how is the theme of love shown in A Midsummer Night's Dream
How is the theme of love presented in Act 1 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’?
In the English Dictionary, love is described as a strong liking for someone or something – a passionate affection for another person. However William Shakespeare challenges this; does love really exist? A question he implies in his comedy-filled melodrama ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ written in the 1590s. The play centres on one couple, Lysander and Hermia, who are madly ‘in love’ with each other, and this gives Shakespeare the chance to express the sickly attitude of love.
Like in many other comedies and tragedies that Shakespeare wrote, for example Romeo and Juliet, love is a constant and important theme. Likewise, it is famously used in his poems, for example Sonnet 116, which is about the idea of perfect and ideal love. From the beginning of the play to the end of it, a mockery of love is evident, starting off with a holy union of bliss that is supposed to happen but never does. Moreover the unbalanced nature of love between the characters turns love into a game; dramatic irony is created here because to the audience it is obvious that love will eventually regain its balance: and so it allows the audience to enjoy the comedy without being caught up in the tension of an uncertain outcome.
The first scene of the first Act introduces all the couples in the human realm and the problems they face. In the play’s opening scene we are introduced to a minor yet important couple, Theseus and Hippolyta. Theseus is the duke of Athens who kidnapped the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta after taking over the Amazons. Hippolyta is being forced to marry the duke who believes he “woo’d thee(her) with my (his) sword” and this shows the fake nature of love where someone’s love to love another is won by sheer force even though Hippolyta seems to be happy with it. Marriage is the prize of love; it is the first type of union we are introduced to and therefore it shows its
In the English Dictionary, love is described as a strong liking for someone or something – a passionate affection for another person. However William Shakespeare challenges this; does love really exist? A question he implies in his comedy-filled melodrama ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ written in the 1590s. The play centres on one couple, Lysander and Hermia, who are madly ‘in love’ with each other, and this gives Shakespeare the chance to express the sickly attitude of love.
Like in many other comedies and tragedies that Shakespeare wrote, for example Romeo and Juliet, love is a constant and important theme. Likewise, it is famously used in his poems, for example Sonnet 116, which is about the idea of perfect and ideal love. From the beginning of the play to the end of it, a mockery of love is evident, starting off with a holy union of bliss that is supposed to happen but never does. Moreover the unbalanced nature of love between the characters turns love into a game; dramatic irony is created here because to the audience it is obvious that love will eventually regain its balance: and so it allows the audience to enjoy the comedy without being caught up in the tension of an uncertain outcome.
The first scene of the first Act introduces all the couples in the human realm and the problems they face. In the play’s opening scene we are introduced to a minor yet important couple, Theseus and Hippolyta. Theseus is the duke of Athens who kidnapped the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta after taking over the Amazons. Hippolyta is being forced to marry the duke who believes he “woo’d thee(her) with my (his) sword” and this shows the fake nature of love where someone’s love to love another is won by sheer force even though Hippolyta seems to be happy with it. Marriage is the prize of love; it is the first type of union we are introduced to and therefore it shows its