A Dream Within A Dream
William Shakespeare presents his story of a midsummer night’s dream as a play. Within this play is another play named “Pyramus and Thisby“. The two similar stories share the same basic idea of how the course of true love never seems to run smoothly. Chaos seems to be normalcy in both of these stories, and although they seem vastly different, they share the same quality of blocked love and eventual serenity. These shared qualities of love show how the theme of “Pyramus and Thisby” relates to the main story of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The main plot of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is comprised of the confident, real love of Thesius and Hippolyta as the right-minded duke and the soon to be duchess of Athens. The middle plots concern the young lovers Helena and Lysander, and Hermia and Demetrius in their pursuit of love. It also includes the relationship between King Oberon and Queen Titania of fairyland. A subplot takes place involving the fairy queen and Nick Bottom, a craftsman who performs in our sub-play. All of these plots combine to make up our main story. Hiding inside them is another story -“Pyramus and Thisby”- that also depicts the obstacles that love introduces.
Several aspects of the two plays shape the image of their mutual, yet contrasting themes. Looking at it from a literal perspective, the two seem unrelated. Actually, “Pyramus and Thisby” seems more like “Romeo and Juliet” than anything else, but the presentation of love’s trial is the common thread. The boundaries that love introduces into a relationship are challenged. Due to the nature of love, irrational as it may be, there is a need for harmony and contentment. The couples in the sub-play and the main play both thr...
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...in which activities take place. Since so many things are going on at the same time, the activities of one plot are merely dreams to the others.
“Love shall conquer all” is a familiar saying, and in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” it holds true. The trials of love are always present even after lovers have found one another. The relationship between the play, and the play it was in, is tightly bound not only by the actors, but also with the presence of love’s hardships. The course of true love doesn’t run smoothly, but it is up to lovers to make it work. Lunatics, lovers and poets make reality conform to their imaginations, yet order and clarity somehow prevail. We, like the rude mechanicals, don’t have fairies to help us out, but however miraculous the results may seem, eventual serenity will be achieved through the supernatural power of true love - Erik Wilhelm
Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a story about the dangers of knowledge and the consequences of overstepping moral and ethical boundaries. By examining Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through a psychoanalytic lens, it can be interpreted that the creature is a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s personality. Psychoanalysis argues that the conscious and unconscious mind are made up of the id, superego and ego. In order to self-actualize the conscious and unconscious mind must be in equilibrium. The creature and Victor both strive for self-actualization through their yearning to understand the world. They share the experience of lower-level emotions like the need for revenge. Ultimately, the destruction in the novel is rooted in Victor’s and the creature’s experience of parental abandonment,
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. Helena, hearing about their plans, tells Demetrius, and all four of them end up in the woods where Lysander’s quotation, “The course of true love never did run smooth”(28), becomes extremely evident due to several supernatural mix-ups, authority, and jealousy.
In conclusion, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare effectively uses the motifs of the seasons, the moon, and dreams to show that love, irrationality, and disobedience directly cause chaos. By calling to mind the seasons in unnatural order, describing the moon behaving strangely, and discussing the dualistic, irrational nature of dreams, Shakespeare effectively evokes a sense of chaos and disorder. Linking each of these motifs to the themes of love, irrationality, and disobedience allows Shakespeare to illustrate the disarray that is bound to result from any romance.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of the masterpieces of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare explores various aspects of love and friendship. With the help of the main characters such as Lysander, Demetrious Helena and Hermia, he endeavors that the path of love is full of obstacles, however, if one is committed and faithful, he/she can defy those obstacles leading him/her to success. As Lysander says “The course of true love never did run smooth”, the love stories presented in the play undergo difficult situations but eventually the genuine love is recognized by the triumph of the true loves.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play based on love. Also in this play, there were three types of love shown−love between friends, family members and lovers. Through this play, man can learn many things such as love is influential and that love is strong enough to change the world both positively and negatively bringing readers to the conclusion that love makes us crazy, but it moves the world.
Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the reader is lead to sympathize with the monstrous creature, which was created by Victor Frankenstein. Despite any internal contradictions, the creature has the indisputable outward appearance of a monster, one repulsive to even his own creator. Inevitably, the appearance becomes the creature’s most significant quality, which eliminates any recognition of other, more human, qualities. As a result, any possibility of acceptance within human society are completely destroyed. The creature himself even recognizes this fact. Expressing many human qualities, such rejection and the consequential loneliness has a tremendous impact on the creature, especially in the impressionable years after his initial animation. With the psychological effects caused by these factors, the creature is sent on a rampage, causing tragedy throughout the course of the novel. Many may question Victor’s culpability and lack of responsibility over his creation; however, the ultimate blame for the events must be placed while considering the situation on a larger scale. Without a structured beginning to life, the creature is subjected to the harsh society around him, whose reactions only lead the creature to exile and psychological torment, justifying his wrongful actions.
Human conflict is a violent confrontation between groups of people due to differences in values and beliefs. During World War I, poet and soldier, Wilfred Owen, faced the harsh realities of human conflict, dying at a young age of 25, only six days before the war ended. Owen’s personal encounters during war had a profound influence on his life as reflected in the poems and letters he wrote before his passing. In using a variety of poetic devices to write about the suffering and brutality of war, vividly captured in his poems ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, Owen effectively conveys his own perspective about human conflict. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ depicts the horrific scenes on the battlefield and a grotesque death from drowning
The overriding theme of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare deals with the nature of love. Though true love seems to be held up as an ideal, false love is mostly what we are shown. Underneath his frantic comedy, Shakespeare seems to be asking the questions all lovers ask in the midst of their confusion: How do we know when love is real? How can we trust ourselves that love is real when we are so easily swayed by passion and romantic conventions? Some readers may sense bitterness behind the comedy, but will probably also recognize the truth behind Shakespeare's satire. Often, love leads us down blind alleys and makes us do things we regret later. The lovers within the scene, especially the men, are made to seem rather shallow. They change the objects of their affections, all the time swearing eternal love to one or the other. In this scene Shakespeare presents the idea that both false love and true love can prevail..
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
Love plays a very significant role in this Shakespearian comedy, as it is the driving force of the play: Hermia and Lysander’s forbidden love and their choice to flee Athens is what sets the plot into motion. Love is also what drives many of the characters, and through readers’ perspectives, their actions may seem strange, even comical to us: from Helena pursuing Demetrius and risking her reputation, to fairy queen Titania falling in love with Bottom. However, all these things are done out of love. In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream displays the blindness of love and how it greatly contradicts with reason.
In the days of Shakespeare, marriages were not commonly made for love, but rather for power, wealth or even just so that a parent could be assured care at an advanced age. Such marriages were made very young, and most times arranged between the parents of the two who were to be wed, or between the bridegroom and the parents of the bride. In looking at A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this notion is not exempt. In fact, it is almost emphasized throughout the play. Shakespeare’s comedy offers an exposition of a person’s wish for dominance over the emotional states of those that they love, represented by the tandem conflicts that bridge the mortal and supernatural worlds. The more the characters fight to control the affections of their counterparts, the more it becomes clear that they have virtually no control over where the objects of their affection’s own love lies, such as that of Hermia and her father’s wishes, Oberon and Titania, and a role reversal in the case of Helena and Demetrius. Although the play is meant to be as absurdly comedic as possible (and, indeed, even the great trickster Robin Goodfellow apologizes in the end for its ridiculousness), this central theme truly reflects the flavor of a changing era, where outside arrangements of love were beginning to be traded in western Europe for arrangements from the heart.
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
A Midsummer Night's Dream is, in a way, Romeo and Juliet turned inside out--a tragedy turned farcical. The tragedy both are based on is the story of "Pyramus and Thisbe." In one, Ovid's story is treated as a melodrama (in Romeo and Juliet) and in another, it is fodder for comedy (in A Midsummer Night's Dream).
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” makes the reader acutely aware of the impact of war. The speaker’s experiences with war are vivid and terrible. Through the themes of the poem, his language choices, and contrasting the pleasant title preceding the disturbing content of the poem, he brings attention to his views on war while during the midst of one himself. Owen uses symbolism in form and language to illustrate the horrors the speaker and his comrades go through; and the way he describes the soldiers, as though they are distorted and damaged, parallels how the speaker’s mind is violated and haunted by war.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare decides to have a few of the characters act out the story of Pyramus and Thisbe for four other personages. What is curious is that, rather than simply having them quickly act out the short skit, Shakespeare has the characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream who are watching comment on the playlet as it is being presented by Bottom and his friends, in turn affecting the way it is demonstrated by influencing the ‘characters’. Shakespeare has the audience (Theseus, Demetrius, Hippolyta, and Lysander) bring attention to and complement the moon, wall, and lion, despite the fact that Pyramus and Thisbe are supposed to be the main focus and play the most important roles. Additionally, he has both the comments and the acting de-romanticize Pyramus and Thisbe, who are known for their tragic yet romantic story of love and death. These elements make a mockery of the so-called ‘romantic’ tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, in a way de-romanticizing it by