Is love controlled by human beings who love one another or is love controlled by a higher power? There are many people who believe that a higher power has control over love. An example of a higher power would be a cupid, a flying angel-type creature who is supposed to shoot arrows at people to make them fall in love. There are other people who reject the idea that a higher power controls love and that the people who experience love can control it. In the play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare, several examples of love’s association with a higher power are presented.
Examples like: Thesius arranging a marriage between himself and Hippolyta, Egeus choosing who Hermia should marry and the fairies who have the ability to control love in the Enchanted Forest. In the story, Thesius, the supreme ruler of Athens, ends up marrying Hippolyta, the Queen of the Jungle. However, during the whole story, Hippolyta never throughly discusses her feelings and ideas about the marriage. She acts as if she has no choice but to marry Thesius. This can be proven by examining Hippolyta’s position in the relationship between herself and Thesius.
Thesius captured Hippolyta during battle and Thesius intimidates Hippolyta into marrying him since he is a supreme ruler and she was defeated by him. Thesius reveals that he captures Hippolyta in battle in the following quote, “I wood thee by my sword, and won thy love doing thee injuries” (Act I,). The above quote and the fact that Hippolyta never discusses her feelings about the wedding leads the reader to believe that she doesn’t really love him but is forced into the marriage due to his authority.
Thesius’ authority is the higher power in this example and her love (in marriage) is controlled by the duke’s authority by forcing her to marry him. Another example of a higher power controlling one’s love can be seen when the relationship between Egeus and his daughter Hermia, is observed. In Act 1, when Hermia confesses her love for Lysander to her father, Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and Thesius, her father Egeus is very upset. Egeus is upset because Hermia is defying his wishes for her to marry the man that he chose, Demetrius.
When Hermia objects to her father’s wishes, Egeus starts to threaten her life in an attempt to get her obedience, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her which shall be either to this gentlemen or to her death, according to our law Immediately provided in that case” (Act I,). In this example, the higher power position is assumed by Egeus, Hermia’s father who is frustrated because his daughter won’t marry the man of his choice but a man that she chose, Lysander. Her father’s anger causes Lysander and Hermia to run away, and be followed by Helena and Demetrius.
The couples then end up in the Enchanted Forest where a whole series of events ends up confuses the lovers. After everything returns to normal, the couples return to Athens. Interestingly, Lysander and Hermia end up marrying. The fact that Lysander and Hermia got married proves that love can also defeat a higher power. Hermia defied her father, the higher power and still ended up marrying the man that she wanted. The most interesting parts of the story takes place in an environment known as: The Enchanted Forest.
In the Enchanted Forest, numerous numbers of creatures exist with the addition of fairies. These fairies, for example Oberon, Titania and Puck, have the ability to use magic that can change the feelings of love in people. Since the couples wandered into the Enchanted Forest, they end up getting mixed up in a series of events where Puck changes the feelings of the couples by using a love potion on Lysander. After waking with the love potion in his eyes, Lysander ends up falling in love with Helena.
On the other hand, Helena is still in love with Demetrius, who is in love with Hermia. Finally, Hermia is in love with Lysander. Basically, Puck changes the couples around because he applied the potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius. Fortunately, the situation is solved and the couples get back together. The higher power in this case proved to be the fairies because of their ability to use magic to change the feelings of love in people. This proves that a higher power can control the feelings of love in people.
The fairies have the power to control peoples love towards one another and control love. People are falling in love, getting their heart broken, and falling in love again. Oberon, the king of the fairies, didnt have the best relationship with his wife and lover Titania. They always seemed to bicker and rant about each other but they still had an undying love for each other. Being the king of the fairies Oberon could do anything he pleased and anyone would do it for him.
Oberon convinced Puck to make Titania fall in love with a hideous creature. Puck turned a mortal into an ass and then made Titania fall in love with them. After realizing what he had done Oberon reversed the spell and realized that he really did love Titania. The higher power in this situation is the flower that created this spell, because it was controlling all the love and dislike that was going on in the Enchanted Forest. A higher power in definition is any being or group of beings that have direct control over the actions of another being.
Two of the examples showed how a higher power can control love and one of the examples showed how love can defy a higher power and prevail. In any case, it has been proven that a higher power does exist when dealing with love. Many people have wondered what love really is and how love develops between people. Even if love isn’t associated with a higher power in life, it is a strange phenomenon and so far the connection of love with a higher powers is a valid suggestion as it was proven in the story, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”