A lot of times when artists publish a pile of stories, songs, movies, or plays you can usually see some similarities in their work. Even if you can’t see it in all of their work you can almost always find a little something here or here that reminds you of their other work. Taylor Swift is a perfect example of this, she has different songs with different subjects but you can see a lot of similarities in her work. Another artist that does this is the famous Shakespeare. In his two plays The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream I have spotted some similarities. Even so that the acts are alike enough to compare. In act one of both plays there is already a definite problem defined, in the second acts the lovers both make romantic gestures, and the third acts both men leave their ladies.
In the first acts of both of these plays, they already have a definite problem formed.
In Romeo and Juliet the problem showed at the very beginning of the play is the obvious family fued between the Capulets and the Montagues. When you first start watching this play you are greeted by the mocking and quarrel between the two families and Abram says, “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” act 1 scene 1, line 43, which shows the need they feel to show their manliness. You get a sense that this has happened many times before because of what the prince declared but, this is an obvious problem for Romeo and Juliet at the very beginning of Romeo and Juliet. Then, the problem in the first act of A Midsummer Nights Dream is that Hermia is already arranged to marry Demetrius. This is an obvious problem for her and Lysander because they are in love and want to be wed but it is also a problem because her friend Helena is also in love with Deme...
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...ill. So because Lysander “loves” Helena he leaves Hermia in the night to follow Helena. Obviously, both men leave their ladies, their loves, in some way against their will and in other way totally by choice.
While comparing The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream I found that the acts had many similarities like in act one there is a definite problem in the very beginning, in act two they both make romantic gestures, and in act three the men leave their love. In the first acts of both of these plays, they already have a definite problem formed. Next, in both of the second act, the two sets of lover make a romantic gesture. Finally, in both of the plays third acts, the two men leave their ladies. Obviously, there are similarities in Shakespeare’s two great love plays.
Works Cited
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Nights Dream
The prologue at the beginning of the play tells us that the familial love of the Capulets and the Montagues would stop Romeo and Juliet ever standing a chance. It also outlines the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, and this would deny Romeo and Juliet the chance to have a proper marriage. The play opens with a fight between the servants of the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo's cousin, Benvolio, and Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, get involved in the fight. This starts the feud between the two families again- ... ...
Lysander tells Theseus that Demetrius "Made love to … Helena, And won her soul.” Helena says that before Demetrius looked upon Hermia, "He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine.” In an attempt to win back some of Demetrius's affection, Helena tells him of Hermia's plan to meet in the wood and elope with Lysander.
Shakespeare is one of the smartest and most influential authors in the world of literature. A lot of modern writers have based their literary products off of the brilliant works that Shakespeare created and brought to life. A specific example of this is the musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim and the 2007 Tim Burton film of the same name. These works have similar parallels with Shakespeare's Hamlet. Both of these works incorporate themes such as appearance vs. reality and revenge for past deeds. Additionally, the main characters in the pieces of literature have peculiarities that make them easy to compare and differentiate.
This is evident in the quote where Lysander says, “Athenian law cannot pursue us.” This would not of been a trial for them, but fate had something else in store. “Content with Hermia? No, I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Not Hermia, but Helena I love” (II.i ll. 118-12). Puck, a fairy, put cupid’s love juice into Lysander’s eyes. This is evident in the quote, “Night and silence! Who is here? Weeds of Athens he doth wear. This is he my master said, despised the Athenian maid, and here the maiden, sleeping on the ground. Pretty soul, she durst not lie near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw all the power of this charm doth owe” (II.i ll. 76-85). As it states in the quote, it made him fall in love with the first person he saw, which happened to be Helena. This is proven when Lysander said, “but Helena I love”. Lysander told Hermia he was in love with Helena, not her, so the elopement was off. This is evident when he says, “I repent the minutes I spent with her.” This is difficult for Hermia because she is confused, and does not know what is going on, or why Lysander was acting this way. This is evident when she takes her
Shakespeare 's plays often include love in some major way. In some plays love can even be the themes of his plays, teaching us that love has a strong effect on people. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the main conflict in this play is about how the two lead male characters fell in love with the same girl, how fairs make the conflict worse overall. Shakespeare makes use of love to create great comedical effects in the play to make an interesting. Shakespeare also use Romance in Romeo and Juliet too, but, in this play, he use it to cause the serious source of conflict. He uses the ”star-crossed” lovers concept to make the protagonist fall in love with each other, even though they knew that they could never be together. In the end, every important character kills themselves because they cannot live without their lover. He teaches us that true love s just as dangerous as it is
the problem that Romeo and Juliet are going to have later on in the story because of this feud.
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..
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ many aspects of love are explored. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare conveys the theme of love including illusion, confusion, escape, harmony and lust. Historically, it has been suggested that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written for a wedding, signifying the importance of love in this play, however there is no real evidence to prove this myth. Rather, the Lord Chamberlain’s men performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on the London stage.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a play based on a romantic love story. In this play, there are several types of love displayed between several of the main characters in the play. One of the most famous quotes from the play was by Lysander and it was “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Act 1, Scene 1). This meant that with any type of love, a person will experience its ups and downs, they will agree to disagree, but more importantly, love is unpredictable. Parenteral love, forced love, and true love are 3 types of love displayed/expressed in the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
known works, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. But is it so simple? How do these two compare,
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, is a well known play. That it is still performed in theaters and English classes to this day. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play about two star crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. They fall in love, despite of the feud between their families. They were forced to keep their love secret because of their families, and they also got married without their families figuring out. This story is still read now because of its strong usage of literary elements. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet endures time because of its expert use of literary elements including foreshadowing, metaphor, and simile.
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).
Shakespeare creates tension in Act 1 Scene 5 by making Romeo, who is a Montague go to a Capulet party. This here creates drama as the two families are enemies so this makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next.
Now that Lysander is also following Helena, the poor Hermia is left without any sexual partner.
Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about the murder of the old king, Laios, and the situation will be resolved by the murder being banished from Thebes. In contrast A Midsummer Night's Dream is more centered around the lovers trying to overcome the forces that separate them and Oberon seeking revenge on Titania.