Who Was Responsible For Oberon's Downfall

Most of the problems in one’s life can be traced back to one person in one way or another. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains many problems in different people’s lives. Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of fairies, fight frequently over an Indian boy that Oberon eventually takes from Titania, which causes many disruptions in nature. Lysander and Demetrius both love Hermia, but Hermia only loves Lysander and plans to marry him. Oberon is most at fault for the problems in the play because he makes Lysander and Demetrius fight over Helena, whom they both only love because they are under a spell, and decreases the amount of love and care the Indian boy gets. Oberon interferes with the lives of Demetrius and Lysander by causing them to stop loving Hermia and begin loving Helena. Oberon does this with the help of Puck , his servant, and the love-in-idleness flower, which when applied to someone’s eyes makes them fall in love with the first creature they see. Having Demetrius and Lysander fight over Helena does not only cause disruption between the two men, but also between Helena and Hermia, who have been friends for years. This causes Helena to say to Hermia: “Ay, do. Persever, counterfeit sad looks,/Make mouths upon me when I turn my back,/Wink each at other, hold the sweet jest
up./This sport, well carried, shall be chronicled./If you have any pity, grace, or manners,/You would not make me such an argument./But fare you well.’Tis partly my own fault,/Which death or absence soon shall remedy.” (3.2. 242-249). Since Helena does not know that Oberon has cast a spell on the men, she believes that they are playing tricks on her. Thus, Oberon causes two separate fights to break out, one with the the ladies and one with the men, destroying their relationships. Oberon also decreases the amount of love and care the Indian boy gets. Oberon wants the little boy to be his slave and his wife to stop giving all her affection to the boy. He achieves this by putting the love-in-idleness flower on his wife Titania to make her love one of the craftsmen that has a donkey head. “For Oberon is passing fell and wrath/Because that she, as her attendent, hath/A lovely boy stolen from an Indian king;/She never had so sweet changeling./And jealous Oberon would have the child/Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild.” (2.1. 20-25). This shows that the boy does not receive as much affection because he is not in the possession of Titania. Oberon causes the boy to have less care. Despite the fact that Oberon causes fighting to break out and a little boy to receive less love and care, some may say Puck is most responsible for the problems in the play because he is the one who applies the flower to Demetrius’s eyes.
Even though Puck thinks he is putting the flower on the right man’s eyes, he is not, causing Lysander to love Helena. In an attempt to fix Puck’s mistake, Oberon puts the flower on Demetrius’s eyes, which only results an even bigger problem. Ultimately, Oberon causes most of the problems in the play because if you tell a mischievous person to do something, it is still the person’s fault who told the mischievous one to do
it. Oberon is most at fault for the problems in the play because he interferes with the lovers and makes the Indian boy receive less love and care. Oberon causes the lovers, Demetrius and Lysander, to fight over Helena because of a spell, which results in a fight breaking out between Helena and Hermia as well as Lysander and Demetrius. He single-handedly ruined the life a little boy could have had by putting a spell on his wife to not love the boy anymore. This proves that most problems in a person's life can be traced back to one person.