Blog Post #2 Midsummer Night's Dream

Reid Farber

English 126

 Blog Post #2: Desire to Love

            The point of the first three acts of William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that love is an obsession that can dictate one’s emotions, blinding reasonable thought. The persistence of a character, usually a woman, to challenge marriage rights for true love is common in many works of drama. The old English values of strict sexuality and formal acquisition of love are being challenged by Hermia. She is defiant against her father although she will face death if she does not marry Demetrius, the man Hermia’s father has assigned her to marry. Furthermore, Shakespeare condones this madness of sexual desire between the characters of a younger generation but is also partially highlighting this lust in a satirical way.

            Helena’s actions throughout the first three acts of the play are very similar to the entire point of the first three acts. Helena is always second to Hermia. Although Helena is friendly with Hermia and happy with Hermia and Lysander’s whimsical decision to leave Athens and live happily together, it does not take long for jealousy to grow within Helena. Helena’s jealousness is driven by her desire for Demetrius to fall in love with her. Helena begins to devalue herself as an independent woman trying to convince, basically begging Demetrius to see it in his heart to love her. Once Demetrius and Lysander are cast under the spell by Puck and profess their love to Helena, she cannot accept it and believes they are mocking her; the love is blinding. Although Shakespeare is depicting the madness of true love coinciding with Helena’s actions, his attitude about the desire to find true love is far less serious than Helena. Shakespeare is demonstrating the irony of Helana’s true love. Helena adores Demetrius for his true love but once he professes it along with Lysander, she denies it. Shakespeare includes this irony as a form of entertainment and amusement. It is evident in Puck’s remark, “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” highlighting the absurdity of this blinding love (202).

(226-241)

Helena: How happy some o’er other some can be!

Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;

He will not know what all but he do know;

And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,

So I, admiring of his qualities.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,

Love can transpose to form and dignity.

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind;

And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind.

Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgment taste;

Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;

And therefore is Love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft beguil’d

As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,

So the boy Love is perjur’d every where;

This passage shows the absurdity that love can produce among people. Helena is talking about how she wishes that Demetrius would love her like he loves Hermia. After these lines, Helena concludes that she will go find Demetrius and persuade him to love her. This desire is what eventually drives Helena insane in her quest for love. Furthermore, this passage develops Helena’s initial envy to be like Hermia and have Demetrius’ love, which is an unique characteristic of Helena and not of the entire play. Lastly, Shakespeare includes this passage to continue his theme of blinding love throughout the play.

Blog Post 2: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Toby Egbuna

The actions and events in Acts I-III of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream all have one common element: love. Whether it is at the beginning of the play when we are first introduced to the soon-to-be-married couple Theseus and Hippolyta, or the love triangle between Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia, or even Puck’s comical use of the love potion, the theme of love is consistent throughout the first three acts. For this reason I believe the point of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that love will make you act differently than you normally would, often in a bad way.

Puck, the funny sprite and servant to Oberon is by far the most interesting character in my opinion. Although Puck is not involved in a romantic relationship himself during the first three acts, his actions affect the interactions of other characters. Shakespeare does not reveal the fate of the other romantically involved characters in the first three acts, but the audience can predict that something bad is going to happen to them. We see that Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena are all fighting each other because of the confusion within what is now their love square, and we can infer that something negative will also fall upon Theseus and Hippolyta in the following acts. Shakespeare is making a point that love makes people act stupidly. Shakespeare uses Puck as a sort of catalyst for the love square; Puck condones foolish behavior, such as pulling the chair away from under old ladies, but once he gets involved in the love lives of others, things go haywire. This completely supports Shakespeare’s ideas because it is demonstrating the seriousness behind love affairs.

Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 358-375 provide a basic summary of Puck’s character.

                        PUCK

Believe me, King of Shadows, I mistook.

Did not you tell me I should know the man

By the Athenian garment he had on?

And so far blameless proves my enterprise,

That I have 'nointed an Athenian’s eyes.

And so far am I glad it so did sort,

As this their jangling I esteem a sport.

OBERON

Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight.

Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night.

The starry welkin cover thou anon

With drooping fog as black as Acheron,

And lead these testy rivals so astray

As one come not within another’s way.

Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue,

Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong.

And sometime rail thou like Demetrius.

And from each other look thou lead them thus,

Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep

With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.

This passage occurs after Puck has incorrectly put the love potion on Lysander’s eyes, instead of Demetrius. He claims that he did not know who was who because they were both wearing Athenian clothing. It is clear through this passage that Puck is a comical character that cannot be taken too seriously. We are also exposed to the servant-master relationship between Puck and Oberon, as Puck has to explain his mistake to his boss. It is clear how Puck serves as a catalyst for Shakespeare’s ideals against the negative effects of love because Puck is clearly being used to facilitate the love affairs between Demetrius and Lysander.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Acts I-III

Through Act III in the play there seems to be lots of shuffling around in relationships and confusion of who loves whom and why they are not together.  As a result it seems that the point of the play thus far is that trying to be with someone you do not love will leave you miserable and alone.  There is a lot of conversation back and forth between Lysander, Hermia, Helena and Demetrius about who really loves who and about why the couples are not together if they love someone else. We can see evidence for the point in that they all end up miserable due to the fact that each of them is with the wrong person.

In the play Lysander is a representative of many things.  He is a respected individual who seeks union with someone and seems to value that union, or at least the idea of it.  Lysander also comes off to be a complicated individual in that he, like many of the other characters, loves someone other than the woman he is with.  The ideas of respect, love and complication are seen not just in Lysander's character but as main themes throughout the play as well.  In the following passage, readers can understand Lysander's sense of respect as well as what we later learn to be a confused attempt at love. 
            Lysander: A good persuation; therefore hear me, Hermia:
                             I have a widow aunt, a dowager
                             Of great revenue, and she hath no child.
                             From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;
                             And she respects me as her only son.
                             There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee;
                             And to that place the sharp Athenian law
                            Cannot pursue us. If thou lovest me, then
                             Steal forth they father's house to-morrow night;
                             And in the wood, a league without the town
                             (Where I did meet thee once with Helena
                             To do observance to a morn of May)
                             There will I stay for thee
Here we are told by Lysander himself that he is respected.  We know from the beginning of the play that Theseus, too, is a respected individual because of the grandness with which his wedding is being planned.  The love and longing for love aspects are seen in many other characters throughout the play as they continue to make themselves miserable by being with someone they don't love and pining for the one they do.  The complication aspect is almost intertwined with the love aspect of the characters.  They are all dealing with feelings of confusion and complication in that they cannot seem to get their relationships right.  In the passage above, Lysander is asking Hermia to marry him.  This gets complicated for both the characters and the readers later in the play when we find out that Lysander doesn't really love Hermia, but instead loves Helena who loves Demetrius who loves Hermia.  The complication grows as they try to sort things out amongst themselves. 

Blog Post #2: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Acts I-III

The point of tis play is to tell the audience that love and emotions are fickle and can cause a lot of drama. People are quick to judge others’ actions and emotions can get the best of anyone. Additionally, I believe that Shakespeare is warning people to be careful what they wish for, especially when it comes to love. Helena is an especially interesting character in A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Helena goes from no one loving her to two men fighting for her affections. Helena deeply pines for Demetrius and is devastated that he would rather be with Hermia. However, after the serum from the flower is used on Demetrius and Lysander, she becomes the object of their affections. Instead of enjoyed the attention she receives from the men, one of which she was recently enamored with, Helena believes that Demetrius, Lsyander, and even Hermia are making fun of her by all of a sudden declaring their love for her.

            Helena’s character is almost a little confusing thus far in the play. Helena goes from telling Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander are running away so that she will have a reason for Demetrius to love her. Essentially Helena goes from desiring affection so much to questioning why people would ever have affection for her. Helena’s emotions are fickle because she quickly goes from wondering how someone could want someone to love Hermia more than her to wondering how she could be worthy of affection. However, her temperament throughout these changes in almost stay about the same. Helena stays very much upset throughout what we have read with the exception of when she says that she will get revenge and tell Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander are running away.

            To show Helena’s change in heart, I have two quotes. The first:

            And even for that do I love you the more.

I am your spaniel. And, Demetrius,

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.

Use me but as your spaniel—spurn me, strike me,

Neglect me, lose me. Only give me leave,

Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

What worser place can I beg in your love—

And yet a place of high respect with me—

Than to be usèd as you use your dog?

-Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 187-195

The previous quote contrasts with Helena’s demeanor after the spells have been cast:

Lo, she is one of this confederacy!

Now I perceive they have conjoined all three

To fashion this false sport, in spite of me.—

Injurious Hermia! Most ungrateful maid!

Have you conspired, have you with these contrived

To bait me with this foul derision?

Is all the counsel that we two have shared,

The sisters' vows, the hours that we have spent

When we have chid the hasty-footed time

For parting us—oh, is it all forgot?

-Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 195-204

The passage shows how Helena goes from being to the point where she would be willing to be treated as a dog if it meant getting attention from Demetrius. In the second passage, she talks about how she thinks Hermia conspired with Demetrius and Lysander to falsely make Helena believe that she is desirable.

Blog Post 2

Blog Post 2: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

            The overall point of Shakerspeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that to achieve happiness, true love is not the only thing needed. As Lysander said at the beginning of the play “the course of true love never did run smooth.” Expected (like Hermia’s father bidding her death if she not marry Demetrius) and unexpected (like Puck rubbing the love spell over Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius’s eyes) events occur, and the strongest of love and faith in the significant other is needed for happiness to result. The values and attitudes that Shakespeare expresses in the play mainly deal with true love, magic, and dreams. In the play, Shakespeare expresses magic as a question of the unconscious mind and embrace the magic-like power of love. Dreams are also expressed as a question of the unconscious mind and how things in life can happen void of explanation or reason. In all, Shakespeare believes in the power of true love while understanding the difficulties that arise in love.

            Helena’s character is one with a lack of sureness in herself and a lack of self confidence and self esteem, typical of many women in the present day. She understands the true meaning of love and that beauty is on the inside, that being in love with someone based on their appearance is simply lust and not true love. Her actions prove this. When Demetrius is in love with Hermia, Helena believes that he only loves her because of her outer beauty and fails to love Helena because he is too distracted by Hermia’s appearance to see Helena’s inner beauty. Also, when Lysander is under the love spell and in love with Helena, Helena finds it impossible and regards it as evil mockery. She feels that she is incapable of being loved by men because she is simply not beautiful enough.

            Both Helena and Shakespeare believe and understand the true meaning of loving another person. However, whereas Shakespeare sees love as powerful and magical, due to Helena’s lack of love for herself, Helena finds love to be powerfully mean. Demetrius’s hate towards her makes her love him stronger and Lysander’s love to her is seen as mockery. Shakespeare’s power of love brings lovers together and gives them the strength to stay together under the worst of circumstances. Furthermore, both Shakespeare and Helena question how things in life happen with no apparent reason. Helena questions why she is not as beautiful as Hermia and why the man she so strongly loves, loathes her. A lot of Shakespeare’s attitudes and values evident in the play are shown through Helena’s character.

            The passage below is one in which Helena first appears in the play and instantly expresses her lack of love for herself and her desirable want for Demetrius.

Line 192 Helena: O, teach me how you look, and with what art

You sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart.

Hermia: I frown upon him; yet he loves me still

Helena: O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!

Hermia: I give him curses; yet he gives me love.

Helena: O that my prayers could such affection move!

Hermia: The more I hate, the more he follows me.

Helena: The more I love, the more he hateth me.

Hermia: His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.

Helena: None but of your beauty; would fault were mine!

Shakespeare makes it clear that the values and attitudes for true love are more subtly expressed through the play as this passage expresses the meanness love can cause as Helena wishes so strongly to be someone with characteristics of someone she is not.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Blog Post #2

I envision the point of the first three acts of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to give readers an understanding of how fast happiness can disappear. This is portrayed through the initial love between Hermia and Lysander being quickly lost. In this transaction, Demetrius and Helena also end up less contented than they were in the beginning in the way that Demetrius isn’t even able to settle for Helena because she is so irritated by him and Lysander. Although the potion is used in order to make this happen, I believe the point of this section of the play is still this method of expressing the way that happiness can vanish at any moment.

One character in particular who goes through transformations in her character development in Hermia. At the commencement of the play, Hermia faces the dilemma of her father’s wishes for her versus her own personal desires. She knows the consequences that will ensue if she goes against her father’s intentions of marrying her to Demetrius. While this is the case, she displays strength when she tells Lysander that she will go away with him to be married at his aunt’s house. Hermia originally possesses the love of multiple suitors with the disappointment of her father being her only concern. However, by the end of the play, she has lost it all when both of her suitors have been infected by inescapable love for Helena. She even loses her friendship with Helena because of her misunderstanding of their love which evolves into jealousy.

Hermia’s overlap with the point of the play is almost spot on. She goes from living a life of little concern to one where she loses the love of her life over something that is out of her control. She is an integral character in this play so her contribution to the point of the play is quite large. While I have not read the entirety of the play yet, I cannot say for certain that my view of the point of the play is truthful for the full story and therefore how much Hermia maintains or diverges from this point. In terms of this first half and my estimated point of the drama, she doesn’t diverge at all. She spontaneously loses the positive aspects of her life with no signs of having them returned (at least not at this point).

“Help me, Lysander, help me!

do thy best

To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast!

Ay me, for pity! what a dream was here!

Lysander, look how I do quake with fear.

Methought a serpent eat my heart away,

And you sate smiling at his cruel prey.

Lysander! what remov’d? Lysander! lord!

What, out of hearing gone? No sound, no word?

Alack, where are you? Speak, and if you hear;

Speak, of all loves! I swoon almost with fear.

No? then I well perceive you are not nigh:

Either death, or you, I’ll find immediately.

This quote is Hermia’s initial shock to losing the love of Lysander. She is in awe and Shakespeare displays her breakdown from this point on. It is tragic that the accidents of Puck were to affect her in this negative way. The breakdown of her character, however, is crucial to expressing the point that I stated above.

A Midsummer Night's Dream I-III

A Midsummer Night’s Dream shows the confusing and exhilarating nature of love while also pointing out the fact that true love is rare. From the very beginning of the play when Theseus is confronted with the situation between Hermia and Lysander to the scene in the forest with the confusion between the fairies and mortals, we can see that love plays an integral role in the play, providing both comedy and drama. Shakespeare uses the various love triangles to point out that love is not always a clear-cut, black and white matter.

            Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck’s mischievous nature is used to thoroughly confuse many of the other characters. When we first met Puck, a fairy warns us of his reputation for playing jokes on the mortals and Puck willingly confesses to this saying, “I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon to make him smile…” (lines 43-44). Puck does not seem to have a problem toying with the others’ emotions as we can see when he uses the magic potion to make both Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with Helena, although this is a slight mistake that he attempts to correct. Although mischievous and certainly a little careless, Puck does have a serious side to him in that he is obedient to Oberon and carries out the plans that Oberon concocts. Shakespeare also uses Puck to point out that love (and in some aspects, life) should not be taken so seriously. The most obvious example of this is when Puck transforms Bottom’s head and then uses the magic potion to make Titania fall in love with him. Overall, Puck’s actions exemplify how one can be easily blinded by love. This falls in line with part of Shakespeare’s purpose of the play in that love can be incredibly confusing and bewildering. However, Puck’s character does not show any hope for true love. Rather, we are left hopeless of any possibility for true love after we see how easy it is for the mortals to fall in love with ridiculous characters such as Bottom. The significance in these differences again points to the nature of love itself, showing that it is a complicated matter and that it is hard to be certain about what true love looks like.

The following passage shows Puck’s character (Act III, Scene 2, lines 110-121):

Puck: Captain of our fairy band,

Helena is here at hand,

And the youth, mistook by me,

Pleading for a lover’s fee.

Shall we their fond pageant see?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Oberon: Stand aside. The noise they make

Will cause Demetrius to awake.

Puck: Then will two at once woo one;

That must needs be sport alone,

And those things do best please me

That befall prepost’rously.

            This passage highlights how foolish people can be when love is involved. Puck does not appear concerned about their feelings, but instead comments that he likes to see how ridiculous some of his pranks turn out. He approaches love with humor, not taking any of the events or mishaps seriously. This attitude serves two purposes for the overall meaning of the play. First, we see that love is confusing and can blind us to the truth. Second, we can understand that it is okay to not take every action in life seriously. Some things are not worth making a big scene over because it only does more harm than good. An example of this in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is how Egeus is outraged by Lysander’s love for Hermia in the opening scene. Overall, Puck’s view of love is less serious and more direct than the rest of the play. Puck has the ability to make one person fall completely in love with another, no questions asked. In other parts of the play, as is the case with Egeus, there is an example of love that is messy because Hermia is supposed to be in love with Demetrius, but finds herself being wooed by Lysander. Shakespeare separates the two by placing Puck in the setting of a forest. The setting is a clear separation between the two different spectrums and interpretations of love.