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Vanessa Viton

THE 2000

MW 9:30-10:40

Professor Brad Beckham

15 Decemeber 2009

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By: William Shakespeare

Love, is a four letter word that has the power to change your life forever. Love,

for some people might be the icing on the cake, but for others, love might be what holds

them down forever. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love is a reoccurring theme. Puck, a

mischievous fairy, makes a mockery of love when he confuses all four lovers by putting a

love potion on the wrong mans eyes. Love, is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly,

although the play is a comedy, it discusses serious ideas. William Shakespeare seems to

believe that love is a type of madness that encourages lovers to act in very thoughtless

ways. Are there “Magic Spells” in real life that make people act in foolish ways? Are

Humans so desperate to fall in love that they will do everything and anything in their

power to find it? Are people easily manipulated by “lovers” because they are truly in love

or are they so self conscious they settle for just anyone. “Love is sincere, yet deceives and

is deceived”- Benedetto Croce.

There are many types of love in A Midsummer Night's Dream. What really is

Love? Is there something that forces us to fall in love? These questions are all approached

in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The most important matter of the play is

love, which is introduced to us by Theseus and Hippolyta in Act 1 as they prepare for
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their upcoming wedding, but who said when he mentioned love it was going to be

perceived as loving, passionate and adoring . On the contrary, the play demonstrates the

extravagance of desire, along with its seriousness, tears and the yearning that often leads

lovers to depression.

“The course of true love never did run smooth“-Lysander. Love, most of the time

rushed and short term, is overwhelmed by differences in class, by age differences, by

occupation, by a loss of someone in your life, and by disease or illness.. Helena's love is

stricken by an unusual fiend: Apathy. Demetrius’ hatred towards Helena seems to grow

more and more, the more passionately she loves him. He seems to have no reason for his

disregard towards Helena: Helena and Hermia are equally beautiful, both are also

prosperous, the only difference is there difference in height, so what does that say about

Demetrius character? Helena's thoughts represent love in a form as the childish Cupid,

who light-heartedly alters the degraded into something wholesome and honorable. The

representation of this blind Cupid is continual when Titania falls in love with Bottom, the

donkey. Oberon's potion of love is similar to that of Cupids arrow: by diminishing sight.

The love potion mesmerizes Titania's vision, so she is incapable to perceive her “true

love” for what he really is, an ass.

In Theseus’ Speech about love's randomness and illogical nature he famously

forms a relationship between the thoughts of lovers, lunatics, and poets: They all see

beyond the boundaries of "cool reason," and are overwhelmed by illusion and dream.

Crazy Lunatics imaginations turn heaven into hell, the lover’s imaginations forms beauty

in the ugliest faces. The poet, on the other hand, creates worlds unheard of from "airy

nothing" of imagination. According to Thesues, all of these “dreams” are void of any

truth; does this mean Theseus' love for Hippolyta is also false? Theseus would most
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likely say nay — without details or conformation to back up his statement — but his

observation leads us back to the question of what establishes love. If his love for

Hippolyta is based on clear vision, what caused him to fall in love with Hippolyta rather

than with some other woman? Is he in touch with all of Hippolytas’ inner desires? An

admiration for her sympathy or her gentleness? Does he see Hippolytas’ true inner

beauty? William Shakespeare doesn't inform us on all that, but its very clear what the

answer to all 3 questions would be would be “NO”. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love

is based entirely upon outer beauty, upon pleasant appearnace, or upon the magical

flower juice that captivates the eyes. For example, Hermia states Lysander's surprising

loss of affection for her is because of her height; she is a lot shorter and, therefore, less

attractive than Helena. Sounds like many young women today, doesn’t it? Hermia is

haunted by doubts about her attractiveness. It's not shocking that physical appearance is

such a frustrating issue in a Western society when love is so often based on the way

someone looks, rather than someone’s spirit towards life or personality.

Even when love is shared and superficially based in clear vision, it is often

weighed down by disapproval of the family. For Lysander and Hermia, love is spoiled by

her father's wish for her to wed Demetrius. . All of the relationships in A Midsummer

Night’s Dream stress the conflict of love and law, Particularly Hermia’s and Demetrius’.

The law is on Egues’ side. The "ancient privilege of Athens" permits Egeus to "dispose"

of his daughter as he pleases; she is his property, so he can "estate" her to anyone he

chooses. . According to Theseus' command , Hermia needs to fit her "fancies" to her

father's "will".In short, Hermia has no say in who she is supposed to love, it’s the

decision of her father; if not, they will sacrifice her on the fire of reason: according to the

Law of Athens
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Yet, as mentioned earlier, her father's choice of Demetrius seems out of this world

and random as Hermia's choice of Lysander. Although Theseus is less willing than Egues

is to sentencing Hermia to death or to celibacy, Theseus is guilty of associating violence

and love: He persuaded Hippolyta with a sword and won her heart by "doing her

injuries." Even though Hippolyta seems gentle, even lifeless, in the play, the physical

force that led to their love is a constantly being brought up in their presence. This play's

representation of love is not what most modern love songs and ballads express today;

instead, Shakespeare returns us to our subconscious temperaments, parading the simple,

inhuman and often aggressive side of humans wants.

As Bottom intelligently notes, reason and love don’t really have together. The

characters in this comedy attempt to understand the many wonders of love in a realistic

way, yet their epic fails point out that it’s a lot harder then it seems. Shakespeare gives the

impression that a magic love potions, even though outwardly foolish, is the best possible

way describe the mysterious workings of this sensual attraction, over common sense.

Love and sanity will never be friends. Nor will love ever be an addiction you can control.

“What fools mortals be“-Puck. You know what, maybe we are fools for attempting to

understand this complex four letter word we call love. And what makes us even more

foolish is that we can’t help but explore this hazardous, erratic world of love; yet what

fun would life be without it?

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