Judgement In A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, /And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind /Nor hath love’s mind of any judgment taste; /Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;” are lines from William Shakespeare’s comedy known as A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (I.ii.234-235). The lines from the quotation state that love changes the way you view things, and ultimately leads to your judgement being affected as well. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love affects the judgment of three characters, Hermia, Titania, and Helena.

We begin with seeing this through Hermia, a young woman from Athens who is in love with Lysander, but is told to marry Demetrius, and if she does not, she “can endure the livery of a nun” (I.i.70) or “prepare to die for disobedience

Though the two are married, they are at a state of quarrel because Titania “hath a lovely boy stol’n from an Indian King” (II.i.6-7), and “jealous Oberon would have the child” (II.i.10). Titania wants to keep the boy for herself, but Oberon wants the boy so he can use him as a knight. The couple argue over who gets to keep the boy, which leads to there being a disturbance in nature, but Oberon comes up with the plan to “watch Titania [while] she is asleep, and drop [a] [potion] in her eyes” (II.162-163), which will let him “take [the] charm from of her sight” (II.i.168). Oberon’s plan in successful, and Titania falls in love with Nick Bottom, who’s head has turned into that of an ass. Titania finds Bottom “wise as [he is] beautiful” (III.i.70) and tells him that she “love[s] thee” (III.i.77). After this, Oberon “ask[s] [Titania] of her changeling child, which straight she [gives to him]”. (IV.i.43-44) because her love for the boy has been affected by her love for Bottom. Titania’s judgment is affected because she finds a hideous creature, a donkey headed Bottom attractive and falls in love with him, her love does this to her, which in turn shows us how love affects character judgement. Her love for Bottom also affects the judgement of Oberon, as she just hands the child over because he is too distracted by Bottom to care about what is really happening. Hence,

In the beginning of the play, Hermia decides to tell Helena about her and Lysander’s plan to run away and get married elsewhere. Hermia trusts Helena, but Helena on the other hands plans to “go tell [Demetrius] of fair Hermia’s flight” (I.i.246). Helena does this because Demetrius will follow Hermia “to the wood [where he will] pursue her” (I.i.247-248). Helena is ultimately jealous of Hermia, and the fact that Demetrius is in love with Hermia and not her. Helena explains to Hermia how “the more [she] love[s] [him], the more he hateth [her]” (I.i.199). She continues by saying how she “admire[s] of his qualities [but that doesn’t] hold [any] quantity” (I.i.231-232). Helena explains that Demetrius “hailed down oaths that he was only mine” (I.i.245), but is still going after Hermia because of Egeus’ wishes. Helena’s love for Demetrius affects her judgement of Hermia and Lysander, and she ultimately makes the decision to tell Demetrius about the two. When they all gather in the forest, Demetrius and Lysander, are both in love with Helena now, and Helena is very distraught, thinking that it is all a joke and they are doing this for fun, but she does not realize that her love for Demetrius lead to all this. Helena’s love for Demetrius leads to her making irrational decisions, like exposing Hermia and Lysander’s plan to him, which leads to further quarrelling