A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Oberon is the Root of All Problems

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A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Oberon is the Root of All Problems in the Play “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein Oberon is one of the most important characters in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare and is the answer to the question of why there are so many problems in the play. Not only is Oberon the King of the Fairies but he is the husband of Titania and the master of Puck. Oberon’s character is multifaceted although it is evident that he will do anything for a good laugh. At times, Oberon is extraordinarily nice, generous, and compassionate. He felt sorry for Helena and tried to get Demetrius to fall in love with her. However, On the other hand, Oberon is cruel, jealous, and tyrannical. Resembling his mischievous servant Puck, Oberon finds no problem with playing with other people’s love. He swindled his own wife and laughed at the misfortunes of the four Athenians Helena, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius. Despite one’s view of Oberon, it is clear that he is the root of all the problems in the play because he starts a sequence of problems by making the love juice, orders the love juice to be used on Demetrius which in turn causes disarray for all four of the young lovers, and causes disgrace for Titania and creates obstacles for Bottom and the Rude Mechanicals when he uses the love juice on Titania in order to fulfill his own selfish desires. Oberon starts a chain of problems by ordering Puck to bring the flower from which the love juice can be created: Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell: /It fell upon a little western flower, /Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, /And maidens call it love-in-... ... middle of paper ... .../Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower /Hath such force and blessed power. /Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen. (IV.i.29-54) Oberon’s greed for the child and power caused problems for many. As one can see, Oberon is the origin all of the complications in the play. He failed to realize that his careless and greedy actions devastated an abounding number of people. Without the interference of Oberon, there would have been no love confusion between the Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander. Also, Titania and Nick Bottom would not have been humiliated and the Rude Mechanicals would have more time with Bottom to rehearse. The majority of these problems were caused by Oberon’s fatal and careless mistake of creating the love juice. As many examples throughout the play show, Oberon’s mischief and love juice cause misunderstanding, misery, and unnecessary complications.

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