Examples Of Pessimism In Shakespeare's The Lysander-Hermia

I do personally think Shakespeare was intentional in retaining the charm. Literary geniuses the like of William typically don’t, as a general rule, make such conspicuous oversights. Maybe he didn't think we'd notice upon first watching and/or reading, but on further reflection this becomes obvious and intriguing. In terms of the play, it does make sense to me that Puck kept it on Demetrius. Perhaps it’s my inherent pessimism, but I feel it’s one of the many examples of “concord of discord” as Theseus puts it in 5.1-light interchangeable with darkness-of the play. All is not what it seems with the “happy” couples. For example, Hippolyta’s enthusiasm about her marriage to Theseus is questionable at best-due to her status as his conquest-and even less assured if you remember that within Greek mythology, something Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with, Theseus is said to abandon Hippolyta and run off with Phaedra.
The Lysander-Hermia relationship is a little harder to get a read on than Theseus and Hippolyta.
Ultimately, though, it’s my interpretation they are not destined for contentment either, much as I feel Demetrius and Helena also aren’t. In 1.1.226-28, after Lysander, Hermia, and Helena all talk together, Hermia leaves about a line and a half before Lysander. This may seem innocuous, but as Joyce van Dyke asked, why doesn’t she just leave with her lover? Joyce’s proposal-which I think is definitely worth thinking about-is that Shakespeare wants Hermia to go offstage so Lysander can flirt with Helena: “...Helena, adieu. As you on him, Demetrius dote on
you!”
By itself, this would probably not be enough evidence that Lysander is not actually in love with Hermia. At least, until we get to 3.2, the nightmarish scenes of the forest where everything falls apart and love is misplaced. I find it extremely

hard to believe that Shakespeare would hint that Lysander may not be true to Hermia, only to follow up with Lysander be afterward obsessed with wooing Helena and rejecting Hermia, if not to tell us that Lysander is not as true to Hermia as we would hope, or think.
If we are to accept this, the relationships of Lysander/Hermia and Demetrius/Helena as we see them at the end of the play are similar: in both, the attraction is not quite mutual. I realize I’m naive and never been in love, but I am fairly certain that true love doesn’t come about by means of one person being manipulated or forced into a relationship.
There is a quote by bell hooks, the illustrious feminist writer, that is relevant to Helena and her continual unrequited love for Demetrius: “It is silly, isn't it, that I would dream of someone else offering to me the acceptance and affirmation I was withholding from myself...And I add, "Do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.”
It’s obvious in many instances that Helena’s self-esteem has suffered a great deal from Demetrius’ rejection, as she yearns to be even his dog (p. 23-4, 2.1.206-214): “...Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me, neglect me…” and believes she can’t really be beautiful if Demetrius doesn’t see it (p. 11, 1.1.230-31): “Throughout Athens I am thought as fair as she, but what of that? Demetrius thinks not so.”
As long as Helena doesn’t love herself, Demetrius can’t truly love her. Because of that, it’s the spellbound Demetrius, not his actual self, who loves Helena. Besides, the fact alone that Puck, the trickster, is the orchestrator of Demetrius and Helena being together does not bode well for them.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is constantly blurring the lines between comedy and tragedy. Within the entire context of this complex play, these disturbing concepts fit in perfectly well.