Analysis on Love in Midsummer Night Dream (Essay Sample)

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Analysis on Love in Midsummer Night Dream
The midsummer night dream is a love play by William Shakespeare. While the story shows the power of love and how it conquers all odds, the story's main aim is to point the importance of other aspects, such as power and love weakness. It depicts the societal hurdles and controls as far as love is concerned. While Lysander and Hermia love each other, they can only get married at Duke Theseus's decree and assertion by the parents. Love in this context, therefore, is not a two people affair but is controlled by other factors such as power. The historical context in which this play was made is also important. The book was written in the 1600s when the Duke's authority was highly regarded not only in other societal matters but also in marriage issues. The possible reason for this was to ensure the societal morals and procedures in such matters were upheld. Midsummer night dream, therefore, analyze love from different perspectives. It does show not only the power of love but also factors that can triumph over love like authority/power, the weakness of love, and fertility. The love story is also used to presents the aspect of the historical and cultural context.
One of the concepts that midsummer night's dream presents about love is its powerlessness, especially in the face of authority or power. Even though Lysander and Hermia are in love with each other, their love is at the mercy of the father and the Duke, who at the start o the play are against it. This serves to show that the issue of love is not about the two people in love, but it is subject to cultural and societal beliefs. For example, the two people should get a go-ahead from authorities such as the parents and the rulers. From the start of the play, Lysander and Hermia's love is in turmoil since Hermia's father already disapproves of it. He says Hermia belongs to him and he has all right over her. "She is mine and all my right of her I do estate unto Demetrius (Shakespeare 14)." It shows the power of customary law over love. According to society, the father had the power to give their daughter to the best suitor love, not withholding. Another evident thing is the authority of a ruler on love matters. It could only take Duke Theseus's decree to allow Lysander's and Hermia's union. It means that love alone is not enough to join two people but the will of the authority or those in power (Family and the ruler of the land). The union between Theseus and Hippolyta was brought about by power (Richter). He tells her, "I wooed thee with sword… (Shakespeare 16)" This statement shows power can be used to win someone and not just love. The above examples are used in the play to show the importance of power in love matters.
Love as strong as it's deemed to be can also be weak. This is evident in the midsummer night dream, where fairy magic uses a love game to cause a love triangle between the four lovers (Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena). Through fairies, both Demetrius and Lysander are made to believe they love Helena (Adam). Lysander is confused and even thinks he hates Hermia. He tells her, "Why seekest thou me? Could not make you know the hate I have for you made me leave you (Shakespeare 103)." This scene is meant to show that minute issues of the feeblest storms can put out even the strongest love. Another scenario is where Titania, the most powerful goddess, is blinded to fall in love with Bottom. Though Bottom's head has been transformed into a donkey's ass by Puck, Titania's eyes are blinded with love portion to see, and she thinks she has fallen in love with Bottom (Shakespeare 123). The above example shows how love can engulf one's mind causing even the most rational to make foolish decisions. It resonates with the most societal happenings concerning love and its entanglement. In some circumstances, love causes people to make the most stupid mistakes, including even taking one's life. In other instances, great love stories have ended due to some unlikely circumstances like false allegations.
The play also depicts fertility as another factor that can affect love. When Oberon and Titania are separated, it leads to bareness in the land. This can be seen when Titania says, "The spring, the autumn, and the winter…now by increase knows not which is which" (Shakespeare 41). It, therefore, shows for the fertility of the world, Titania and Oberon should be joined. The joining is for fertility and not love. The author's idea here is to show that love is not the supreme factor in unions but other factors such as fertility, a thing that is still happening in the world even today. For example, some people prefer to get divorced if a union does not bear children even if they love each other.
The story's cultural and historical context plays a big part in influencing the love story in the play. The