A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an enchanting comedy that presents many dominant views widespread in the society of Shakespeare’s time. Ideas of love and romance are central to the play, and notions of gender and male-dominance prevalent at the time surface throughout the text. Modern audiences may find such notions confronting, whereas Jacobeans might find other elements of the play such as the rampant disorder, uncomfortable. Love is one of the central ideologies present in this text. Shakespeare endues love with numerous traits and flaws, elaborating on the nature of love with statements made by the young lovers. Through Helena‘s soliloquy, Shakespeare describes many of the frustrating characteristics attributed†¦show more content†¦The belief that women were the ‘weaker sex’, and should submit to the authority of men, is asserted by the fact that Theseus overcame Hippolyta in battle; ‘Hippolyta, I wood thee with my sword, and won thy love, doing thee injuries;’ By Theseus defeating and marrying Hippolyta, the strong belief in male-dominance is affirmed, and with Hippolyta willingly submitting to her master, order in the sexes and in the world at large, is achieved. In another Shakespearean play, Taming of the Shrew, this view on the role of women and the dominance of men is openly acknowledged, and reveals that these traditional Jacobean ideals run throughout Sha kespeare’s plays: ‘(†¦)I am ashamed that women are so simple To offer war where they should kneel for peace, Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.’ Theseus and Hippolyta bookend the performance, being on stage only in daylight settings, at the beginning and ending of the play. This is a convention used to symbolise the return to reality and order, and an end to the chaos and disharmony of the surreal, dreamlike night. This play causes the viewer to associate male-leadership with peace and stability, due largely to the presence of Theseus and his subservient Hippolyta in the calm periods of the play. The relationship between Oberon and Titania containsShow MoreRelatedA Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare1011 Words   |  4 Pages The play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, by William Shakespeare, demonstrates the difficulties of human love. Throughout the course of this play, all the lovers were confused, whether it be from the love potion provided by Oberon, the fairy king, or whether it be through natural terms, (those not affected by the potion). In this essay, we will be looking at how Lysander had agreed with this implication of human love being difficult, the scene where all the lovers are confused, and lastly, the timeRead More A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare1029 Words   |  5 PagesBeing that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespearian comedy where passion is a significant theme. It is perceived in a variety of ways such as passion for revenge, recognition, and for love, which have the potential to blur the lines between the levels of social hierarchy. Shakespeare uses a variety of characters such as Helena, Nick Bottom, and Oberon to express the theme of passion and its significance in the play. Helena represents the passion for love in this text, as she runs after DemetriusRead MoreSociety in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare1721 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Shakespeare uses his word craft and characters as outlets addressing social issues, race, class, and or gender. Through his plays, he emulates the real world and is able to manipulate his worlds to allow his audience to see everything from all sides. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and discussed in â€Å"Jack shall have Jill;/Nought shall go ill† by Shirley Nelson Garner, in order for the world of men and patriarchal society and hierarchies to be secure and be well, the homoerotic relationships andRead MoreA Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare Essay885 Words   |  4 PagesA Misummer Night’s Dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare. In this play there are multiple themes however the most evident theme is love. Why is love an evident theme? It is an evident theme because the play commences with two Greek mythology characters─ the Duke of Athens, Theseus and Amazon queen Hippolita planning their marriage. However as Theseus plans his marriage he has to help Egeus persuade his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. Unfortunately both the Duke and Egeus failedRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare Essay2727 Words   |  11 PagesA Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare The Course Of True Love Never Did Run Smoothà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Explain how Shakespeare demonstrates this concept of love in the play. Shakespeare often used his plays to explore different feelings and emotions. He has written tragic plays, humorous plays and romances. Shakespeare often uses love as a theme within his plays, this is shown in plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth NightRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare854 Words   |  3 PagesA Midsummer Night’s Dream â€Å"Lord, what fools these mortals be (Shakespeare, 1546)!† In the beginning of this play, Hermia refuses her fathers demands to marry Demetrius because she loves Lysander. Her disobedience enrages her father so he presents Theseus with his dilemma, which does not work as well as he had hoped (Gianakaris). Hermia is presented with two alternative options, but neither suits her well. She runs off into the woods with Lysander to get married and from this, a chain of events arisesRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare1100 Words   |  4 PagesA Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespeare-written play containing a five-act, play-within-a-play structure about the misunderstanding and confusion in love among other themes. Shakespeare paints Midsummer’s scenes into an imbalance of what’s real and fiction, dark or light. The play’s structure allows the audience to ask questions about the nature of Shakespeare’s society and of love itself. The tradesmen’s play-within-a-play functions as a developing comic relief between the main story line, asRead MoreMechanicals in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare782 Words   |  4 PagesMechanicals in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare The mechanicals consist of Peter Quince (a carpenter), Snug (a joiner), Nick Bottom (a weaver), Francis Flute (a bellows-mender), Tom Snout (a tinker) and Robin Starveling (a tailor). We first come across the mechanicals as they stumble into the woods to rehearse their play, for the Royal Wedding of Helena and Demetrius, and, Hermia and Lysander. This is when we realise that they are not very intelligent Read More A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare Essay2133 Words   |  9 Pages A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare In the second scene that completes Act I, we are introduced to an extraordinary group of familiar but outlandish comical characters that have been enlightened with the possibility of performing a stage interlude as part of the entertainment at the quick approaching marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. ====================================================================== The Mechanicals are not only thought of asRead MoreThe Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare1563 Words   |  7 PagesThe Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare presents us with multiple types of love by using numerous couples in various different situations. For example: Doting loves, the love induced by Oberons potion and in some aspects, Lysander and Hermias love for each other; there are true loves: Oberon and Titania, Lysander and Hermia (for the first half at least, as Lysanders love switches to Helena temporarily)