“The fool, the lover and the poet come from a very compact imagination” (Act 5, scene 1, lines 7-8). This quote from Theseus encompasses the notion of love as being an illusion, a figment of the imagination. Love is equated with madness and poetry, two intangible qualities, which forces one to question its existence. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, love is seen in different ways. Bottom proves to be quite accurate in characterizing the four main lovers when he states, "O what fools these mortals are" (Act 3, scene 2, line 115). While all four main characters believe in romanticism, Theseus is a strong believer in realism. This draws a comparison between the dichotomy of reason and love; that love is without reason and if we use reason to rationalize love, then maybe it doesn't exist or is tenuous at best. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIn Act 1, Scene 1, Hermia declares her love for Lysander and swears on “Cupid's mightiest bow , by his best arrow, with the head of gold. , By the simplicity of the doves of Venus, By that which knits souls and makes loves prosper, And by this fire which burned the queen of Carthage When the false Trojan was seen under veils. (Act 1, scene 1, lines 169-174) » The oath is strong and invokes the power of mythological beings. But it is also intangible. Even though the oath alludes to unbridled and powerful desires (Olson, 105), it cannot resist “love in idleness.” The introduction of the potion provides a reason to love; otherwise, it's just an intangible feeling. In other words, the existence of “Love-laziness” gives a tangible representation of love. However, this reminds us of the following question: if a love willing to defy death cannot overcome a simple potion, then how strong is the love that Hermia and Lysander speak of? Additionally, the potion disrupts the natural progression of love. Olson argues that “love always seeks to impress its form on the basic material of chaos” (105). Yet it is difficult to find an example of love in the play. The young lovers Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius do not demonstrate unwavering love. True love is embodied in Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, where it "looks upon the storms and is never shaken" (6). Here, love does not seem to overcome the chaos that Olson speaks of; instead, it causes more chaos and imbalance: Demetrius and Lysander are magically forced to transfer their love from Hermia to Helena. The play seeks balance, which is why the young lovers end up uniting beautifully. The chaos caused by the potion, which is an unnatural act, creates tension in the game that must be resolved by restoring balance. Marriage thus becomes a convenient resolution, a deus ex machina rather than a representation of love, and the potion is a catalyst for this seemingly loving ending. The potion is essentially a liquid, signifying the fluidity of the young lover's identity. As the play progresses, it is difficult to tell Hermia and Helena apart. Even their names sound almost identical. This supports Marshall's assertion that the characters are "changelings in the sense that the plot of the play revolves around their exchanges." (568) »It is my opinion that Shakespeare uses the potion to show how easily the affections of the so-called lover can be influenced. The ease with which their affections shift mocks Helena's stoic assertion that "love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind."(Act 1, scene 1, line 234) » His statement assumes that love is based on the impressions formed by the lover, and if the lover's impressions can be influenced so easily and fluidly, then the will to love is undermined. noting that lovers Hermia and Helena remain steadfast in their devotion to their lovers Lysander and Demetrius, while Lysander and Demetrius are affected by the potion and cannot remain faithful. The impotence of language is thus highlighted, which undermines Hermia's oath at the beginning of the play stated in the paragraph above. The presence of the use of the potion to provoke love also serves as a mockery of love. “Love does not change with its brief hours and weeks (11)” – this is what love is according to the aforementioned sonnet; but in the play, love is changed within a few hours, further emphasizing the falsified nature of love. The fact that the play is titled A Midsummer Night's Dream reminds readers that a dream is an illusion. Under this pretext, readers enter an imaginary world, where love can be falsified. This notion perhaps offends sensibilities and the traditional logic that love is transcendental to failures. Puck acknowledges this at the end of the play, apologizing: “If we shadows have offended, think of this, and all will be righted – that you slept here while these visions appeared. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream… (Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 415-420) » Furthermore, the structure of having a play within the play, i.e. the inclusion of “The most lamentable and cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby” reminds us that it is only about acting. This makes the reader understand that the scene is an act of illusion and that we cannot ignore the element of uncertainty in the play. With this uncertainty, we are therefore wary of the displays of love in A Midsummer Night's Dream. There are many instances in A Midsummer Night's Dream where love is coerced or forced upon unwilling people. In Act 1, Scene 1, we are faced with the dilemma between the love of Hermia and Lysander. Aegeus insists that Hermia marry Demetrius, otherwise she will die or become a nun. Marshall offers an explanation for Egeus's tyranny when he says that Egeus believes that Hermia's impression "is considered rightly his own, therefore Hermia's claim to think and speak for herself is also a crime against her father. (551) » The humans and fairies in the play attempt to shape love into forms that benefit not the lovers, but the rulers. Aegeus insists that Hermia submit to Demetrius or die; Hippolyta must marry Theseus as a symbol of her country's domination over his. And the non-human characters are just as concerned with controlling the romantic landscape. Once again, love is subject to intervention and interferes with natural progression. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play built on establishing contrasts within scenes. Likewise, notions of love are compared. The young lovers are consumed by what they think is love to the point of losing contact with the world and escaping to an alternate reality embodied by the forest. For them, love is a fairy tale that involves no reason. Theseus ridicules this idea when he states that "Lovers and fools have brains so seething, fantasies so formative, that they apprehend more than any cold reason can comprehend." (Act 5, scene 1, lines 4-6) » By this, he rejects the love of young lovers as a fantasy without justification. This is true for lovers, especially when they neglect their family and are even willing to die for their love. Helena represents this insane love when she confesses., 1997. 1962.