Preview

True Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1686 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
True Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
As Lysander says in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Shakespeare 1.1.134). Contrary to beliefs, even true love isn’t perfect. It calls couples to expect the unexpected, encountering difficulties and hardships along the way without a moment’s notice, True love is complicated. But no matter the amount or the intensity of difficulties that may surface, problems can always be solved, like many problems solved in Shakespeare’s play. The play takes place in Athens, where the four lovers, Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, and Hermia reside. Lysander and Hermia truly love each other, and plans to elope when Hermia’s father wishes an arranged marriage between Helena and another
…show more content…
Lysander converses with Hermia and they plan to elope to his aunt’s house the next night, a place safe from the Athenian law. Lysander tells Hermia, “I have a widow aunt … From Athens is her house remote seven leagues … There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee; And to that place the sharp Athenian law Cannot pursue us…” (1.1.157-163). Because of the love between Hermia and Lysander, they are rather impulsive to act so quickly on leaving the city, away from their homes, away from their parents, to go marry in secret. Their love put their lives at risk, as the punishment could likely be death if they are to be caught. Hermia and Lysander risked anything and everything to be together, including death. Another example, in which love can cause people to do crazy things, is the proposal of a duel between Lysander and Demetrius to determine which man has the most right to Helena. When Puck, the fairy, anoints Lysander and Demetrius with the love nectar, the two began fawning over Helena. Tensions build up quickly between the two, as Lysander challenges Demetrius to a duel. He says to Demetrius, “Now she holds me not, Now follow, if thou dar’st, to try whose right, Of thine or mine, …show more content…
Demetrius had once loved Helena, but unfortunately, had lost feelings and abandoned her when he found new love for Hermia. Helena was still head over heels and had still loved Demetrius dearly, but his love for Hermia had ruin their relationship. When Helena was following Demetrius everywhere he went and tries to get him back, Demetrius turns back on her and says, “I will not stay thy questions. Let me go, Or if thou follow me, do not believe But I shall do thee mischief in the wood” (2.1.235-237). Ever since Demetrius fell for Hermia, he consistently tries to avoid Helena and turn his back on her. His love for Hermia completely ruined their relationship, leaving Helena chasing in his tracks. Furthermore, his last words to Helena before he was anointed with the love nectar was a threat, showing that he would hurt her if she continued to follow him. Another way in which love has ruined relationships is the broken relationship between Hermia and Lysander. They both truly and genuinely love each other. Their love is the reason why all four lovers are entangled in a chaotic mess at the forest. But after Puck applies the love nectar to Lysander, he falls in love with Helena. Hermia, in shock, could not understand why. Lysander’s new love for Helena completely destroys his relationship with Hermia. Lysander says to her, “Get you gone, you dwarf, You minimus of hind’ring knotgrass

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Her nightmare was after Lysander and Demetrius went from fighting over her to discarding her. It was complete turn of events which put Hermia into shock. Eventually the spell was lifted from Lysander and the couple would go on to wed happily.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Puck follows through with his orders he mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and rubs the flower on Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius. Because of this Lysander falls deeply in love with Helena, Hermia’s friend. After this incident a lot of confusion between the characters arise and Hermia tries to find out why Lysander has lost his love for her. In the midst of her confusion Lysander begins acting aggressively towards Hermia. During this aggression Lysander announces to Hermia “Ay, by my life; and never did desire to see thee more. Therefore be out of hope, of question, of doubt; be certain, nothing truer; ‘tis no jest that I do hate thee and love Helena.”(3.2.287-291). In other words, Lysander is telling Hermia that truly hates her and only loves Helena. This insult was included in this play to display the current standing of Hermia and Lysander’s relationship. The insult shows how Puck’s small mistake has affected the lives of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Athenian lovers, Lysander Allington and Demetrius Loddington, both had claimed that they like a woman and without thinking twice they moved on to the next woman they saw.…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    AMSND Study Guide

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The second plot is that of the four young lovers. Hermia is in love with Lysander,who returns her feelings, but she is betrothed to Demetrius. Demetrius is also in love with Hermia and at the same time is trying to fend off Helena who is in love with him after he played with her heart. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope to his aunt’s house which is out of the kingdom and will protect them from Theseus’s law. Helena and Demetrius go after them into the forest.…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, I learned that relationships are tested in situations with drastic outcomes. For example, a scene occurs where Egeus is angry at his daughter Hermia for wanting to marry someone without his consent (22). Egeus then threatens to kill Hermia if she didn't marry Demetrius, the man he gave his consent to. This relates back to the theme because Egeus put his father-daughter relationship on the line so he could get his way. As Egeus said "As she is mine I may dispose of her," meaning he is willing to let his daughter die rather than allow her to marry freely. Another example of this theme occurring is when Helena accuses Hermia of partaking in a prank where Hermia's lovers taunt her (106-107). Helena…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hermia is told by her father that by the law of Athens she must ‘wed Demetrius’. The law stated that if a father chose his daughter a husband, then she must marry him regardless of love. Daughters were expected to dote on their fathers because they legally belong to men and everything they owned belonged to the man they were owed by. Hermia is prepared to disobey the law to marry Lysander, who is seen by Egeus (Hermia’s father) as having stolen her heart by ‘feigning love’. Disobeying your father resulted in a punishment of death, which Egeus has no problem coming of terms with. It is evident that Hermia loves Lysander as she is willing to risk her life and her relationship with her father to be with him instead of marrying another man. She would rather be with the man she loves and die than to be with Demetrius and be accepted by her father and law.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hermia is supposed to marry Demetrius, but she is in love with Lysander. If she does not marry to her father’s consent, she can become a nun or get killed. This shows how twisted the law was…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare is telling the readers that, love needs no reason to exist; it defies logic and ignores all circumstances. This compelling message is very thoroughly communicated with the connection of the fantasy world and reality. The connection occurs in a forest, where each character of significance is, at one point, present. Here, the characters experience unforeseen events, as a result of the debatable use of magic, from those in power. However, despite the extreme unusualness and complications, the characters challenge the circumstances, and persist in loving the one they feel closest to. In this play, this situation is best represented by three significant relationships. The first exists between a lover and her hater, the next involves a young and rebellious couple, and the last concerns an ill-fated mechanical and the queen of the fairies.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lysander's love for Hermia is mostly shown from his eyes and what he sees. He doesn't think much for Hermia's feelings and he's caught overlooking situations throughout the play. At the beginning…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the play, Demetrius shows love and attention to Helena, the woman he rejects, and Lysander leaves and forgets about his beloved Hermia. This is the impact of the magic juice. Lysander and Demetrius even become reckless to fight for Helena’s love, “Now follow, if dar’st, to try whose right, /Of thine or mine, is most in Helena. /‘Follow’? Nay, I’ll go with thee, cheek by jowl.”(3.2.356-368), this quote also tells us that both Lysander and Demetrius are ready to kill each other in return for Helena’s…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare presents love in many complex ways in the first three scenes of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. The first three scenes introduce us to eight lovers. A part of the comic plot comes from a father, Egeus, attempting to thwart his daughter’s and Lysander’s relationship. Egeus threatens his daughter with life in a Nunnery if she refuses to marry his chosen suitor Demetrius. He does not paint a picture of this being a happy life, referring to it as “barren”, “cold” and “fruitless”. Despite him knowing that Hermia would rather die, “so die, my lord, ere I will yield my virgin patent up” than marry Demetrius, her father believes that he is doing the loving thing as he thinks that Lysander “hath bewitched the bosom of my child.”…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy by William Shakespeare that takes place in Athens, Greece and in the forest where chaos unfolds on four lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius. In these relationships the men are in power, belittling the women. Also, in the forest chaos happens between the fairies, King Oberon and Queen Titania, because he puts a potion on her and other in which the men are in control of the society they are in. An example of patriarchy is in the relationships between Theseus and Hippolyta, Lysander and Hermia, and Demetrius and Helena when the men take control. Throughout the play the men have power over the women, as…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Return of Kracken

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages

    David Bevington argues that the play represents the dark side of love. He writes that the fairies make light of love by mistaking the lovers and by applying a love potion to Titania's eyes, forcing her to fall love with an ass.[6] In the forest, both couples are beset by problems. Hermia and Lysander are both met by Puck, who provides some comic relief in the play by confounding the four lovers in the forest. However, the play also alludes to serious themes. At the end of the play, Hippolyta and Theseus, happily married, watch the play about the unfortunate lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, and are able to enjoy and laugh at it.[7] Helena and Demetrius are both oblivious to the dark side of their love, totally unaware of what may have come of the events in the forest.…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conflict between relations of love is developed further as Helena's love for Demetrius is not returned to her but to her best friend Hermia. Shakespeare shows how the platonic love between Helena and Hermia suffers due to Helena's obsessive love towards Lysander and Hermia's romantic love for Lysander.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As the question states, are the lovers, Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia, individuals or are they more like the same people? I believe that are completely different characters. Lysander and Demetrius definitely have different tastes in women, while Helena doesn’t love Lysander while Hermia does. As stated earlier, Lysander and Demetrius definitely have different tastes in women.…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays