Manipulation In A Midsummer's Night Dream Essay

Politicians are generally viewed as liars and as untrustworthy. However, Richard Nixon, our 37th president, truly held up this reputation. In order to win the presidency, he utilized manipulation and trickery to win the election, thus gaining more power. When his crimes were revealed, he lost his presidency and his legacy. This unfortunate situation is very similar to the play, a Midsummer’s Night Dream. When one gains power in a Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare, one must resort to trickery and manipulation, which often backfires, as the hunger of power inevitably grows.
As Oberon’s hunger for power grows, he resorts to manipulation and trickery to attempt to have everything. When agreeing peacefully fails to achieve what Oberon

When he then sees the helpless Athenian girl running after a boy who does not return her feelings of love, he feels a rush of power and he wants to help the girl and have Titania's boy. He creates a love potion, which manipulates the mind. He states, “There sleeps Titania sometime of the night...of this I'll streak her eyes, And make her full of hateful fantasies...A sweet Athenian lady is in love/With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;/But do it when the next thing he espies/May be the lady.” Power and manipulation are symbolized in this quote by the love potion. The purpose of a love potion is to create love where there was previously not. This creates power for the person who applied the love potion, and it manipulates the mind of the receiver. However, love potions often end in chaos, and in Oberon’s case, it backfired significantly. After Puck accidentally placed the love potion on the wrong man’s eyes, Oberon was furious that his plans were ruined. He states, “What hast thou done?/thou

In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Lysander and Demetrius motives are always to try and achieve love. When Demetrius heard of Hermia and Lysander’s escape and attempts to go follow her, he states, “Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?/The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.” Demetrius feels immense anguish and hatred towards the situation, and he derives his power from his feelings. Shakespeare shows this by using a play on words and the sound of his writing. Demetrius appears to have a superiority, which is interpreted as power. His grief and fury are shown in his words, “The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.” It shows that Hermia has hurt him, and he will kill Lysander. He plans to use trickery and manipulation to gain Hermia back and to kill Lysander. Just like Demetrius, Lysander also uses trickery to attempt to achieve Helena’s love. After the love potion has been administered and Lysander and Demetrius have both fallen in love with Hermia, they both plot to kill one another instead of fairly attempting to in Helena’s love. When Lysander is searching for Demetrius, he states, “ I'll find Demetrius and revenge this spite/...Where art thou, proud Demetrius?/ speak thou now.../Here, villain; drawn and ready.” Lysander is drugged from the power that the love potion has over him. The love potion is liquid courage; it allows him to say whatever he wants without him thinking it through