Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love, power, desire, dominance, and fantasy; these are a few of the factors that make up the plot for the disastrous lives of the characters in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The characters Titania, Lysander, and Demetrius have their perspective of love twisted by the mischievous Puck, who uses a love potion to make them fall in love with someone or something else than what their hearts truly desire. Love intertwined with fantasy unleashes a sequence of events that sets off the plot of the play, and as a result the complication of every romantic relationship. Since the beginning of the first Act up until the final Act, in this play, we see how love and power go hand in hand, but in the end love wins.
Love is the most recurrent
—And my gracious duke, This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child. — Thou, thou, Lysander,” (1.1.23 - 29). This expression not only demonstrates ‘machismo’ during this era but also demonstrates the relationship between father and daughter as if it is a business deal. Shakespeare in some way, uses this comedy to ridicule how men establish their dominance over women. “By all the vows that ever men have broke —In number more than ever women spoke…” (1.1.175 - 178). This quote said by Hermia demonstrates how Shakespeare sees relationships in his time, women never defend themselves. The comical effect he brings is attached to the notion of a romantic love. “Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once. - The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid - Will make or man or woman madly dote - Upon the next live creature that it sees.” (2.1.175 - 178). The characters throughout the play believe they are truly and hopelessly in love with a person, but in reality, they are more fooled into believing they are in love. Hermia and Lysander, the main characters in the play, run off to the woods to run away together and live happily ever after. However, this was not the case, in the midst of their escape, the mischievous Puck applies a love potion into Lysander’s eyes thinking he was Demetrius. Upon realizing the mistake, he has made, Puck tries to correct it by applying the love potion unto Demetrius, only to make the mess bigger. Now not only did Lysander fall