William Shakespeare is one of the most important English authors, his plays are well known today although he lived in the 16th century. Especially his love dramas enjoy great popularity. This paper deals with his comedy „A Midsummer Night's Dream“. Nearly everybody knows the famous sentence Lysander says to Hermia: „The course of true love never did run smooth“ (MND I.i.134).
Love is the main theme in this play and this sentence mirrors the love between the four Athenian lovers very well. The flower 'love-in-idleness' screws up the whole love constellation as well as Egeus, Hermia's father, who does not allow his daughter to marry the man she loves. Throughout the play love is presented with a huge range of metaphors and it acquires new shapes.
It is notable that those metaphors who describe the love in the play are metaphors of nature. The moon, the image of inconstancy is often used to show the inconstancy of love between the four Athenian lovers caused by the magic flower. Furthermore, love is linked to the eyes, but it is misleading, however, to conclude that there is a simple association between love and beauty, just because the eyes are linked to love. Besides Shakespeare shows the power of love between the protagonists. Love is not only a feeling, it changes the perception.
At a glance
- Grade: 2.0 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Examines love imagery through Elizabethan psychology
- 14 sources in the bibliography
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The change of the love pairs
2.1 Magic flower 'love-in-idleness'
2.1.1 The role of Puck
2.2. Inconstancy of love
3. Different metaphors for Love
3.1 Love and nature
3.2 The power of love
3.2.1 Love seems to be a sickness
3.3 Love and eyes
4. Conclusion
Aims and Topics
This paper examines how love is represented in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, focusing on the shifting relationships among the four Athenian lovers and the metaphors used to portray love's power and effects.
- The changing relationships of Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius
- The magic flower and Puck's role in the lovers' confusion
- Inconstancy and the influence of the moon
- Images of nature, sickness, and the eyes
- Love's power to alter perception
- Elizabethan psychology as a context for interpreting imagery
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Magic flower 'love-in-idleness'
The flower 'love-in-idleness' causes a lot of troubles in love which changes the love pairs. Oberon, the King of the Fairies, describes the story behind the magic `love-in-idleness`-flower. Cupid has enchanted the flower with one of his magic arrows, he “loos'd his love-shaft smartly from his bow.” (MND II.i.159) This is Oberons explanation where the flower comes from. The research literature has different theories wherefrom the flower stems. Olson writes this about the origin of the flower:
The herb has been suspected by modern critics of containing some superstitious magical potion, perhaps some aphrodisiac. However, the association of love and idleness goesback as far as Ovid's Remedia Amoris. Idleness is porter of the Narcissian garden of self-love in Le Roman de la Rose. (Olson 86)
The effect of the flower is as follows: “The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,/Will make or man or woman madly dote / Upon the next live creature that it sees.” (MND II.i.170-172) The flower was “milk white” and now it is “purple” (MND II.i.167) The colours have a meaning, white stands traditionally for chastity and virginity, purple is the colour for mystic and changes. (c.f. Bartsch) This shows that the colours of the flower correspond to its effect. The flower changes the love between Lysander and Hermia and Demetrius and Helena.
Berry says about the magic juice: “The potion that is Puck ordered to drop into other's eyes is more than a mere device for inducing error, it is a delicately humorous symbol for love itself.” (Berry 93) Without the flower and the magic in the wood, the play would not function. Lysander betrays Hermia with Helena because of the magic juice. This fraud is funny for the audience because it is caused by the flower. Otherwise, it would be a tragedy and Lysander would be condemned by the audience. Further, he says about the juice: “The dramatic point of the juice is that it simulates, and therefore parodies, the conditions of love.” (Berry 93) The spectator is requested to judge the natural love between Hermia and Lysander and the man-made, or flower-made, love between Lysander and Helena and Helena and Demetrius.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: Introduces love as the central theme and identifies the lovers' changing relationships, nature imagery, the eyes, and love's power as the paper's principal concerns.
2. The change of the love pairs: Traces the lovers' changing attachments and considers the magic flower, Puck's intervention, and the inconstancy associated with the moon.
3. Different metaphors for Love: Examines images of nature, love as a transformative power and a sickness, and the connection between love and the eyes.
4. Conclusion: Brings together the discussion of love imagery and Elizabethan psychology, and reflects briefly on the staging of the play.
Keywords
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, love, metaphor, Athenian lovers, love-in-idleness, Puck, inconstancy, nature imagery, Elizabethan psychology, perception, eyes, sickness
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the paper about?
It examines the representation of love in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, particularly through the four Athenian lovers and the play's imagery.
What are its central themes?
The paper focuses on changing romantic attachments, magical intervention, inconstancy, and metaphors connecting love with nature, sickness, power, and sight.
What is the paper's main aim?
Its aim is to explore how love is portrayed through the lovers' relationships and the metaphors used throughout the play.
What method does the author use?
The author interprets passages from the play alongside published literary criticism and discussions of Elizabethan psychology.
What does the main body discuss?
It first traces changes in the lovers' relationships, then analyzes metaphors associated with nature, love's power, sickness, and the eyes.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include love, metaphor, inconstancy, love-in-idleness, Puck, Elizabethan psychology, perception, and eyes.
What role does the flower love-in-idleness play?
Its juice changes the affections of sleeping characters when applied to their eyelids, disrupting the relationships among the lovers.
Why does the paper consider the eyes?
The eyes are a recurring motif through which the paper considers perception, attraction, and the effects of the magic flower.
How is nature connected to love in the analysis?
The author discusses images including roses, cherries, snow, and the moon in relation to love and its changing forms.
- Quote paper
- Clarissa Benning (Author), 2015, The Concept of Love in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/334579
