Lysander's Narcissism

In the whole wide universe, there is one person that the narcissist loves, himself. Ironically, his lack of love for others will make the narcissist believe that others are as unloving towards him as he unto them. Nonetheless, this does not mean that the narcissistic person gives up hope of being admired for the great person that he believes he is. As such, the egotist will go to great pains in convincing others about his self-worth but because intrinsically he believes that others are incapable of loving him, the narcissist will often get caught in the vicious circle of manipulating other’s feelings for him. This is exactly the brain-teaser that Shakespeare partitions with the character of Lysander. From the first Act until the last one, Lysander’s speech and actions take place to convince those involved to perceive his worthiness.

Shakespeare wants to show this to the viewer through the first lines Lysander speaks: “You have her father’s love, Demetrius; Let me have Hermia’s” (I. 1, 98-99). Lysander’s first spoken words reveal his motive which is to have blind love for himself. The viewer knows the love is blind because Hermia’s father does not approve of Hermia’s love to Lysander for when Egeus presents Lysander, Egeus states “This man had bewitched the bosom of my child” (1.I, 27). Nonetheless, to have Hermia estranged from her father sounds like a narcissist’s ideal dream because the less people Hermia has to love, the more love she will have to spare to him. Indeed, when Hermia is speaking wisely to be patient about their current love problem (1.I, 153), a wisdom which was derived from Lysander’s prior grandiose descriptions of true love, Lysander contradicts Hermia by asking her to run away with him to another city where the two could