Shakespeare uses different settings to show the complication in the lovers lives.
I think that is a very clever thing to do. The first scene takes place in The Palace of Theseus. Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is getting married to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, in four days time. There is a very calm and peaceful atmosphere at this time and everyone is happy. This is shown by a quote from Theseus with pomp, with triumph, and with revelling.
The atmosphere then changes when Egeus intrudes into the party. This is because his daughter, Hermia, is supposed to be marrying Demetrius, a young man chosen by her father. Although she wants to marry Lysander, the man she is deeply in love with. This doesnt make Theseus very happy.
Once Theseus tells Hermia she cannot marry Lysander they make plans to runaway together to the outside of Athens. This is because the laws of Athens cant stop them there. Lysander says There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee.
Shakespeare changes the setting at this point to show the atmosphere is changing from a calm peaceful one to a wild and disorderly one. There are now fairies and magic being introduced to the story. Some of the new characters are Proud Titania and Jealous Oberon. Another character called Puck is also introduced. He is described as a shrewd and knavish sprite.
The story then goes on to tell us about the juice of the purple flower. If the juice is placed in someones eyes then the first things they see when they wake up they fall in love with, no matter who or what it is.
Oberon tells Puck to put the juice in the eyes of Demetrius eyes so he will fall in love with Helena. Then Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and Demetrius falls in love with Helena.
There are many different types of characters in the story. The two main types are the fairies and the Athenians. The main fairies that we are introduced to are Oberon, Titania and Puck.
Titania and Oberon have a quarrel over a young child. Oberon wants to take the young boy off of Titania and turn him into one of his henchmen. I do but beg a little changeling boy, to be my henchman. But Titania will not give up the child and she leaves Oberon and Puck alone in the forest. Oberon is very angry because he couldnt get the child. Thou shalt not form this grove till I torment thee from this injury. So Oberon comes up with a plan. He will make Titania fall in love with an animal of some kind and Oberon will take the child.
Titanias character is very strong. She wouldnt let her husband take the baby from her and she wouldnt let him tell her what to do. She kept the baby because it was her friends baby and her friend died and she promised she would look after him. This also shows she is very loyal.
Oberon is very selfish. Most of the trouble caused in the forest was down to him. He also tried to take the baby from Titania. This wasnt a very nice thing to do. Then he tried to get revenge on her. He was a necessary character because he made the story more twisted and interesting. Oberon is very childish and vindictive.
Puck doesnt really care that it was the wrong persons eyes he put the juice into because Pucks character isnt like that. He is very mischievous and sneaky. It is a very interesting character and it was also a necessary character because he kept the story moving along and made it funny at the same time.
In conclusion A Midsummer Nights Dream was very successful in showing me that the course of love doesnt always run smoothly. I found the characters and the setting the most interesting things about the play, although it was also a very interesting play in general. It was complicated and hard to follow at some points. But it was funny and enjoyable and I liked in a lot.
