Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream
What different views of love are presented by characters in acts 1 and 2 of the play and what do they reveal about the nature of love?
From the very beginning shakespeare portrays the lovers as being out of balance and unharmonious, we as the audience want the harmony to be restored and two happy couples to be united for the sake of symmetry and happiness in the characters.
The first couple introduced are Theseus and Hippolyta. Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazon and was defeated by Theseus and thus is now set to marry him. She is no longer the warrior woman she used to be as she has been conquered by Theseus, who happily reminds her of it "I wooed thee with my sword, / And won thy love doing thee injuries". As far as we can tell, on the surface Shakespeare's Hippolyta doesn't mind being a literal trophy wife – she seems happy enough to be engaged to Theseus however symbolically, Hippolyta represents female power that's been suppressed by male authority which could be showing that they do not have true love, they are just getting married. This example highlights to us that marriage does not always go hand in hand with love.
The next couple we meet are Hermia and Lysander who do have true love for one and other but it yet again is being suppressed by male authority though in this case it is Hermia’s father that is forcing her to marry another man, Demetrius.
Throughout the play, Hermia has to deal with her love being thwarted in one way or another. First, her father doesn't want her to marry Lysander. Then Lysander seems to no longer love her. Thinking this is Helena's fault, Hermia's willing to fight Helena because, in her book, love is worth fighting for. All the other characters are more willing to fall in and out of love quickly, but Hermia knows love may sometimes seem hopeless, even if it isn’t actually. Hermia therefore provides a contrast to the self-doubting love around her sand shows that true love really should last.
Lysander is a
From the very beginning shakespeare portrays the lovers as being out of balance and unharmonious, we as the audience want the harmony to be restored and two happy couples to be united for the sake of symmetry and happiness in the characters.
The first couple introduced are Theseus and Hippolyta. Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazon and was defeated by Theseus and thus is now set to marry him. She is no longer the warrior woman she used to be as she has been conquered by Theseus, who happily reminds her of it "I wooed thee with my sword, / And won thy love doing thee injuries". As far as we can tell, on the surface Shakespeare's Hippolyta doesn't mind being a literal trophy wife – she seems happy enough to be engaged to Theseus however symbolically, Hippolyta represents female power that's been suppressed by male authority which could be showing that they do not have true love, they are just getting married. This example highlights to us that marriage does not always go hand in hand with love.
The next couple we meet are Hermia and Lysander who do have true love for one and other but it yet again is being suppressed by male authority though in this case it is Hermia’s father that is forcing her to marry another man, Demetrius.
Throughout the play, Hermia has to deal with her love being thwarted in one way or another. First, her father doesn't want her to marry Lysander. Then Lysander seems to no longer love her. Thinking this is Helena's fault, Hermia's willing to fight Helena because, in her book, love is worth fighting for. All the other characters are more willing to fall in and out of love quickly, but Hermia knows love may sometimes seem hopeless, even if it isn’t actually. Hermia therefore provides a contrast to the self-doubting love around her sand shows that true love really should last.
Lysander is a