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Love and dreaming in the midsummer night dream
Love and dreaming in the midsummer night dream
Shakespeare's love and marriage
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How does Shakespeare portray the nature of love in “A Midsummer Nights Dream”?‘A Mid-summer Nights Dream’ is evidentially concerned with the series of hindrances in the course of true love. Shakespeare reverses the categories of reality and illusion, portraying to the audience with a comic edge that when overcome with the illusion of love couples become blind to the misfortunes that are bound to cross their path.
The most basic part of Shakespeare’s plays is the relationship between men and women. In a society so closely woven with Christianity, it seemed natural to take the mandate for this relationship from the bible. This names the husband the head of the household; he can govern his family as he pleases. Despite the pervading view in Elizabethan England of women as the property of their fathers. Shakespeare’s form does not take a firm stance on how he thinks marriage should work. Marriage was considered as a way to establish order most of Shakespeare’s plays have to do with the making or breaking of family ties.
The Characters are drawn from three different worlds: the Athenian Gentry, the Craftsmen of Athens, and the Fairy World. The protagonist is the bizarre nature of love, as represented by four couples: Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, Titania and Oberon, and Hippolyta and Theseus. The whole play centers on the central idea of lovers, ironically and comically coming together and being free to marry.
The opening exposition is first set in Medieval Athens; Shakespeare uses familiar figures from Greek mythology, which would be seen as autocratic and mature mirroring the future portrayal of their love. Theseus as the male is dominant over Hippolyta; her submission brings forth the imminent wedding. Because they meet in an adverse environment it creates dramatic and passionate tension, which is later resolved. This is in stark contrasts with the young lovers, who are erratic and indecisive.
‘Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword;
And won thy love doing thee injuries;
But I will wed thee in another key,
With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling.’
(Theseus 1:1 lines 16-19)
Oberon and Titania are noble fairies. Although they have high status, fairies were seen to be avid and passionate. This passion causes human-like, vindictive quarrels between them.
‘…I have forsworn his bed and company;’
(Titania 2:1 lines 61-62)
Oberon plays tricks on Titania to prove his authority over her, but the sight of her humiliation arouses his love and they reinstate their love to one another.
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
Oberon is making a spectacle of Titania and Bottom. It is ridiculous that she is in love with him because he is from such a lower class than her, he is human and she is a fairy, and he has the head of an ass. She is also a queen and he is an uneducated working man and a match like this would never happen. Bottom has such a problem with language.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most widely read comedies about love. This seems somewhat strange, however, in light of the fact that so few of its characters seem to display any kind of full or true love. A close examination of the actions and words of each of the players will reveal that only one of them, by the end of Act V, should be considered a "lover".
... of love can be varied from the madman who remains in unrequited love to the lover, like Hermia, who not only falls in love but overcomes obstacles and depictions of false affection from Lysander. The poet in this becomes the metaphorical observer of the events who out of love, attempts to protect his love. Theseus, here, refers unintentionally to Oberon, Titania’s jealous and vengeful husband, who watches Titania fall in love with Bottom. Oberon becomes the poet who gazes upon an event and analyzes every instance for its meaning.
Insomnia, from the Latin "in" (not) and "somnus" (sleep), is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep, and/or staying asleep. Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning feeling unrested and experiencing drowsiness during the day. It is not identified as a disease or diagnosis, but a symptom that causes a person to feel irritable, sleepy, and have ...
The first scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduces a tangled web of lovers. Hermia presents herself for judgement as she refuses to marry Lysander, the man of whom her father approves, as she is infatuated instead with Demetrius. Meanwhile her friend Helena is besotted by Demetrius, but he loves Hermia. The scene plays out like a soap opera with dramatic relationships galore, but Shakespeare establishes greater depth with the help of allusions. The most significant references in this scene appear when Hermia and Lysander speak privately for the first time. In their brief conversation, Hermia alludes to Cupid, Venus, and Dido. The first two are gods of love, and Dido is a queen who burned herself on a pyre after being abandoned by her lover. Shakespeare uses each of these mentions of mythology to make the point that the affair between Hermia and Lysander is no passing fancy. However, when Helena enters and converses with the star-crossed lovers she makes no mention of mythology as she discusses her unrequited love for Demetrius and resulting jealousy of Hermia. The absence of allusions in Helena’s speech accentuates the divide between herself and her friend. Barbara A. Mowat speaks eloquently on this concept in the Folger Library edition introduction. As Ms. M...
“Insomnia is a persistent disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep or both, despite the opportunity for adequate sleep.” (Mayo Clinic Staff) When individuals with insomnia so sleep they wake up feeling unrested and lacking energy. According to Dr. Mark Mahowald, Professor of Neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and Director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center at Hennepin County Medical Center “insomnia refers to the inability to get the amount of sleep ...
“Insomnia is the inability to obtain adequate amount or quality of sleep. The difficulty can be with falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both” (“Insomnia Encyclopedia“). Sleeping is a major point in physically and mentally restoring yourself for the tasks ahead. Most people say that about eight hours of sleep is an adequate amount, however it differs from person to person depending on their sex, age, and health conditions. An estimated one-third of the population suffers from some form of insomnia. “In recent studies, a survey reported that 30% of American women and 20% of American men took medication to help them sleep during the course of a year” (“Insomnia”). The medications these people took are called hypnotics. The causes of insomnia vary for different situations.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years,” meaning that America’s children need to start eating healthier, including healthier school lunches. The National School Lunch Act is a fairly recent addition to American society. For, as the world waged war a second time, the United States began to worry about the strength and health of the country’s soldiers. However, in the beginning, selling excess agricultural goods was more important than building a healthy, well-balanced meal for students. Unfortunately, many children coming from poorer families could not afford well-balanced school lunches, so in order to compensate, the School Lunch Program changed its focus to help these students. This program, however, decreased schools’ lunch budgets, and schools had a hard time keeping up with the amount of free meals they had to provide, so they came up with some extra ways to increase revenue. However, in a small town in Massachusetts, one chef makes a difference in the health of the school lunch students eat each day, and proves that hiring a trained chef to cook real, healthy meals can increase profit. Unfortunately, that is not the case in most schools across the nation. The quality of health of the food being served in school lunches is extremely poor and was allowed to decline even more with a new set of rule changes. However, there are some improvements currently being made to increase the quality of health of the food being served to students, including teaching them all about food and its nutritional information, both good and bad. In order for students to eat healthier lunches at school, the USDA needs to implement healthier ...
The intake of proper nutrients helps balance the maintenance of bodily functions; supporting the longevity of a healthy lifestyle. (Denton, Carolyn. “How does food Impact Health?” www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu). With constant technological advance in the world, it is important to become aware of how frequent the world changes daily in preparation for self-maturity. What is a more effective way to approach the real world than to have a direct experience? The researcher will address the topic on why community high schools in America should allow its students off campus during lunch. Allowing children to have a better lunch option could help educational strength as well as attend to other essential needs. (Anderson, Melinda. “Do healthy lunches
...uch like Helena, who overlooks Demetrius’ shortcomings, Titania looks past Bottom’s very apparent ignorance out of love.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander.
At the start of the play they are arguing over a changeling boy who Oberon wants for himself but Titania wont give to him. Oberon decides to get revenge on her by putting a love spell on her eyes and making her fall in love with a monster. “I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep,/ And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:/”. Titania falls in love with a man who’s head Puck turns into a donkey but after a few days Oberon decides that he wants peace between the two of them and that he misses Titania so he breaks the spell and there fighting is resolved. This shows that even though Titania and Oberon fight and argue over things some of the time they love each other therefore proving that “the course of true love never did run
A jealous Oberon and mischievous Puck are two “waggish boys” in their own right. Puck boasts the triumphs of his pranks and trickery for the sake of his amusement, having frightened the maidens of the village, frustrated housewives, beguiled a horse by “neighing in the likeness of a filly foal” (2.1.32), and befuddled an old woman by transforming himself into the likeness of a crab and three-legged stool. Shakespeare utilizes the inadvertent mistakes and waggish nature of Puck, “the shrewd and knavish sprite” (2.1.19), to exemplify the chaotic and complicated entanglements of love. Together with Fairy King Oberon, they turn the “little western flower” struck by Cupid’s arrow into the magic potion known as “love-in-idleness”, reinforcing the idea that love cannot be reasoned. Shakespeare uses the magic potion as a device to express love’s fickleness with the repeated allusion to the unpredictable influence of Cupid’s arrows. Moreover, it is Fairy King’s anger, jealousy and resentment over Titania’s tenderness towards the Indian boy, in conjunction with her refusal to give turn him over to Oberon, which is the seed for the cunning and illusory love-in-idleness potion. Oberon, like an impudent child, deprived of what he desires, acts with guile and duplicity affecting not only
William Shakespeare’s writings are famous for containing timeless, universal themes. A particular theme that is explored frequently in his writings is the relationship between men and women. A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains a multitude of couplings, which are often attributed to the fairies in the play. Each of these pairings has positive and negative aspects, however, some relationships are more ideal than others. From A Midsummer Night’s Dream the optimal pairings are Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania; while the less desirable pairings are Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Demetrius, Lysander and Helena, and Titania and Bottom. Throughout A Midsummer