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Christianity In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Christian teachings emphasize the profound significance of love, describing it as a divine connection that unites humanity and transcends all boundaries. Love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, embodies compassion, selflessness, and the commandment to deal with others as one would deal with himself. Yet, after exploring the enthralling world of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," it becomes obvious that the play's whimsical and mischievous depiction of love strays from the ideals upheld in Christian teachings. Hermia and Helena’s relationship shows a lack of trust and selflessness as prescribed by the Cristian teachings, Lysander’s love for Hermia does not persevere through the hardships of the play and Titania and Oberon's relationship displays envy and selfishness. In contrast to Christian teachings that emphasize love, compassion, and selflessness, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" depicts love as whimsical and lacking of the virtues through the relationships of Hermia and Helena, Lysander and Hermia, and Titania and Oberon. …show more content…

The quote "Well, go thy way. Thou shalt not from this grove Till I torment thee for this injury.” (02.01.146-147) reveals Oberon's vengeful nature towards Titania when she decides not to give him the little boy. Instead of embodying compassion, forgiveness, and selflessness, Oberon presents envy and a desire to get revenge. This opposed mind-set clashes with the Christian teachings of love because it fails to prioritize kindness and humility inside the face of struggle. Rather than seeking reconciliation, Oberon chooses to torment Titania, further ruining the bonds in their once harmonious relationship and showcasing the stark contrast among their love and the lessons of Christianity. In summary, Titania and Oberon's relationship contradicts Christian teachings on love, as Oberon's vengeful nature disrupts their

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In the play A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare, many of the characters relentlessly pursue their goals in the face of illogical decisions, and, while fictional items such as the “love-in-idleness” flower are used to explain the character’s sudden love for each other, the play does illustrate how love and ambition can lead to unforeseen consequences. For example, when Puck accidently anointed Lysander’s eyes with the “love-in-idleness” juice, he started a chain of events leading to Lysander and Demetrius fighting over Helena while Hermia is treated as though she is worthless. Moreover, at one point, Lysander and Demetrius even threatened to duel each other when Lysander awoke after being anointed with the flower 's juice and said, "Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word is that vile name to perish on my sword" (61). This shows how the character’s love for certain other characters, and their ambition to pursue said love, can lead to the destruction of previous relationships and lead them to make dangerous decisions.

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“The more my wrong, the more his spite appears. What, did he marry me to Famish me?” ( IV. iii. 2-3) This prompts tension between the couple.

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In Act 2, Oberon puts a love potion on Titania as a trick to make her fall in love with a beast. “I will place the pollen from the flowers loin Titania's eyelids so that the next thing she sees- be it lion, bear, wolf, or bull- she will fall madly in love with, and I will get that boy. ”(5) Oberon controls Titaina with a love potion to make her fall in love with a hideous beast because he is angry that she won't give him the little boy. In anger he is controlling his wife to get what he wants.

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Toba Beta once said: "“Justice could be as blind as love.”   Shakespeare 's play A Midsummer Night 's Dream captures the blindness of both love and justice.   Egeus, a respected nobleman in Athens, arranged for his daughter, Hermia, to marry nobleman Demetrius.   Egeus tells his daughter that she must obey his wishes: If she does not, she can either choose to become a nun, or die.

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One of the many, more extreme, painful results of a hateful rivalry is unnecessary death. As Prince Escalus reveals to both families that their only heirs had died, he says “see what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your

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Even though Oberon claims to love Titania, he proves this inaccurate when he proclaims, “Having once this juice,/ I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep/ And drop the liquor of it in her eyes./ The next thing 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. ”(Shakespeare 2.1.160-168). This is an example of Titania being bullying by false love.

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In addition, the negative connotation of “nothing” repeated several times and the breakdown of the language foreshadows a breakdown of the family. As she reasons about her answer, Cordelia also expresses her compassion towards her father through a hyperbole by stating, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth” (Lear 1.1.93-94). Justifying her response, Cordelia expresses that her love towards him cannot be properly expressed as she contrasts how he has “begot [her], fed [her], loved [her]” and in return she “obeyed [him], loved [him], and most honored [him]” to show that she loves her fathers as much as their relationship requires (Lear 1.1.99-101). Though she speaks from her heart, Lear ultimately rejects her argument, recognizing that she is not worthy of his wealth as expressed through his belittling tone. As a result, Lear blesses his kingdom upon his ungrateful, lying daughters who he believes to have loved him the most when in fact, he exiled the only daughter to have truly loved him.

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In the play; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare drives the story with conflict by showcasing situations that reveal the strikingly self-centered side of each character, and sends a message that says selfishness is wrong through consequences. In life, most people have met that irritating person who just doesn't seem to listen to reason, no matter how crazy they sound. Shakespearean characters are no exception, especially when there's something in it for them. Egeus demands a marriage between Hermia and Demitrius, Helena disregards her friendship with Hermia, and Oberon orders Titania to be drugged, all causing a chain of events that take place during the play. Shakespeare then uses these circumstances to deter the audience from selfishness in a

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Shakespeare had lived during the Renaissance, which had brought about a spur of new ideas to form. These ideas included religion, which was a volatile subject to go against. Shakespeare had taken the reigns of the Renaissance in the field of literature, producing revolutionary works. What was so surprising about his writings is that while nobody wanted to write things that went against basic religion, he did in some of his works, and although it is unsure what denominations he was, historians agree that he was a Christian. His views of Christianity, however, often shifted depending on the mood of his plays, mainly between positive views during comedies and negative views during tragedies, along with the combination of ancient religions being common.

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It exemplifies the escalating feuds and violence between the two families, emphasizing how Tybalt’s intense animosity contributes to the destructive conflicts throughout the play. Tybalt’s quote shows how the fights and anger between the families keep getting worse and emphasizes the importance of thinking before acting impulsively. His words warn us about the tragic outcomes that can result from uncontrolled hatred and the lack of

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In our scene, lines 42-179 of Act One, Scene One, the characters who try to force love upon others are seen antagonistically, while Hermia and Lysander, who strive for true, naturally occurring love, are seen as protagonists whose love should be defended. The overlying message of the play is that love should not and cannot be forced. Theseus, Egeus, and Demetrius use their power, both as nobles and men, to try and force Hermia into marrying Demetrius. Egeus, in an attempt to bully Hermia into marrying Demetrius says, ‘‘‘She is mine, and all my right of her I do estate unto Demetrius’’’ (1.1.97-98). He sees his power as Hermia’s father as a way to force her into a marriage that will benefit him.

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He believes that only if his daughters undevotingly profess their love, that they are worthy and kind daughters. In his own rage, he decides to never see his one daughter who is honest with him. Even his advisor Kent tries to stop Cordelia's banishment by reasoning that she is the only honest daughter, stirring more of Lear's rage as his pride is hurt once again. He thinks that Kent is evil and a usurper because he doesn’t blindly agree to the kings every whim, and so proceeds to banish him as well. Kent begs " See better, Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye"(1.1.180-1).

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Unconditional love is a prevalent theme in A Midsummer Night 's Dream, and the blind nature of this love can be a great thing, especially since ignoring a romantic partner’s flaws can lead to a happier relationship. However, in A Midsummer Night 's Dream, Shakespeare takes his characters’ love to an irrational extent - so much so, that a prevalent theme of the play is the foolishness and folly of love. Context After being enchanted by Oberon’s love potion, Titania is awoken by Bottom, who she then falls madly in love with. She starts swearing her to love to him, to which Bottom responds: Analysis

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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

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