Opportune Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare

Ally Larson
Miss Windish
English ll
10 February 2017
Opportune Love Imagine yourself in the middle of a love triangle, running throughout the woods in the middle of the night. You are watching the person you love fall in love with someone else, only to have it all be a measly dream. This actually happens to the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. During this play, there are many twists, turns, and love triangles caused by a simple miscommunication. Going through many plots, some of which are exciting and some of which are saddening, it is revealed at the end of the play that the audience was actually dreaming the whole time. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Theseus is eager, old-fashioned, and all about convenience when it comes to love. In the beginning of the play, Theseus and his future wife, Hippolyta, are talking. As they are discussing the wedding, Theseus says, “But o, methinks how slow this old moon wanes” (1.1.3-4)! He is complaining about how slow the moon is rising and setting, making the days go by slowly. He is jumping out of his skin to marry Hippolyta, the love
of his life, which is why he is eager about the thought of love. When Egeus presents his problem with Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius, Theseus steps in and tries to reason with Hermia. Egeus wants Hermia and Demetrius to get married, but Hermia already loves Lysander and Lysander loves Hermia. She doesn’t have any feelings besides hate for Demetrius, but Demetrius has feelings for Hermia. No one can come to an agreement, which is why they went to Theseus. He pulls Hermia aside and tells her, “Be advised fair maid; to you, your father should be as a god” (1.1.47). He thinks that Hermia should follow her father’s wishes because to her, he should be the ultimate god. This is a very old fashioned way of thinking. These days, your parents can approve the people you date, but they can’t force you to marry someone. Arranged marriages were acceptable or common up until the 18th century, further proving Theseus is old-fashioned. In the beginning, Theseus sees no reason why Lysander and Hermia would be the ones to be married.
Helena and Demetrius are no longer, making Demetrius single. Hermia’s father’s approval only makes this situation worse. Since they have no one disapproving of the marriage, Theseus sees no reason why it shouldn’t happen. It is convenient for Demetrius and, the way he sees it, it is also convenient for Hermia because of her dad. At the end of the play, when Hippolyta and Theseus are hunting and they stumble across Helena, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius, they continue this discussion. Since it seems that things have been sorted out between the four, with Helena and Demetrius back together and Lysander and Hermia together, he will allow both couples to be married. It is no longer convenient for Demetrius to marry Hermia since he doesn’t love
her. Theseus is portrayed as a stubborn and somewhat rude person in the beginning of the play. He just doesn’t want any added complications to his life, which is what the whole situation was; it was complicated. He followed Egeus’s wishes and demanded Hermia be married to Demetrius. It would make it easier on everyone. It isn’t exactly Theseus’s fault, his view on love is just extremely old fashioned. Yes, threatening Hermia’s life if she didn’t make a choice was a little excessive, but he just wanted to avoid the drama that would ensue if he sided with Hermia. A lot of people probably would want to make their life as drama free as possible, especially if they had a wedding coming up.