True Hermia And Lysander's Love example essay topic

Shakespeare presents the two types of love showing that there can be a difference in love and how types of love can affect the characters in different ways. The two types of love, requited love and unrequited love are shown through the interaction between characters. The play makes us believe even requited love can change. Act 1 Scene 1 introduces the first love triangle in the play, which also introduces the theme of contrast between the two kinds of love. The triangle is between Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius. This brings out the theme of requited and unrequited love, as Hermia and Lysander are in love, but Demetrius is also in love with Hermia: 'The sealing day betwixt my love and me' This starts to cause confusion in the love already and magic isn't even involved, yet.

The men try and compete for the love of Hermia, but it is Lysander who she loves and she would rather be a nun than be forced to be with Demetrius who she doesn't love. Shakespeare uses symbols of love to present how true Hermia and Lysander's love is for one another. There is a clear contrast here between the love Hermia has for Lysander and that what she doesn't have for Demetrius. Demetrius has the permission of Hermia's father Egeus to marry her: 'You have her fathers love' Demetrius is very arrogant towards Lysander and thinks that because he has her fathers consent, then he has the right to do what he likes. The next scene shows another change in love this is between Oberon and Titania, the change in there love is due to a rift, which is connected with trait. The lack of harmony between Oberon and Titania produces these unnatural seasons; they have power and authority to do this, as they are king and queen of the supernatural world.

Dramatic irony is used here as the change in the seasons is unnatural, as it is meant to be warm in midsummer and not miserable like it is. The rift in there love is due to Titania's loyalty to the little changeling boys mother 'I do but beg a little changeling boy. ' Oberon is very jealous of the fact that Titania has the changeling boy and is willing to do anything to get him. He seems quite petulant, because the only reason that Oberon wants the boy is the fact that Titania has him.

He is also very jealous of the attention she gives the boy and comes across as quiet cruel; he also sees love as a possession. Titania shows here how much more civilised and mature she is than Oberon, as she is more interested in the well being of the changeling boy than the rift in her and Oberon's love. The wood is the setting to which the love is tangles up and where the confusion starts to happen. It symbolizes love, magic and inconstancy, as it is set at night time and this is linked in with the moon. The wood is also the first place in which all four of the lovers are seen together. Helena follows Demetrius into the woods hoping he would fall in love with her, as she tells Demetrius what Hermia and Lysander's plan is, to elope and get married in the next town, away from the Athenian law.

He still does not seem to take any notice of her. Helena is very persistent as she some how manages to twist everything that Demetrius says. Hermia and Lysander fall asleep in the woods: 'One turf shall serve as pillow for us both' We can see from the way that Lysander speaks here that there is going to be a change in his and Hermia's love: 'Thy love ne " er alter, till thy sweet life end' The change in there love is down to Oberon, who sends Puck to find a magic flower, the flowers juices, will make the person who it is applied to fall in love with whoever he or she sees first upon awakening. In this case Puck is meant to apply the juice to Demetrius so when he wakes he will fall in love with Helena, but Puck gets confused to who Demetrius is: 'On whose eyes I might approve' Hermia and Lysander fall asleep with a little distance between them, and Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and puts the love juice in his eyes. This shows how clumsy he is, but it is also in Pucks nature to be mischievous and for things to not run smoothly. And when Lysander awakes he is greeted by Helena who thinks that he is hurt and they fall in love.

This shows a comic situation, with a lot of clever language about the ironies and irrationality of love. The love comedy of sort continues, when the lovers meet up together and the men get into a fight over the Helena, as they both are now somehow in love with her, and no one is in love with Hermia any more. Helena can not believe it when this happens, she can not believe that she has usurped Hermia. This all shows what magic can do to love and cause such chaos.

Hermia can not believe what has happened, and how brutal and rude Lysander is being to her, as he says that he never loved her: 'I evermore did love you Hermia' Hermia becomes quite offended by what has happened, and is shocked to how every one is reacting towards her 'Little again? Nothing but low and little,' At this point in the play we see a different side to Hermia, as now she comes across as quite violent and threatening, as she wants to fight Helena. 'But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes. ' But Helena does not want to fight her, as she doesn't have a clue how any of this has happened, this shows the maturity that Helena has over Hermia. 'Let her not hurt me; I was never curs t:' Oberon enters and is shocked to discover Pucks mistake, but quickly solves the problem, with more magic, they have to act quickly because all magic has to happen at night, when all is meant to be returned to normal.

It is only the men that are affected by the magic, as it was them who were fighting over the women in the first place, so the magic would teach them a lesson, not to intervene in requited love. Now we come to the second of the two love triangles in the play, in Act 3, Scene 1 this is between Titania, Oberon and Bottom, from the Rude Mechanicals. As Titania and Oberon have quarrelled over the little changeling boy, Oberon sends Puck to find a magic flower, just like he did for Demetrius, except this time the juices from it are to be applied to Titania's eyes, this is part of Oberon's plan to teach Titania a lesson, after she took the changeling boy away from him. Oberon also gets Puck to turn Bottom into an ass, so that when Titania awakes she will fall in love with him. This scene in the play brings out one of the major themes, perception, as Titania is unable to see Bottom's ugliness, she sees him as beautiful and wise, which is ironic and ultimately comical, as he is an ass an is certainly not wise or beautiful: 'Thou art as wise, as thou art beautiful' It is Oberon's aim to make a fool out of Titania, and it seems to have worked as there is a clear contrast between these two characters and it seems hard to imagine two figures less compatible with each other. It is not only there eyes that are playing tricks on them, but also there minds, as the magic has a strong effect on the way it perceives different things.

Bottoms use of language in this scene is comical as he always seems to get the tone wrong, and he never seems to realise it: 'make an ass of me' This whole scene represents and imbalance in appearance and nature, as no one in this scene is perceived in there correct form, as magic is intervened, and always has a way of causing so much confusion, and so many mishaps. This mischief is caused by Puck who is ordered by Oberon to do this, but it is in his nature to cause all this confusion and mischief as he is a hob goblin. With all the confusion that magic has caused between the lovers, more magic has to be used to resolve the situation, so that the lovers can be symmetrically paired off: 'Two of both kinds makes up four. ' Puck plays a sort of cupid, and applies the magic flowers juices to Demetrius eyes so that when he awakes he will fall in love with Helena: 'True delight, in the sight, Of thy former Lady's eye:' When everyone awakes the love potion is meant to return them to how they where before, but it doesn't as Demetrius is still effected by the magic, so we are never quite sure if his love for Helena is the magic's doing or it is requited love. Oberon uses magic one last time to get the changeling boy and Titania back, and to undo all of this mess in the supernatural world, and change her perception of what she sees Bottom as: 'And now I have the boy, I will indo This hateful imperfection of her eye' The Rude Mechanicals present a play to the aristocrats, about requited love, which is denied by society as it is up to the father to chose who the daughter is to marry. The play within the play is there to make the reader understand the actual play.

The rude mechanicals do not understand the artifice of theatre, especially Bottom, as all at once he wants to play all the characters. Pyramus and Thisbe play the two lovers in the play within the play, and they are separated by a wall which acts as society: 'O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall. ' This is similar to the first act between Lysander and Hermia, as Egeus does not want them to be married. Hippolyta and Theseus are not impressed by this play: 'This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard' This is due to the fact that The sus won Hippolyta through battle, so they like Egeus do not agree with requited love. The play within the play ends in tragedy when Pyramus kills himself, and then Thisbe finds him and can not believe what she has seen: 'Asleep my love? What, dead my dove?' She is confused by what she has seen, and to be with her one true love kills herself to: 'And farewell friends, thus Thisbe ends;' The love between the two characters was so strong that they were willing to die for each other.

The play within the play represents how true the love is between the lovers and how it doesn't matter if society denies requited love, because it is up to the two people involved how true the love is. The lovers are symmetrically paired off, and the tangle in there love for one another is resolved, and a traditional out come is achieved. The play shows what a difference magic can make to requited and unrequited love, and how mischief and chaos can be a result of this. Shakespeare presents the love showing what different effects they can have on the different characters, and how they react in the different situations that they are put in, when magic is involved.

The whole play shows that all the chaos and mischief that magic causes will eventually result in love being a much stronger power than any kind of magical power.