Influence Of Life In A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare

Life is impacted by events that cannot be prevented. These outside influences can play tricks on daily life. This idea is demonstrated in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. In the play, four lovers run into the forest and are met by a frenzied night. One couple is ready to get married and the other is at war. However, they were spotted by fairies who are compelled to fix the relationship. The trajectory of the night is changed as the nectar of the cupid's flower is placed onto their eyes and mixes their love. Shakespeare demonstrates that life is uncontrollable by giving the characters personalities opposite to their own, creating a dream-like atmosphere, and displaying that not every aspect goes as intended. The uncontrollable life is portrayed through the characters’ personalities becoming opposite from their original ones. Lysander was the man who wanted to get married to the woman Hermia. After he woke up he told the other lover, Helena, “Content with Hermia? No, I do repent/ The tedious minutes I with her have spent./ Not Hermia, but Helena I love” (2.2.395-397). The fairy world is the real controller of their lives. Specifically, the king of Fairies, Oberon, is the outside influence on the lover’s personality. He had used Cupid’s nectar to alter their love to another. His interference with

Oberon scolded Robin, “Thou hast mistaken quite… Some true-love turned, and not a false turned true” (3.2.91,94). Oberon was shocked to see that the couples were still fighting and he believed Robin mixed up the lovers. He had good intentions to fix a relationship, but his idea didn’t translate well for Robin. Oberon described the man saying, “Athenian garments he hath on”, however, the fairies didn’t know there were two couples in the forest that night (2.1.273). Though there are good intentions behind actions, they might not go as planned portraying life as out of