Leaders In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Oberon and Theseus – Leaders of Instincts and Logic In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the characters Oberon and Theseus are both authoritative leaders, although Oberon acts on instincts and Theseus acts on logic. Shakespeare compares and contrasts the two kings – Oberon and Theseus and gives a lot of examples during the play to express how they behave. An examination of how the two characters’ behavior towards their wives and the lovers highlights their differences and also similarities. Readers can see their similarities of how they use their authoritative power by how they treat the lovers when they are struggling with their love triangle. As well as the differences on how Oberon uses his instincts while Theseus uses his…show more content…
After knowing Hermia’s secret, Demetrius decides to go to the woods to look for Hermia, with Helena following him. Helena annoys Demetrius with her actions, and he starts arguing with her. Oberon, who lives in the forest, sees the whole argument and decides to help Helena. He tells Puck, “A sweet Athenian lady is in love/ with a disdainful youth/Anoint his eyes/ But do it when the next thing he espies may be the lady” (2.2. 268-271). Oberon uses his authoritative powers to help Helena. He orders Puck to put a spell on Demetrius’ eyes in order for him to fall in love with Helena, making everything fall into place. How Oberon uses his powers to help the lovers suggests how he is as a good leader. On the other hand, Theseus also uses his authoritative power to help the lovers. When Egeus begs Theseus to punish Lysander for loving Hermia, he disagrees and says, “ These couples shall externally be knit…Three and three we’ll hold a feast in great solemnity” (4.1.188,191-192). Even though Egeus disagrees with Hermia marrying Lysander, Theseus still agrees and combines their wedding together. When he says: “These couples shall externally be knit”. Theseus believes that the couples should be together if that is what they want. Egeus being a commoner did not dare to talk back to Theseus and eventually agrees to Hermia marrying Lysander. By their words and actions, Theseus and Oberon demonstrate they are both good leaders who use their…show more content…
Oberon is a character who acts on his instincts, causing him to treat his wife very poorly. When he notices that Titania was paying too much attention on the changeling boy, his first instinct was to put a spell on Titania in order to steal the changeling child away from her: “What thou seest when thou dost wake/ Do it for thy true love take…Be it ounce, cat or bear, pard or boar with bristled hair” (2.2.33-34, 26-37). Without much deliberation, Oberon decides to use a love spell on Titania that makes her fall in love with the first living thing she sees when she wakes up. “Be it ounce, cat or beat, pard or boar with bristled hair” He doesn’t care about who she is going to fall in love with or how it is going to turn out. On the other hand Theseus is a character whose behavior is driven by logic. Though Theseus might have more control over Hippolyta, he still treats her well. When Hippolyta is concerned about the play being unbearable to watch, Theseus comforts her by saying, “Why my gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing” (5.1.94). Unlike Oberon, Theseus relies on his logic, and does everything very considerately. By saying “You shall see no such thing” Theseus assures Hippolyta that there will not be any humiliation on the actors part in the play. Readers can see how caring Theseus is to Hippolyta by his gentleness and attentiveness. Oberon’s behavior is
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