The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dreams by Shakespeare 1

The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dreams by Shakespeare

Love is an emotion that has never been fully defined. Nobody really understands what

love is. True love often brings challenges and obstacles between couples. If the love is one which

is unrequited, it leads to hatred, jealousy, as well as weakness, when the love is requited, it

appears as being strong and happy. Shakespeare depicts true love and its corresponding obstacles

in the novel A Midsummer Nights Dream. Shakespeare in this novel indicates the characters

Hermia and Lysander, Pyramus and Thisbe and lastly desperate Helena and Demetrius in their

quest of love and the challenges they underwent. Love can be cunning at times as well as it does

hurt. This is observed in the characters Hermia and Lysander who cannot live together due to the

father of Hermia, Theseus, dissenting the love between these lovers, they instead elope together.

The intentions of Theseus are to marry her daughter to Demetrius because of his liking of this

gentlemen. The pursuit and exploration of love as depicted in the novel reveals the nature of

romantic love as one that in its pursuit causes individuals be irrational foolish idiots.

In reference to the love between Hermia and Lysander, the love between this couple hurts

them due to the father of the lady disapproving this relationship. This is because the factors

surrounding them hurt more than the emotions of love they share between them. The decision of

this couple to elope places them in further danger as they are likely to face obstacles as a result

of this decision. This indicates the inherent problems that are faced by couples that love each

other when their families stand on the way of their love. A probable solution to this problem

would be Lysander to challenge (Menaldi 1) Demetrius through a duel, this was a common

practice during the times of Shakespeare. Demetrious at the start of the play indicates however

he does not love Lysander by him stating that, "Lysander, keep thy Hermia I will none. If e'er I

loved her, all that love is gone. My heart to her but as guest- wise sojourned, and now to Helen is
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dreams by Shakespeare 2

it home returned, there to remain" (34). Victory by Lysander in this duel would mean no more

worries between him and his lover Hermia and this could lead to both of them wedding.

However, there is a flaw in this solution, love lacks a proper understanding of consequences that

lay ahead of it since it has no real gray area. Individuals know if they are in love or in not and

love is just an occurrence which occurs naturally without forcing it. Love often times comes at

odd moments and at times it is an uninvited guest which leads to it not being returned in equal

measure in couples that are in love. When love is requited back, it is a source of blessing, and

this leads to experiencing several years of prosperity and joy when it is respected between the

couples. Often times love is otherwise deceitful and may stop at a dime leading to disastrous

consequences between the couples involved and their families and friends.

The historical underpinning of the novel A Midsummer Nights Dream has often

suggested the novel was written for wedding. This explains why the central theme that revolves

around the novel is love. Shakespeare differentiates the dissimilarities between infatuation and

love between the couple Nick Bottom and Titania. The character Oberon placed a spell on

Titania so as to make her love him and fall for him as the first thing when she awakes from her

sleep. On the other hand, Robin Good has turned Nick Bottoms head into a donkeys head while

he is in the forest rehearsing for a play. Accidentally, Nick Bottom awakens Titania from her

sleep with his song and the evidence implicates the feelings of infatuation being at play rather

than the feelings of true love being observed. An observation of this is made in the following

text, I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again. Mine ear is much enamored of thy note. So is mine

eye enthralled to thy shape. And thy fair virtues force perforce doth move me. On the first view

to say, to swear, I love thee (27). This view is repeated again in the passage, Out of this wood

do not desire to go. Thou shalt remain here whether thou wilt or no. In both these texts,
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Shakespeare depicts infatuation as being the emotion at play. This is because infatuation is

powerful and occurs instantly rather than true love. This is what the character Titania

experienced the moment she first heard the voice of the character Nick Bottom and immediately

fell in love strongly with him. The feelings of infatuation prosper on an idealized perfect image

of ones partner and that it only highlights the positive side of the partner. This flaw is seen in

Tatiana who only sees the perfections of Nick Bottoms such as his voice and seems to care less

about the flaws and imperfections that are evident such as him having a donkeys head.

Infatuation as an emotion is one which is selfish and makes one partner be the center of what he

or she wants rather than what the other partner wants (Menaldi 2). This is evident when the

character Nick Bottoms wanted to leave the forest, Titania forbid him to do so since she wanted

to be with him.

Shakespeare distinguished love infatuation from love on the couples Lysander and

Helena. The character Robin Good fellow had accidentally placed the love as being at first spell

on the character Lysander instead of Demetrius due to the character Oberon had described

Demetrius as being an Athenian youth. The character Helena stumbles on Lysander on the forest

and awakes him from sleep. The evidence on the novel suggests that Lysander had feelings of

infatuation towards Helena through the words spoken by him as follows Id even run through

fire if you told me to. Radiant, beautiful Helena! I feel like Mother Nature has allowed me to see

into your heart, as if by magic. Where is Demetrius? Oh, Id kill that name with my sword if I

could (21). This displays that Lysander is infatuated towards Helena since he is controlled by

the brain chemistry and not his heart, his loss of ability of making rational choices of what is

true, worthy and valuable,

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In summary, it is evident from the arguments above the theme of love is one that is

complicated. The characters in the novel have demonstrated true love and infatuation as being

elements of love. Young couples should be weary in discerning infatuation from true love and

instead focus in building romantic relationships on grounds that are solid.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York: Bloom's

Literary Criticism, 2010. Print.

Menaldi-Scanlan, Nancy. "Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream." School Library

Journal, no. 6, 2016, p. 127. EBSCOhost