Corruption In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Since the beginning of human relationships, intimacy has provoked corruption and goodness in the world we live in. In one of William Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (AMSND), love is the root of all problems. Set in the fantastical realm of Athens, the characters in AMSND are ensnared in a complex network of lustful whims and envious emotions with many of the characters in the play falling victim to the consequences love brings.

The love of Oberon, the King of Fairies, and Titania, the Queen of Fairies, bring about unfortunate circumstances for many characters in the play. Titania took up an Indian boy she loved after his mother passed away without the permission of his father. No one knew whether or not the father truly wanted

This most likely has led to sadness and despair in the father’s life. After Oberon witnesses this, he gets the motive to steal the boy from Titania because he feels as if the boy took his spotlight; this causes a massive argument between the lovers. Oberon shouts “Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.” To which Titania responds “Not for thy fairy kingdom! Fairies, away./ We shall chide downright if I longer stay.” (Shakespeare II. i. 143-145). The argument mentions past affairs the lovers had, which goes to show that their relationship is not a normal one compared to today's standards with many people being hurt and cheated on. Oberon then proceeds to fool Titania and makes her fall in love with an ass, Nick Bottom. This causes harm to not only Bottom’s reputation with the other Mechanicals who now fear him but also brings about a life-long embarrassment for Titania. Then, with ease, Oberon takes advantage of Titania and kidnaps the changeling boy, stating “I then did ask of

Robin Goodfellow, better known as Puck, played henchmen under Oberon and went as far as possible to satisfy his master’s desires. One example of Puck’s immense obedience is when Puck mistakenly sprinkled the love potion on the eyes of Lysander, lover of Hermia, instead of Demetrius, whom Helena loves. While Puck squeezed the juice he stated “When though wak’st let love forbid/ Sleep his seat on thy eyelid./ So, awake when I am gone;/ For I must now to Oberon.” (II. ii. 86-89). This causes harm to Helena as she assumes Lysander is teasing her, causing her to flee the scene. Lysander then chases after Helena and shortly after Hermia wakes up. When Oberon discovered Puck’s blunder, he decides to take matters into his own hands and squeezes the love potion into Demetrius’s eyes, which later causes him to develop a love for Helena. As a result of the entire incident, Hermia turned against Helena for treating their friendship so casually. From there, conflict rises in their childhood-long friendship with Helena insulting Hermia and stating “O, when she is angry she is keen and shrewd;/ She was a vixen when she went to school,/ And though she be but little, she is fierce.” (III. ii. 323-325). Lastly, due to the harmful effects of the love potion, Demetrius and Lysander go off to fight over who is worthy of Helena’s love. Ultimately, the