by Jackie Coogan (Circle 2)
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is filled with love and I observed how love is used to change several characters in different ways. The love that is in this play reminds me of Romeo and Juliet because of the strong theme in love. As a matter of fact Shakespeare wrote both of these plays around the same time. Shakespeare uses love many times throughout a lot of his plays. I thought it was upsetting to see Hippolyta defeated by Theseus because of how strong and brave her character is and the fact that Hippolyta has no choice but to get married to the one who defeated her (Theseus) is disappointing as well.
I think the fairies play a huge role and are crucial in the play because if it wasn’t for them, there wouldn’t be any fun in squeezing the love potion on the characters which causes more damage than what was really indented.
The whole play there is always one character fighting over another and it’s all because of love. They create this illusion that the women are created with no desire to men and there are split sides for each gender, but when I got further into the play, I realized how they can have so much hate/dislike for the opposite gender while they fight over each other’s love. “The course of true love never did run smooth….”, this is a line from when Lysander explains to Hermia that love is tough but we will make it through because we have true love. I think Egeus plays a huge challenge in why Lysander and Hermia cannot be happily married. Egeus seems to not care what Hermia feels or who she loves as seen in the play. The fact that Theseus expressed to Hermia if she does not listen to her father, she will be threatened with death is totally way out of proportion in my eyes.
On the other hand, there is Helena’s desire to be with Demetrius that she seems to not want to give up on! But things get out of control when the love juice is used in the play. The potion has been used on almost everyone in the play which makes the play blow way out of control and starts to get crazy.
I can relate this love juice to real life love and how people can fall in love so easily and even fall out of love fast as well. The love potion in the play describes the power and effects love has on the characters. Even in the world, there are people who are controlled by love as if it is a drug, or maybe it is? Love can be closely compared to a drug because of its effects it has on so many people.
I think I can also relate to the two parts in the play: fantasy and reality. People do fantasize being in love with the one they choose and wish there was a love potion they could use on the person they want. All in all, I think this play could definitely be turned into a modern day play because of how love is being used in the play and how the characters feelings are expressed and perceived as with experiencing love. Also, this play definitely confused me at times with everything that was going on in it.
I liked how you conncted the ancient and modern kinds of love and drama in your post, because I thought of exactly the same thing while I was reading it (particularly because I know a couple of girls who are going through somewhat similar drama with their boyfriends/girl friends and regale me with the details all. the. time). In many ways, the influential emotions and situations in this play–love, sexual desire, rebellion, jealousy, the desire to possess and control–are just as much a part of today’s society, if not more so, than they were in Shakespeare’s. I suppose another thing we might take from this play is that human nature never really changes–the same conflicts are and will be experienced by lovers over and over again as long as people allow emotions to rule over logic.
Jackie,
I am also confused about the nature of love in this play, To me, the love in this play is overwhelmingly passionate romantic love which, to my understanding, is a type of love that cannot be sustained for very long. Eventually, romantic love can turn into a more compassionate and companion based love (according to social psychology principles), or it may disintegrate altogether because there is no potential for that deeper more valuable love to be born from the initial passion. Honestly, I wish there were some sort of sequel or follow-up act to this play to see whether these exaggeratedly in-love characters are still together after even a year. Frankly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream reminds me of the earnestness of a first love, one that feels anxious and exhilarating, but in the end can’t be fulfilled because there isn’t enough foundation or enough in common between the two people to sustain an actual relationship. All of these overly dramatic romantic relationships, especially the ones induced by the love potion, mimicked the essence of that obsessive first love and it made me extremely uncomfortable – I could not imagine being with, let alone marrying, my first high school crush. In my mind, I think all but the relationship between Oberon and Titania would fall to shambles given their strong past; they are the only couple of any substance and experience.
I guess the true point I’m digging for is this – what is the healthiest and most fulfilling love humans can experience?
What amazes me about A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the fact that, for one of the most acclaimed love stories of all time, there is a surprising lack of love in it. In fact, my favorite part of your blog post was the connection you made between fantastical love and real love. Most of the love stories in this play are simply a kind of obsessive infatuation where most of the love comes from the head rather than the heart (and often times from the crotch as well). They all wear rose-tinted glasses—seeing only what they want to see and creating fantasy depictions of their love interest.
A startling few things have changed as far as the Elizabethan concept of love and the modern concept of love are concerned. You mentioned that love was like a drug and that we keep coming back for more even if it isn’t good for us; this is no different than it is today. Change the wording and perhaps the setting of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and you have a modern play that people would walk away from with the ability to critique love in the same way that we are doing now.
Jackie,
I liked your interpretation of love within this play. I think that the potion is something that really needs to be considered and analyzed when thinking about love in this play. I really liked how you connected this play to Romeo and Juliet, because that is the first thing I thought of when I read the opening scenes with Egeus wanting Hermia to marry someone other than her own choosing. However, the conflict between true love and forced love within this play is something that I really took into consideration. I truly believe that there is no “true love” within this play, because even when the characters end up with the one that they considered their true love, it was still forced, because it was under the spell of the potion. Hippolyta was won over by Theseus’ sword, Helena got Demetrius because of the potion, Hermia ended up with Lysander due to the effects of the potion, and the struggle between Titania and Oberon ended when Oberon received the boy due to effects of the potion. It is highly upsetting that although love is so prevalent within this play, that it cannot be considered real because it was forced.
Jackie,
Your discussion of the role of love in this play is especially interesting because of the connections you make. Your emphasis on the overwhelmingly played out love that the characters have for each other must be what makes Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy. I did not entirely see how it was a comedy until this was discussed further. The play seems to be a mockery of “true love” more than anything else.
Another point that you make well is the odd truth of the well-known statement ‘love is a drug,’ or as Ke$ha would say, “Your love is my drug.” I believe Shakespeare plays fun on this as well, by introducing love in a potion form. His use of the love potion in this play is purposeful and effective.
Lastly, I agree that love is universal and timeless. This play is still relevent today.
Jackie,
I really admire the way you compare fantasy and reality! I never really thought about that but I guess its human nature to want what we can’t always have. I think its true that love makes you do crazy things, which is pretty much within the whole play, but do these characters really love each other. I believe even Helena is guilty of a somewhat obsession rather than love. My proof for that being when Demetrius really wants her (love potion) she is totally reluctant towards him and thinks its a joke. If she was so obsessed with him to even compare herself to a dog, why wouldn’t she jump all over the idea of him actually wanting and loving her!? I really like your idea of making this play in a modern day because I think it would be quite humorous.
I thought this interpretation was interesting. Love does almost seem like a drug in the perspective of this play as well as real life! It is extremely relatable to view the potion as a “drug” eventually leading to blinding reality and acting purely on instant gratification. Lysander’s pure and true love was quickly turned toward what they drug directly made him believe. love is power this i agree with. However, is it more powerful then an external magical substance that makes u feel good all over? It is clear from the actions drawn out by characters in this play, that the answer is NO…. unfortunatly
Jackie,
I enjoyed the fact that you started talking about the patriarchal power that sort of overshadows Hippolyta in the opening scene of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, as well as the references to the patriarchal over-tones throughout the rest of the play. I also greatly enjoyed the parts you brought up about the fantasy and reality of love. I feel like it’s sort of got a fable aspect to it, in a way–the over all lesson being that you can’t force love to happen, and you certainly can’t meddle with it, otherwise it turns into a huge complicated ordeal. All of the events surrounding the love plots also make you question whether or not any of it is real love or if it’s strictly imposed upon one or both sides of the relationships. Although I suppose the real question is–are any of the love elements in Shakespeare’s plays true love, or are they all spur of the moment lusts played out? Everything happens in such a short period of time.