A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

1085 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Shakespeare's influence on Elizabethan era

William Shakespeare is considered one of the most influential playwrights of all time. Shakespeare has written 37 plays, one of which is considered people’s most favorite play, the comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” takes place in Athens in an ancient Greece and is a lighthearted, magical toned play. The play starts with the Duke of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta preparing for their nuptials. Egeus seeks Theseus intervention and brings Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia to Theseus in Act I, Scene 1 to "beg the ancient privilege of Athens" because Egeus daughter Hermia, will not agree to his choice of Demetrius as a husband, a young man of a noble Athenian family. Hermia is not in love with Demetrius, but loves another man of a noble Athenian family named Lysander. Egeus disapproves of Hermia’s choice of Lysander and appeals to Theseus to force Hermia to marry Demetrius. Egeus is asking Theseus to apply the Athenian law, which would send Hermia to her death for not abiding by her father's wishes. Theseus choses to allow Hermia to choose her fate: she can die, marry Demetrius, or become a nun. Hermia responds that she would rather become a nun than marry Demetrius. Theseus gives her four days to think on her decision. Here is where the law verses true love comes into play, Egeus character illustrates the play’s theme of law. Egeus refuses to listen to his daughter and demands she marries Demetrius or else die. Hermia embodies the opposition to the law and her father’s wishes; here is where Hermia character illustrates the plays theme of true love. She is a strong-willed young woman in love with Lysander and determines she is...

... middle of paper ...

...sander, her true love. In the end, true love wins over law.

Works Cited
Chamberlain, Stephanie. "The Law Of The Father: Patriarchal Economy In A Midsummer Night's Dream." Journal Of The Wooden O Symposium 11.(2011): 28-40. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
"Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay." DiYanni, Robert. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1393-1453. Print.
Montros, Louis Adrian. ""Shaping Fantasies": Figurations of Gender and Power in Elizabethan Culture." Representations, No. 2 (1983): 61-94. Print.
"Overview: A Midsummer Night's Dream." Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Vol. 1: Ancient Times to the American and French Revolutions (Prehistory-1790s). Detroit: Gale, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Lack of Rights in A Midsummer's Night Dream

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hermia is contesting the law because she has two people pursuing her. One that her father has chosen for her to marry and another that has won her heart over. Hermia wants to marry Lysander the one that has won her heart, but since her father does not approve of him she is being forced to marry Demetrius.

    Read More

  • Hermia Weaknesses

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    She exemplifies her strengths in one occurrence by standing up to her father’s wishes concerning her wedding. Speaking to her father, Hermia proclaims, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, ere I will yield my virgin patent up unto his lordship whose unwished yoke my soul consents not to give sovereignty” (I.i.81-84). Hermia demonstrates immense courage and strength by standing up to her father and threatening to pursue the occupation of a nun for the rest of her life. This persistence in marrying the love of her dreams, Lysander, shows incredible courage that resonates throughout the play. Here, Hermia exhibits boundless courage and strength and from now on, her vigor only grows stronger. Later on in the play, knowing that the rules of Athenian law of marriage did not apply outside of Athens, Hermia and Lysander snuck out of the city. As Hermia and Lysander conversed alone, Hermia demands, “Nay, good Lysander. For my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Do not lie so near” (II.ii.47-48) when Lysander desires to draw nearer to Hermia. By this point, Hermia battled her father and contains immeasurable mental strength. At this instance, Hermia gains greater moral strength when she resisted Lysander’s inappropriate love. Displaying courage to stand up to her father and her moral strength to resist Lysander, Hermia exemplifies a strong

    Read More

  • Love, Chaos, and Disorder in Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream: Nature and Consequences of Infatuation

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Demetrius is willing to go to any extent to have Hermia marry him, even allowing Hermia to be subject to a life of a nun or death, if she does not marry him. Demetrius? infatuation with Hermia brings out the tyrannical and possessive part of his character, as can be seen when he says ?and, Lysander, yield thy crazed title to my certain right?

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Identities: A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare, William, and Russ McDonald. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York, NY: Penguin, 2000. Print.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are endless images of water and the moon. Both images lend themselves to a feeling of femininity and calm. In classical mythology, the image of water is often linked with Aphrodite, goddess of passion and love. Born of the foam of the sea, Aphrodite was revered as an unfaithful wife to her husband Hephaestus (Grant 36). This may have a direct coloration to the unfaithful nature of the four lovers, Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius, while in the woods. Perhaps more important, however, is Aphrodite’s link to the other Olympian maiden goddesses. As Aphrodite was attributed with love and beauty, Athena was the protector of war and arts, and finally, Artemis was the goddess of the woods and wild things (Hamilton 31). Artemis was brother of Apollo, god of the sun, and therefore she was the goddess of the moon. Through out literature it seems imagery of the moon and water can be used nearly interchangeably because they both imply feminine powers; water is representative of life and motion and the moon is representative of Artemis directly. Shakespeare seems to have been quite aware of the duties and powers of this ancient goddess.

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream - Battle of the Sexes

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...

    Read More

  • The Relationship Dynamics Of A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    2029 Words  | 5 Pages

    Vickers, Brian. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." The Review of English Studies May 1998: 215. http://web7.searchbank.com(12 Nov. 1998).

    Read More

  • Different Forms Of Love In Shakespeare's Othello

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 34, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (Spring, 1994), pp. 341-356 Published by: Rice University http://www.jstor.org/stable/450905

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1677 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. ed. David L. Stevenson. New York: Signet ……….Classic, 1998. Print.

    Read More

  • Love, Lust and Infatuation in Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Course of True Love Never Runs Smooth

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the struggles of Hermia and Lysander to find a place where they can freely express their true love, it is evident that the course of something as scarce as true love always comes with obstacles. Lysander says: “How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale? / How chance the roses there do fade so fast?” (1.1.130-131), showing that he and Hermia make a faithful couple truly showing their adoration for each other. However, Hermia’s father Egeus refuses to allow to these two lovers marry. This is the conflict Hermia faces: to disobey her father (and the Athenian law), or to mind her father’s will and allow this “edict in destiny” to lose course. “O hell, to choose love by another’s eyes!” (1.1.142), Hermia decides. Hermia chooses to follow the path her true love brings rather than to do what her father insists. In this example, complications manifest in the troubles with true love. In addition, even Titania and Oberon have difficulties

    Read More

  • The Power of Magic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.

    Read More

More about A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Open Document