Conflict In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love in Conflict “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi believes that love might cause blindness. Thus, love makes the person delusional like seeing inverted colors, such as white as black and the black as white. Love is like putting the person under a magical spell and they will not be able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. The quote reflects exactly what happens in A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Helena agrees with Gandhi’s thought about love. The play mentions "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind”. A Midsummer night’s dream is a play written by the legendary author; William Shakespeare. This play took place when

(Timaeus 71d) ‘Dream books’. According to Plato, Dreams are very crucial in the renaissance period, where people believe in prophecies. Thus, all what they dream about is going to happen for sure. Additionally, Greek historian believe “that dreams reflected and represented the walking thoughts and concerns of the dreamer”. As a result, dreams seems to reflect reality. Back to the Elizabethan period, where modern literature wildly spread through Shakespeare’s works where his literary pieces are loaded with dream motifs, and since dreams in that period of time are prophetic. Therefore, the purpose of using dreams in Shakespeare is to refer to the future or upcoming events. Furthermore, dreams in A Midsummer night’s dream are associated with the magical forest where the lovers sleep and wake up on a magical spell that Puck’s used in order to create love conflict, which makes the lovers feel that they are day-dreaming. In the end of the play, Puck gives his final speech where it mentioned; “If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, that you have but slumber’d here, while these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream, V.i.425-430. According to Puck’s final soliloquy, which makes the reader feel that this was just a dream, but not a pleasant dream rather than a nightmare.

Cummings. Shakespeare semis love with the smoke and its fume of sighs, where he declares; “Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs” William Shakespeare. Thus, Love is a wonderful feeling that human can ever feel. By love peace, honesty and respect will spread. Hence, the power of love can rule the entire world. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play which starts with a dilemma of arranged love then love potion and ends with love marriage. During the Elizabethan time, women in that period had no right in different aspects, such as education, marriage and voting. They were under the power of the male community. Therefore, the authority goes to men only. Women were dominated to their male family members, so they must obey not only their fathers, but also their brothers. Disobeying was seen as a crime, and any woman who does not follow the rules will be punished with a whipping stool, and it is defined as “a former instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which an offender was tied to be plunged into water”. Moreover, women could not be heir to their fathers’ titles, solely by sons or brother to brother. For that reason, women were pity creatures who had no right to give or say their opinion or at least express themselves. According to the protestant leader John Knox wrote: "Women