Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Love can overwhelm the senses both emotionally and mentally. With the ability to manifest into an infatuation or true love, the influence of love over a person is unknown. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare puts forth the idea that love creates an idealized image of one’s beloved. This theory is directly stated in Helena’s speech and is supported through Lysander’s love for Helena and Titania’s love for Bottom. The relationships within Shakespeare’s play help to reinforce his idea of love as expressed in Helena’s speech in the first act of the first scene. Helena, a woman in love with a man whose feelings are not mutual, describes the situation between herself, Demetrius, and Hermia. She states, “And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,…show more content…
Titania, the wife of the fairy king Oberon, also experiences the magic of the flower when it is squeezed on her eyes by her husband so that he could take her “changeling boy.” Oberon does this because the love Titania has for the boy is too great for her to part with the boy as Titania states, “Not for the fairy kingdom,” would she share the boy (22). Oberon places the magic upon Titania stating, “When thou wak’st, it is thy dear. Wake when some vile thing is near” (29). This line supports the fact that the magic of love will allow Titania to fall in love with whoever she sees first, despite the nature or appearance of the subject. Because of the magic, Shakespeare’s idea of love is portrayed since Titania’s judgement will be altered idealizing the form of the first person she awakens to. Not only will her mind be clouded, but she will also believe that her love is reasonable. Once Oberon leaves Titania awakens to the sound of Nick Bottom, the overconfident actor whose head had just undergone a magical transformation to the head of an ass. Hearing Bottom, Titania says, “What angel wakes me from my flowery bed” (38). This proves the power of the magic upon her while showing the newfound love Titania has for Bottom. As the scene continues, the love Titania has for Bottom is clearly shown through her numerous compliments including, “Mine ear is much enamored of thy note; So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape” (39). Titania has such strong emotion for Bottom that she repeatedly states her love for his voice and his looks. She loves Bottom despite the fact that he is in the form of half human and half ass. This proves that love can influence the mind since it causes Titania to be unbothered by the appearance of Bottom, though he can be described as “base and vile.” The love Titania holds for Bottom most directly correlates to the point made earlier in Helena’s
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