How does Shakespeare portray love in "A Midsummer Nights Dream"
In Shakespeare's "a Midsummer Nights Dream" love is shown in many different ways. During the play there are many different sub-stories and extra plots that it is easy for Shakespeare to add many different ideas, these sub-stories in the play are the story of Pyrimus & Thisbee and also the story of the Fairy King and Queen Oberon and Titania. With these added plots in place Shakespeare adds the themes of deceit, magic and confusion.
In Act 1 Scene 1 parental love is shown when Hermia's father Egeus tries to get his daughter to marry Demetrius who he believes is much better for Hermia than her true love Lysander. Egeus believes he is protecting his daughter by attempting to force her to marry Demetrius but is actually going against his daughters wishes as she wants to marry Lysander, Egeus then presents her with an ultimatum which makes her choose to marry Demetrius of live a Celibate life in the church and it is at this point in the play that Hermia and Lysander choose to runaway. This is a good example of parental love going terribly wrong as Egeus loses control over his daughter when she deceives him by running away with the man her father disapproves of her marrying, this also starts of the plot of the confused lovers.
Shakespeare portrays the confusion between Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius by using the fairies and the ideas of dreams and magic so the reader cannot tell what is reality and what is fantasy. It is at this point in the play when the fairies are brought into the play as the mischievous 'Puck' causes mayhem between the four Athenians. The confusion is caused when Oberon sees Helena constantly doting over Demetrius despite Demetrius's love for Hermia, he then sends Puck to fetch a magical flower to put on the eyes of Demetrius so that he would wake and set eyes on Helena and fall in love with her, but this all goes wrong when he places the flower on Lysander's eyes and he is woken by Helena, consequently falling in love with Helena and
In Act 1 Scene 1 parental love is shown when Hermia's father Egeus tries to get his daughter to marry Demetrius who he believes is much better for Hermia than her true love Lysander. Egeus believes he is protecting his daughter by attempting to force her to marry Demetrius but is actually going against his daughters wishes as she wants to marry Lysander, Egeus then presents her with an ultimatum which makes her choose to marry Demetrius of live a Celibate life in the church and it is at this point in the play that Hermia and Lysander choose to runaway. This is a good example of parental love going terribly wrong as Egeus loses control over his daughter when she deceives him by running away with the man her father disapproves of her marrying, this also starts of the plot of the confused lovers.
Shakespeare portrays the confusion between Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius by using the fairies and the ideas of dreams and magic so the reader cannot tell what is reality and what is fantasy. It is at this point in the play when the fairies are brought into the play as the mischievous 'Puck' causes mayhem between the four Athenians. The confusion is caused when Oberon sees Helena constantly doting over Demetrius despite Demetrius's love for Hermia, he then sends Puck to fetch a magical flower to put on the eyes of Demetrius so that he would wake and set eyes on Helena and fall in love with her, but this all goes wrong when he places the flower on Lysander's eyes and he is woken by Helena, consequently falling in love with Helena and