Helena has to chase after Demetrius: “Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase/ The dove pursues the griffin, the mild hind/ Makes speed to catch the tiger” (Act 2 Scene 1 Line 231-3.) Probable analysis of these lines is that Helena says for a woman to chase a man is unnatural as for a victim to chase a predator. She sees women as passive victims and herself as a humiliated exception. Helena’s extravagant behavior makes her sympathetic as well as laughable. Male superiority is displayed here as Demetrius has a choice to not love/be with Helena where if it was the other way round, Helena would be forced into a marriage/relationship.

To some degree, the play seems to be an assertion of male authority. Robin Goodfellow intends to reassure us when he says; “Jack shall have Jill; Naught shall go ill. The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well.” (Act 3 Scene 2 Line 461-3) Modern day, however, to compare a woman to an animal is more likely to give offense than comfort. Worse still, the playwright puts analogous attitudes into the mouth of Helena, who correlates herself and Hermia to a spaniel (Act 2 Scene 1 Line 203), a bear (Act 2 Scene 2 Line 100) and a vixen (Act 3 Scene 2 Line 324.) As plentiful as the plays gender bias is, we should not inflate it. The play does not celebrate male dominance, but marriage, even if the male is perceived as the superior partner. Hermia’s rebellion against her father is interpreted sympathetically, as is Titania’s rebellion against her husband. When Theseus tells Hermia “To you, your father should be as a god” (Act 1 Scene 1 Line 47), the audience is improbable to share his opinion. The play contains heaps of citations of laughable behavior by male figures, including Oberon. Oberon’s own allusion to Queen Elizabeth I (Act 2 Scene 1 Line 158) recalls to us that this widely male-dominated society was ruled by an authoritative and admired queen.

Although it is true that the play paints male superiority as more ‘natural’ than female superiority, it also provides us a lot of female viewpoints and shows males and females interacting with each other in a variety of ways, with the females often highly sympathetic and decisive. We could argue the marriage in the play is illustrated not as there’s a right way and a wrong way, but as a relationship which is always developing and has constantly to be worked on. Integral approaches in recent decades have gravitated to target attitudes within the play, such as those towards gender. Regina Buccola’s “Fairies, Fractious Women and the Old Faith” (2006) accentuates the play’s empathy for rebellious women. Louis Adrian Montrose’s “Shaping Fantasies” (1983 ed. New Casebooks: A Midsummer Night’s Dream) reveals the portrayal of women to Elizabethan men’s anxieties about female power while Shirley Nelson Garner in “Jack shall have Jill;/Nought shall go ill” (1981) depicts the play as a male-female power combat.

To conclude, I think male superiority is shown and the views at the time are reflected within. However, it is important as a reader to not inflate the subject matter to more than it is. Despite rebellion and power females, they are still conducted by the men at the end of the play. Helena welcomes Demetrius, Titania is governed by Oberon, Hermia returns to Lysander after he desired another woman and Hippolyta still marries Theseus. These women are forced to conform to the status quo surrounding gender stereotypes as they are living in a man’s world. The play itself made Elizabethan women euphoric as they could experience power, dominance, and independence. But in the end, they must return to reality.

The essay title I have chosen to discuss for this final essay is ‘The Suddenness of Love’. I intend to discuss this title with reference to material covered over the course of the Shakespearean Comedies module. The suddenness of love is a theme used by William Shakespeare in several of the comedies he wrote such as Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. For this essay I will discuss the suddenness of love in relation to the two plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It, which have clear examples of love at first sight between various characters. The sudden love between characters in the play at times can be seen to be very illogical and senseless and makes it hard for the viewers to view the relationship in a serious light. The suddenness of love in the plays demonstrate the deep yearning for love that some of the characters endure, lack of power and also absurdity. The sudden love expressed in the plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night reinforce the plays as comedies. An instant development of love between two characters who are significantly different to one another makes it so unbelievable for the onlookers that it is perceived as comical. In a number of instances the love that exists between Shakespeare’s characters seem to lack an explanation of how they could actually love one another. One might suggest that Shakespeare is trying to highlight the irrationality that is associated with romantic love in general through his plays such as As You Like It which is packed with characters who are foolish and senseless but somehow manage to discover love almost immediately. Twelfth Night too offers the audience a selection of characters who are instantly love stricken which I will proceed to discuss.

Love is for the most part something unexpected and overpowering, it is incredibly hard to dispose of. Individuals appear to experience the ill effects of love, that however is their own opinion. In spite of Twelfth Night’s comic plot, Shakespeare paints the uncertain picture of sentiment and captivation in the play. It is an account of the franticness of love, it can also be seen as a fundamental jollification of love. Most characters in the play are associated with affection in shifting degrees. All through the play, numerous types of love are depicted. ‘O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purged the air of pestilence! …’ (Act 1 Scn 1 L17-22), are the words uttered by Duke Orsino the moment he sets his eyes on the pretty Lady Olivia. Immediately Orsino falls for her and cannot hide the immense passion he feels towards her. Orsino does appear to have an obsession with love, and in particular the idea of being in love: , ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ (Act1 Scn1 L1). When he eventually fins love in the form of Olivia, the same feelings are not felt on her part. Olivia too experiences the suddenness of love but unfortunately for Orsino it is not towards him. Instead she is love stricken by Cesario. However, this love is not true as Cesario is in fact Viola in disguise unbeknownst to Olivia and Orsino. Therefore, the physical attraction Olivia experiences towards Cesario when he delivers the love messages are sadly for her false as the true identity of Cesario is hidden from her

Love is additionally exclusionary: a few people accomplish sentimental joy, while others don’t. Toward the finish of the play, as the glad sweethearts celebrate, both Malvolio and Antonio are kept from having the objects of their craving. Malvolio, who has sought after Olivia, should at last face the acknowledgment that he is a trick, socially contemptible of his respectable fancy woman. Antonio is in an increasingly troublesome circumstance, as social standards don’t take into consideration the satisfaction of his obviously sexual appreciation for Sebastian. Love, along these lines, can’t overcome all snags, and those whose wants go unfulfilled remain no less love however feel the sting of its nonappearance even more harshly

Shakespeare demonstrates that adoration can cause torment. A large number of the characters appear to see love as a sort of revile, an inclination that assaults its exploited people all of a sudden and problematically. Different characters guarantee to experience the ill effects of being enamored, or, rather, from the aches of pathetic love. At a certain point, Orsino portrays love drearily as a ‘hunger’ that he needs to fulfill and can’t (I.i.1– 3); at another point, he calls his wants ‘fell and pitiless dogs’ (I.i.21). Olivia all the more obtusely portrays love as a ‘plague’ from which she endures horribly (I.v.265). These representations contain a component of brutality, further painting the adoration struck as casualties of some arbitrary power known to mankind

Orlando endures a similar kind of wild love infection in As You Like It. Act 3 Scene 2, Rosalind depicts a man to Orlando who has been cutting the name ‘Rosalind’ into trees. He concedes that he is various things he is unfortunately enamored. Rosalind claims that he isn’t enamored, in any case, saying: ‘Love is just a franticness and I let you know, merits also a dim house, and a whip, as crazy people do.’ It is now that she recommends to Orlando that she can fix his affection disorder: ‘I would fix you on the off chance that you would yet call me Rosalind’. In this manner, love isn’t only a condition however something that should be treated in situations where it isn’t under the control of somebody as legitimate as Rosalind. She appears to get a handle on the possibility that untamed love can expend us and at last control us. Unexplainable adoration or just love that grows in all respects rapidly will undoubtedly be unsafe. Rosalind comprehends that one should control their affection. Her legitimate mentality towards sentimentalism can be confounded as being cold yet are in any case obvious: ‘ Men have passed on every now and then, and worms have eaten them, yet not for adoration.’ Rosalinds unexpected love for Orlando diverges from Shakespeare’s other love struck characters in that it is sensible and controlled.

William Shakespeare is well-known for commonly utilizing the motif of characters trying to outsmart fate—Macbeth denying the prophecies of the three witches, Romeo and Juliet falling in love when the world is against them, etc.—and this remains true in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, this text is likely the one with the most explicit use of the natural world (plants, animals, and humans) directly interacting with the divine world (gods). As a result, the inherent course of the spiritual world is broken and gods themselves metamorphosize into morally-questionable characters: the divine desire to control humans leads to hatred among gods, the craving to mold love with magic instead of fate causes suffering among divine beings, etc. Therefore, in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the divine attempt to challenge the fate of the natural world causes chaos in the supernatural world—emphasizing the unnaturalness of their interaction.

This unnaturalness is brought to the forefront in Act 2.1, where Oberon recounts his story of watching Cupid shoot his arrow at a mermaid riding a dolphin’s back—hence attempting to disturb fate. Shakespeare opens this retelling by first characterizing the mermaid through vibrant imagery. For example, Oberon states “…I sat upon a promontory and heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath that the rude sea grew civil at her song and certain stars shot madly from their spheres, to hear the sea-maid’s music” (Shakespeare 2.1.150-154), where peaceful phrases like “dulcet and harmonious breath” are juxtaposed with places that feel eternal, like the sea and stars. This juxtaposition characterizes the mermaid as a force of bliss—a symbol for the natural world in its untouched state. Additionally, while mermaids were often denoted as being half human and half fish, their animalistic ability to hunt others and call them into a trance portrays them as very luring beings (Seth). Thus, whenever Cupid mischievously attempts to strike her and destroy her luring-power with love, he misses, as controlling her would mean offsetting the eternal fate of the natural world. Since this was Cupid’s first time missing his target, the result of his challenging of fate is a newfound imperfection of the divine world and a clearer boundary that both sides should not cross.

The imagery of Cupid challenging fate is also connected to the mermaid’s metaphorical connection to royalty. Shakespeare commonly alluded to real-life figures through non-fictional characters—such as King James in Macbeth—and in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the mermaid is symbolic of Queen Elizabeth I (“An Entertainment for Elizabeth I”). During the later years of her rule, she led England into a period of peace and prosperity, which was often attributed to her relationship with God through divine right (“Elizabeth I”). Therefore, if the mermaid’s power parallels the queen’s leading vision, then Cupid’s fiery “love-shaft” must represent the horrific destruction of that vision. In other words, Shakespeare contrasts the ideas of progress and destruction, draws a line between them, and urges “us”—the people in the natural world—to not disrupt the course of divinely-given peace.

When Cupid attempts to fire his arrow at the mermaid, it ultimately hits a “little western flower”, whose white hue eventually fades into purple—a symbol for the corruption of the divine by the natural world. Shakespeare first sets the scene by describing the color change in detail: “before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound” (Shakespeare 2.1.167-168)—eventually naming the flower “love-in-idleness”. Given that idleness means lazy, love-in-idleness would mean lazy love—a reference to both Cupid and Oberon’s disregardment of fate and use of love as a weapon (Delahoyde). Instead of treating love as it was meant to be treated, they lazily abuse it, and therefore leave the mark of “love’s wound”: a symbol for the unnatural bruise of gods interacting with the natural world. However, this symbol reaches a far wider scope than just two gods. For example, Puck uses love-in-idleness to make Titania fall in love with Bottom and Lysander with Helena. This leads to several wounds that leave complications between characters: hatred between Helena and Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius’ feud, and so forth—causing Oberon and Puck to clumsily deal with fixing their self-created madness. When this symbol is tied back to the story of the mermaid, it perfectly summarizes the motif of defying fate. The mermaid represents true love in its purest, most untouched form, while the love-in-idleness’ color change symbolizes how that pure love can be tempting, and lead to the corruption of the divine.

Oberon’s origin story coupled with the stark characterization it provides also works to contrast him with the mermaid—creating a symbol for the boundary between the worlds. It is speculated that Oberon was derived from a Merovingian legend, where a fairy king named Alberich was defeated by a legendary warrior (“Oberon”). Furthermore, his name comes from the song “Huon de Bordeaux”, where an elf suspected of murder passes through a mystical forest in the hope that Oberon will grant him a pardon (“Oberon”). From these two texts, an important characterization can be made: Oberon is power-hungry—which directly contrasts to the peaceful nature of the mermaid. Moreover, the line “And jealous Oberon would have the child, knight of his train, to trace the forests wild” (Shakespeare 2.1.24-25) proves that his desire for the boy stems from his power-issues, but does so in a somewhat mockingly manner. This could suggest that Oberon and Titania/the boy represent two different worlds: one of bliss and one of vengeance. Just like how Cupid’s shot at the mermaid interacts with the natural world, Oberon’s hatred of Titania leads him to actions that intentionally and unintentionally change the natural world. Thus, the boundary between worlds is crossed and chaos among the gods ensues.

The desire to change fate in the natural world is often visualized by the appearance of animals, which suggests themes of image and power in order to show the unnatural interaction with the divine. For example, the final line of Oberon’s story reads, “…ere the leviathan can swim a league” (2.1.174), which suggests that the leviathan—a large, mutant-like sea monster—can swim further than the mermaid. It is most likely that the leviathan stands as a metaphor for Oberon and the mermaid for Titania , which would mean that he believes that he holds power over her. Furthermore, after Puck leaves, Oberon has a short soliloquy where he announces his plan to make Titania fall in love with a donkey. Here he states, “The next thing then she, walking, looks upon, be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, on meddling monkey, or on busy ape…” (2.1.179-181). Most of these animals were seen as ugly during Shakespeare’s time, which while that connotation is seen as comical among the audience, it nonetheless makes fun of Titania’s character and the chaos she creates (Bach). Therefore, her newfound love of Bottom causes her to embarrassingly recede from the supernatural world and more clearly see the natural one, while Oberon gains more divine power. Oberon’s forcing of Titania to switch worlds, and thus cross the boundary, is presented as unnatural and ugly—suggesting the overarching theme that “the unnatural is ugly”.

The technique of characterizing animals negatively to capture themes of image and power also acts as a method of foreshadowing throughout both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and other Shakespearean texts. As is common in his other works—crows representing the evil actions that take place at night in Macbeth, pigs representing the uncleanliness of Iago’s jealousy in Othello, etc.—animals act as a form of foreshadowing, hinting that something bad is to come (Bach). This often acts as a sign that bad things will arise for those who defy fate. However, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nothing significantly bad happens to Oberon. After he wakes up, he exclaims “Come, my queen, take hands with me” (Shakespeare 4.1.89)—restoring his relationship with her and establishing an alliance that lasts to the play’s end. One explanation for the lack of foreshadowing could be that because Titania returns to the divine world, she no longer crosses the boundary, causing the unnatural interaction to subside. Her return represents the shift back to the normal balance between worlds—what the mermaid was meant to represent all along. This all accumulates to a theme that is prevalent throughout the narrative: do not try to control the fate of others or harsh consequences will result.

In conclusion, the divine attempt to challenge the fate of the natural world causes divine chaos, which emphasizes the unnaturalness of both worlds interacting. Shakespeare uses imagery, symbolism, and themes to characterize natural and divine figures, setting the stage for the unpleasant outcomes of their eventual meeting. This all ties together to act as a method of persuasion—persuasion of the idea that fate is the ultimate power and all that challenge it are challenging life’s meaning. A Midsummer Night’s Dream truly serves its purpose of being a message on how to view the cruel dynamics of society and the complex essence of the world.

The play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is delightful due to its course of fairies and magical powers. However, focusing on its amusements and to ignore its “paradox is to do an injustice to the play’s complexity”. The play opens up with Theseus and Hippolyta waiting eagerly for their “nupital hours”. Although this very event seems a sight of merriment, becomes dark as soon as Theseus says “I wooed thee with my sword, And, won thy love doing thee injuries…”

An event of marriage in Shakespeare comedies is conventional one but the attributes associated here with the wedding sounds cynical. The world of Hippolyta is evidently quite different from the world of Athens.1 This union almost sound like a forced engagement and could be called a crafted one. Infact this union isn’t the only union that is forced one. Union of Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena at the end of the play is the product of magic. Also, there’s a father-daughter conflict. Egeus doesn’t allow Hermia to marry the man of her choice and forces her to marry her with the man she detests. All of these incidents very well portray the subjugation of woman in a patriarchal society.

Shakespeare comedies give importance to females. Shakespeare explores matriarchy by challenging Elizabethan patriarchal convention as all these women try hard to subvert patriarchal expectations such as (a)Hermia’s flee to woods along with Lysander, (b)Helena following Demetrius, wooing him, which transgresses patriarchal norms. A woman shouldn’t woo while Helena does and gets insults in return.2 In-fact gender oppression isn’t limited to human world only it extends up to the world of fairies. Oberon forcefully persuades Titania to give him the changeling.

Therefore, it can be alluded that the world of fairies is no different from the world of humans. In-fact humans seem to be struggling more in the effect of magic. Instead of getting the stability the lovers expect to get in the woods the whole scenario becomes triggered giving rise to confusion, suffering and struggle. As Lysander says; “the jaws of darkness do devour it up so quick bright things come to confusion”

Magic therefore is a comment upon inexplicability of human affair. This proves that fairy land is an uncertain world which enables us to come to terms to ourselves and discovers “the search for identity” is a constant process.

This play ridicules love not romantic one but the madness that takes place in love relationship. It’s ironical how in their most vulnerable stage, characters, pretends that they are making their choice out of reason. Bottom very well speaks of love when he says “…reason and/love keep little company together now-a-days.”

Therefore, there are paradox, that are running simultaneously throughout the play. Irrational passion in conflict with rational organized world, mirth and tragedy, celebration and catastrophe etc. The emergence of fairy world is important as it brings out the lurking darkness of reality on the surface but presents itself as “dream” that must not be decoded as Bottom would say “man is but an ass, if go about to expound this dream.”

Shakespeare is a well-known writer, poet, and play write who accomplished many fine works throughout his lifetime. He wrote stories of great tragedies and famous comedies while incorporating the theme of love. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a brilliant play that shows elements of romance and comedy, presenting the audience with various aspect of love portrayed through numerous couples in various situations. Love is portrayed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as unpredictable and unreasonable while conveying the negative outcomes as well. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a warning of the consequences of love because it talks about the dissolution of other relationships, the pain of betrayal and disloyalty, and unrequited love resulting in insecurities.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love is a major theme that affects many people and causes countless challenges, some of which are caused by other relationships in people’s lives whether it be a parental relationship or a friendship. In order to conquer these challenges posing as obstacles on the pursuit of love, other relationships may need to be broken. In the play, Hermia the daughter of Egeus decides to flee Athens with Lysander whom she loves so that they can escape her father’s ultimatum and his refusal to even consider Hermia and Lysander’s marriage. The line “In that same place thou hast appointed me, Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.”(I.i.177-178) was said when they decided to escape Athens. Parents tend to know what is best for the children and children are brought up to love and respect their parents. Hermia has love for her father, however, the relationship between Hermia and her father was threatened when she decided to run away from him in pursuit of her love for Lysander. Hermia decided that the love she had for Lysander was more valuable to her than the love for her father. Moreover, Hermia’s friendship with Helena also faced difficulties when Lysander had fallen in love with Helena. Hermia had insulted Helena because she believed that her childhood best-friend had stolen the love of her life away from her. In the play, Hermia says “O, me, You canker-blossom, You thief of love! What have you come by night And stol’n my love’s heart from him?” (III. ii. 282-284). Hermia desired the love she had for Lysander more than her friendship with Helena resulting in the dissolution of that relationship to protect her relationship with Lysander. There are several relationships in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as there is in everyday life but to protect one particular relationship may result in the sacrifice of other relationships.

Betrayal and disloyalty are portrayed within A Midsummer Night’s Dream when various types of love such as parental love, romantic love, and complicated love at one point face misery from disloyalty and betrayal. In the play, characters fall erratically in and out of love without consideration for the person they loved before. In the play, Lysander’s love for Hermia disappeared once he fell in love with Helena. The loss of the love Lysander felt for Hermia resulted in dislike or to a higher degree, hate towards Hermia. This is shown when Lysander says “-Out tawny Tartar out; out loathed medicine! O hated potion hence!”. Hermia’s love for Lysander ultimately allowed her to feel the heartache of his disloyalty. It caused her to be in denial of the fact that he truly loved Helena, just so it would ease the pain she felt. Hermia’s father felt the pain of disloyalty as well. Hermia refused to marry Demetrius, the suitor her father had chosen for her, and instead decided to run away with Lysander. “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord…whose unwished yoke my soul consents not to give sovereignty.” (I.i.79-82). Through this quote, Hermia is saying that she would rather die than marry Demetrius. Therefore, she makes the desiccation to run away and elope with Lysander, betraying her father’s orders. Hermia was disloyal to her father by running away from him even though he loved her unconditionally, as a parent should. Egeus felt despair and sadness from the betrayal of Hermia, and the loss of his daughter. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a testament of how love is the only thing capable of causing the pain and despair attached to betrayal.

Unrequited love is one of the most agonizing types of consequence attached to the joys of love because it results in low self-esteem. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love is a force the characters cannot control and what causes them to be blind to certain things. This remains true for Helena. Helena is in love with Demetrius, but Demetrius does not love her. Instead, he becomes insensitive and in ways abusive towards Helena which Helena doesn’t recognize because her love for him blinds her from believing he is capable of doing so. In the play Demetrius says “Tell you I do not, nor cannot love you?” (II.i.201) and Helena replies with “And even for that do I love you the more…The more you beat me I will fawn on you…What worser place can I beg in your love…Than to be used as you use your dog.” (II.i. 201-210). This adequately toxic love becomes Helena’s ultimate weakness. Helena has spent so much time rationalizing why she isn’t loved that when Lysander and Demetrius do love her, she can’t embrace it and enjoy it. In other words, the love that wasn’t reciprocated back to Helena by Demetrius lead her to believe that she was not capable of being loved resulting in self-pity and insecurities about the way she looks to others. She believed that if no one loved her, she couldn’t love herself, lowering her self worth. Additionally, the unrequited love Helena experienced lead her to compare herself with Hermia because she assumed herself inferior to prettier woman decreasing her self-confidence. Helena’s views of herself changed as she began to belittle herself because of the love another person failed to reciprocate. A Midsummer Night’s Dream expertly conveys how unrequited love can be a painful consequence of love itself countless negative emotions towards oneself.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s plot presents it’s audience with a warning of the consequences attached to love such as the dissolution of other relationships, the pain associated with betrayal, and unrequited love resulting in insecurities. A Midsummer Night’s Dream displays the different aspects of love through many relationships and characters but ultimately also conveys the consequences that come with the joys of love, warning it’s audience about the reality affilated with love. Love is an absurd, irrational and unpredictable thing that exists in everybody’s lives in one way or another. However, that love we all feel towards something will face difficulties and consequences will follow but love ultimately is one of the joys of life itself.