Responsibility In A Midsummer Night's Dream

With great power comes great responsibility. This phrase has been restated in so many differing instances that it has almost lost its original meaning and turned solely into a comedic saying. While the phrase’s origin does create reason to be humorous, we must evaluate the truth behind that statement. With the introduction of power comes the responsibility of caring for life and needs. When someone who is not fit to be in control gains power, that responsibility would fall in the lap of someone who is not able to efficiently lead others. In A MidSummer Night's Dream, playwright William Shakespeare develops the theme that an overuse of power yielded by any incompetent individual would create an uncontrollable force that results in momentary

In Act 2, Oberon gets angered when he doesn’t get the changeling boy from Titania. “Well, go thy way, Thou shall not from this grove till I torment thee for this injury” (2.1.146-147). There is an ongoing trend of irascibility towards the female characters in this play, particularly from the men in the story. Here Oberon is reiterating the point similarly stated earlier by Theseus and Egeus. The notion that men have authority over the women in their lives goes with the theme of power in this book and it’s emphasized multiple times. When power is given to people like this, who do not know how to separate it from their personal lives, chaos occurs. In addition, the power that Puck is given, granted by Oberon, further displays how control can cause situations to implode. In his state of anger and jealousy towards his wife Oberon says to Puck “And make her full of hateful fantasies” (2.1.58) in reference to his wife. In the next act Puck admits to “accidentally” putting the potion on the wrong person. “Believe me… I mistook…” (3.2.347). Up to this point in the play Shakespeare has crafted Puck’s character as one that is playful and mischievous. By giving Puck, someone who has been equated to a hobgoblin and child, Oberon creates an opportunity for disaster that would inevitably affect more people than previously intended. This further perpetuates the stance that Oberon should not be in power. He recruited someone with a poor reputation to do work that intertwined with his personal relations. Even though his intentions were wrong, he still placed a responsibility in the hands of someone unworthy, giving them the opportunity to heavily control others. The fact that he did this with a matter like the disagreement between him and his wife really shows that he could do it with anything else. Through Puck,