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Love As Portrayed In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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The Different Types of Love as Portrayed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

There are many forms of love that exist in Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each type of love portrayed is very powerful both in the play and in real life. There is the love of a parent for their child, the love between two people that are romantically involved, and a hopeless love. The love that a parent has for their child is usually described as unconditional. This means that this love is constant despite what changes happen in life. The parent will always love their child no matter what they have done wrong or how the child treats them. This love seems to have run out between Egeus and his daughter Hermia. Egeus at first seems to want the best for his daughter by having her marry a man that he sees fit to be her husband, much like any father. This quickly turns when Egeus asks the king to pass judgement on his daughter for not following his command to marry …show more content…

This line is told to someone that is hopelessly in love with someone that does not love them back. Helena responds with, “You draw me, you hardhearted adamant!” (Shakespeare, 2014, 2.1.195). Even with all the ways that Demetrius tells her that he does not love her, Helena still pursues him and tells him that the more he pulls away, the more she is drawn to him. Helena is hopelessly in love with Demetrius because he does not feel the same way about her that she does for him. By chance, Oberon overheard the two speaking and felt bad for Helena. Oberon sent Puck to remedy the one sided love by using a love potion of sorts. The potion worked with Demetrius and Helena ending up together, but if it was not for Oberon’s meddling they would have remained apart. This makes the ending of the play less tragic, but in real life, there is no such love potion to help a poor soul that is hopelessly in

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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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Again they are deliriously in love because of the love drug. In the beginning of the play neither of the males want anything to do with Helena, she is blindly chasing after Demetrius desperate for his attention, but he brushes her off. Oberon orders puck to put the spell on Demetrius. “Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on.” (II, i ln 42 & 43)

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  Lysander compares himself to Demetrius, saying that he is equal to him in every way.   Lysander then points out that he has something Demetrius will never have, Hermia 's love.   He makes it clear that the couple will do anything to be together.   After Egeus denounces his daughter 's chosen love, Hermia and Lysander,

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the lovers—Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius— each falls susceptible to the witty jokes of the infamous prankster, Puck. During one of his pranks, he makes a crucial mistake, inevitably resulting in both Lysander and Demetrius falling madly in love with Helena, which she did not anticipate; in fact, she thought their sudden admiration derived from them derisively mocking her.

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Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, falling in love twice is conveyed on multiple occasions. The reader is also able to see that love can be portrayed as a bully that victimises those who fall for its games. The people of Athens and the fairies of the mythical fairyland are victimized by false love, falling in love twice, and the emotions that come with falling in

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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 blind bias 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.   Hermia, much to her father 's dismay, is deeply in a mutual love with a different nobleman, Lysander.

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“ I beg the ancient privilege of Athens: as she is mine, I may dispose of her, which shall either be with this fine gentleman (Demetrius) or to her death according to our law, immediately provided in that case” (1.1.45-48). Hermia wishes to marry her true love Lysander, who in turn loves her as well; however, even though he is as good a man as Demetrius, status-wise, Hermia’s father, Egeus, would rather kill her or turn her into a nun than let Hermia control her life. This practice was widely done by the Elizabethans. Daughters had no choice but to marry the man their father

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I find this in particularly, very problematic. They seem to always have an issue or interference standing in their way of peace. But, as stated by Lysander, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” (1.1.134-35). The first problem is Demetrius not loving Helena back, next it is Lysander interfering by also loving Helena, and finally Helena not believing that Demetrius truly loves her.

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The strong effects of love makes Helena a bit foolish and blind in the ways she reacts to it. In scene one of act one, the readers learn that Helena still loves Demetrius even though he loves her friend, Hermia, now. When Helena is first introduced, she demonstrates her jealousy and insecurities by asking Hermia for some of her beauty to win Demetrius back. Hermia and Lysander inform her that they are running away, and that

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This over protective love shown by Egeus and the Law are both obstacles that result in the friendship and love between them not running

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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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Intro Hook If love is magical, can love be created be magic? Is love created through a magical love potion as strong as genuine affection? How powerful is this illusion of magic, and will it withstand the reality of day? In A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, the lovers of Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander experience both real love and dream-like infatuation.

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710 Words | 3 Pages

The strong effects of love makes Helena a bit foolish and blind in the ways she reacts to it. In scene one of act one, the readers learn that Helena still loves Demetrius even though he loves her friend, Hermia, now. When Helena is first introduced, she demonstrates her jealousy and insecurities by asking Hermia for some of her beauty to win Demetrius back. Hermia and Lysander inform her that they are running away, and that

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In this passage, Shakespeare utilizes metaphor and negative diction to characterize Romeo as a person who is conflicted and frustrated by love, which ultimately reveals the theme that love is uncontrollable, conflicting, and short-lived. Towards the end of act 1 scene 1, Romeo still has a big crush on Rosaline, but Rosaline has no feelings for him. Hence, Romeo experienced a sense of depression and is conflicted by love. In this passage, Shakespeare uses numerous metaphors. “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs.”

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The male characters in this play often feel uncomfortable when their female counterparts break gendered stereotypes. This is the same feeling that drove Theseus to war with the Amazons. An equally important woman is Hermia: Theseus and her father have in mind Demetrius for Hermia’s groom, yet she still refuses even after a small threat from Theseus, “Be advised, fair maid. To you, your father should be as a god” (1.1.47-48). Here in patriarchal Athens, fathers are the head households and hold influence over near-all decisions.

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