True Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
As Lysander says in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Shakespeare 1.1.134). Contrary to beliefs, even true love isn’t perfect. It calls couples to expect the unexpected, encountering difficulties and hardships along the way without a moment’s notice, True love is complicated. But no matter the amount or the intensity of difficulties that may surface, problems can always be solved, like many problems solved in Shakespeare’s play. The play takes place in Athens, where the four lovers, Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, and Hermia reside. Lysander and Hermia truly love each other, and plans to elope when Hermia’s father wishes an arranged marriage between Helena and another
man, Demetrius. Demetrius was recently courted with Hermia’s friend, Helena, but abandoned her soon after for Hermia. Helena learns of the eloping plan between Lysander and Hermia, and tells Demetrius in hopes of regaining his love. The four lovers ultimately end up in a forest the next day at night. Complications arise in the forest and in the midst of the chaos, a pair of fairies decide to help on the case. But Puck, the fairy, accidentally makes Lysander fall in love with Helena, forming a chaotic love square. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare portrays love as a force that makes people behave extraordinarily and as a feeling that could destroy relationships.
One of the many ways Shakespeare depicts love as a social commentator is showing that love is a force that can make people perform crazy acts.One such example is the decision made by Lysander and Hermia to elope after Hermia was left with just three options: marry Demetrius, a life of chastity, or death.
Lysander converses with Hermia and they plan to elope to his aunt’s house the next night, a place safe from the Athenian law. Lysander tells Hermia, “I have a widow aunt … From Athens is her house remote seven leagues … There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee; And to that place the sharp Athenian law Cannot pursue us…” (1.1.157-163). Because of the love between Hermia and Lysander, they are rather impulsive to act so quickly on leaving the city, away from their homes, away from their parents, to go marry in secret. Their love put their lives at risk, as the punishment could likely be death if they are to be caught. Hermia and Lysander risked anything and everything to be together, including death. Another example, in which love can cause people to do crazy things, is the proposal of a duel between Lysander and Demetrius to determine which man has the most right to Helena. When Puck, the fairy, anoints Lysander and Demetrius with the love nectar, the two began fawning over Helena. Tensions build up quickly between the two, as Lysander challenges Demetrius to a duel. He says to Demetrius, “Now she holds me not, Now follow, if thou dar’st, to try whose right, Of thine or mine,
is most in Helena” (3.2.337-338). Again, shown by Lysander and Demetrius, they were willing to do anything and everything for love, including death. In a nutshell, they were willing to put up a fight to the death with each other, only to win the right to Helena. In response to this, Demetrius quickly agrees to fight Lysander, as they headed deeper into the woods, “cheek by jowl.” Finally, the last example in which Shakespeare depicts love as an uncontrollable force is by incorporating an old tragic play of Pyramus and Thisbe. He incorporates this play to further emphasize and stamp down his final reason of how love can make people do crazy things. On the day of the wedding, a group of craftsmen provides entertainment for the lovers that were to be wed. Despite being warned about the actors being inept, Theseus, the king of Athens, chooses them to perform the play of Pyramus and Thisbe. Shakespeare incorporates this play as a comedy, where the inexperienced actors entertained their guests with an absurdly bad performance. Nevertheless, Shakespeare gets his point across with the play. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a book by a Roman poet, Pyramus and Thisbe are two star-crossed lovers from two conflicting families. They agree to meet in a forest to elope, but when Thisbe arrives to meet Pyramus, a lion chases her away, making her drop her mantle in the process. When Pyramus arrives, he sees Thisbe’s mantle, chewed and covered with blood. Devastated, he mistakenly assumes that Thisbe was killed by the lion, and decides that he cannot live without her, and so, kills himself. Thisbe returns to the scene, only to find Pyramus with a sword protruding from himself. She then says, “With hands as pale as milk. Lay them in gore, Since you have shore With shears his thread of silk. Tongue, not a word! Come, trusty sword, Come, blade, my breast imbrue!” (5.1.317-323).In the end, the two acted without thinking everything through. The uncontrollable force of love made them feel as if they could not live without each other. The two were devastated to find each other dead, and as a result, commit suicide. As shown by all four lovers and Pyramus and Thisbe, the force of love made them uncontrollable. They did unimaginable things for each other, including risking death, which in a way represents much of society today. People will do many crazy things for love and each other, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. But love doesn’t just make people uncontrollable. Love can also potentially ruin relationships that were thought to be unbreakable.
Another way Shakespeare portrays love is as a feeling that could ruin relationships between people.
Demetrius had once loved Helena, but unfortunately, had lost feelings and abandoned her when he found new love for Hermia. Helena was still head over heels and had still loved Demetrius dearly, but his love for Hermia had ruin their relationship. When Helena was following Demetrius everywhere he went and tries to get him back, Demetrius turns back on her and says, “I will not stay thy questions. Let me go, Or if thou follow me, do not believe But I shall do thee mischief in the wood” (2.1.235-237). Ever since Demetrius fell for Hermia, he consistently tries to avoid Helena and turn his back on her. His love for Hermia completely ruined their relationship, leaving Helena chasing in his tracks. Furthermore, his last words to Helena before he was anointed with the love nectar was a threat, showing that he would hurt her if she continued to follow him. Another way in which love has ruined relationships is the broken relationship between Hermia and Lysander. They both truly and genuinely love each other. Their love is the reason why all four lovers are entangled in a chaotic mess at the forest. But after Puck applies the love nectar to Lysander, he falls in love with Helena. Hermia, in shock, could not understand why. Lysander’s new love for Helena completely destroys his relationship with Hermia. Lysander says to her, “Get you gone, you dwarf, You minimus of hind’ring knotgrass
made, You bead, you acorn…” (3.2.330-331). Because of Lysander’s new love, Lysander began showering Hermia with insults, which emphasizes that their relationship has ended The two thought that nothing would ever separate them apart, like many couples today. But Shakespeare shows that anything can happen, and love can cause things to change an instant, like how Hermia and Lysander’s relationship went from strong to completely broken. The final way love had ruin a relationship is the friendship between Hermia and Helena. Hermia blames Helena after Lysander falls in love with Helena. They were once best of friends, but now both loathe each other. Hermia says to Helena, “O me! To Helena. You juggler, you cankerblossom, You thief of love! What, have you come by night And stol’n my love’s heart from him?” (3.2.283-285). Hermia puts Helena at fault and blames her as the “thief of love.” The two once had a bonding relationship, up all until when love ruins it. According to Hermia, Helena stole the love of her life, and she could never forgive her. The two began exchanging insults to a point where tensions built up to where Hermia had threatened Helena to fight. Hermia went from loving Helena as a friend to hating her with a passion. As she advances to harm her, she says, “You, mistress, all this coil is long of you. Nay, go not back” (3.2.340-341). From friends, to threats, to violence in a just few minutes because of love really shows how love can ruin relationships at any given time. The crazy, fast change of events leads to Hermia wanting to chase Helena down to kill her because of love. All in all, Shakespeare had shown love as a feeling that could betray friendships and ruin relationships, as shown in the actions taken by the four lovers.
In conclusion, Shakespeare depicts love in multiple ways in his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He shows it as a force that makes people do crazy things, and as a force that could end strong relationships. Because of Lysander and Hermia’s love, they took risky choices to elope, even though they well know that they could end up dead if caught. Shakespeare also showed how Demetrius and Lysander acted impulsively by challenging each other to a duel to win Helena’s rights. Furthermore, Shakespeare incorporated the play of Pyramus and Thisbe to further show how love can make people uncontrollable. Shakespeare depicts love in another way by showing how love is a feeling that can end friendships, like when the love relationship between Lysander and Hermia got broken, and the friendship between Hermia and Helena also got broken. Love is a strong yet complicated force. It has its highs and lows, but love is essential for us to survive. Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person depends on you. It may be difficult at first, but one will eventually find the love of their life, like the four lovers did.