“The course of true love never did run smooth” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 134) accurately represents the twisted story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, which tells the tale of four Athenians entangled in a rocky and constant-changing triangle of love, lust, and infatuation. It means that love is never easy, there are always going to be obstacles and for true love to be real you have to be able to overcome these obstacles. The romance between these characters - Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander - is what we call “fickle”, meaning it is forever changing. They are what we call “the lovers” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and, because the tale is set and written in the 16th Century, the obstacles they must overcome are sometimes …show more content…
It is when two people are completely infatuated with each other, but there is some force preventing them from being together. Forbidden love can often cause relationships and love to change because of the strong influence and power someone may have over them, however being prevented from being together doesn't always prevent love, as shown in Act 1 Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Stand forth, Demetrius. — My noble lord, this man hath my consent to marry her. — Stand forth Lysander. —And, my gracious Duke, this hath bewitched the bosom on my child,” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 24-27). This quote is said by Egeus as he gives Demetrius consent to marry his daughter Helena but forbids Lysander. Also, it may seem like Egeus has too much control over his daughter, but this was how much power fathers would have over their daughters back in the 16th century which was when A Midsummer Night's Dream was written. Regardless of her father not giving Lysander consent to marry her, Helena still deeply loves Lysander. The fact that they have been forbidden from loving each other makes their infatuation with each other even stronger, and they plan to run