Control In A Midsummer's Night Dream

Most of the time, when a person thinks they can control another person, they are mistaken. A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare is a play that demonstrates the subject of control. Several Characters in the play attempts to make another person do what they want. An example in the story is when a woman named Helena is tries to force a man named Demetrius to love her by chasing him in the woods trying to persuade him. At the end, Shakespeare makes the case that it is not possible to control another person’s actions, because the results are unwanted and tragic. The play shows that attempting to control someone’s actions may result in an unwanted outcome. In Act 1/ Scene 1, a man Egeus wants his daughter, Hermia, to marry

In the play, Bottom and Robin seems to be in control. In Act / Scene 1, Robin sets off to find Titania so he can apply the flower’s essence to her eyes. He comes across Bottom and the tradesmen rehearsing the play: “What hempen homespuns have we got swagg’ring here so near the cradle of the Fairy Queen?” (3.1.76-77). He proceeds to transform Bottom’s head to of a donkey’s, making it look like he’s in control. Another example is in Act 4/ Scene 1, Bottom receives service from four fairies and he gets to tell them what to do: “Get your weapons in your hand and kill me a red-hipped humble-bee.../ Scratch my head Peaseblossom” (4.1.7-12). This shows that Bottom appears to be in control. It may appear that both of these characters are in control, but they are actually not. Robin was able to find Bottom and turn his head to of a donkey’s, only because he was following orders from Oberon. This means Robin is not in control. Bottom only gets to receive service because they were obeying orders from Titania, so he is also not in control. Overall, both Bottom and Robin only get what they want because of other causes other than their