A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2 Scene 1 Analysis

In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream the circumstances surrounding love have been put into question, this occurs when a magical nectar is put in the eyes of three major characters, and changes their feelings towards the people in their lives. Titania, Lysander and Demetrius all have had the nectar put into their eyes, though Demetrius avoids having this done to him in act 2 scene 2 which is the scene that the focus of this paper will be looking at. Throughout the play, we focus largely on the love life of Helena, which unfortunately does not seem to exist. She is in love with Demetrius, whom does not care for her in the same way, he does not cherish her at all before he is under the influence of magic. Once Lysander declares

Once the fairy queen falls asleep Oberon, the queen’s partner, approaches the sleeping woman and puts the nectar in her eyes. The magical nectar that was used on the queen and Lysander in this scene is put in the eyes of a character, when the person awakes from their slumber the first person they look at becomes the object of their affection. Although it occurs in another scene, the nectar causes Titania to fall in love with Bottom, who is acting in a play during the story. The magical nectar is put in the eyes of a character while they sleep, when the person awakes from their slumber the first person they look at becomes the object of their affection. When the magic is used on Titania, it is the first time we witness its use in this play. The nectar itself is a major aspect of the story as a whole, since it is what causes the confusion and the outcome of the marriages in the comedy. The second person to have the magical nectar used on them is Lysander, unfortunately for him when he wakes up, he is no longer in love with the woman he planned on running away with, but Helena whom he had no feelings towards at the start of the play. Helena in fact has spent the entire duration of the play, in love with Demetrius, whom is also in love with Hermia, Lysander’s betrothed. The nectar causes the chaos throughout the play, since in a later scene, it

Although Lysander does have the magic taken away from him, Demetrius never does, therefore he spends the rest of the play, in love with a woman he was not interested in for the first two acts of the play. By the completion of the play, just as in all of Shakespeare’s comedies, each person concludes the play with the person they wanted to be with in the beginning, other than Demetrius who still seems content to be marrying Helena. Although the nectar causes much of the discomfort and issues in the play, it is also what helps the woman who did not believe she deserved love, to believe that another person could love her for her, and luckily enough she does not seem to understand that her husband did not intend on living out his life in this