William Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream - 949 Words

Hilal Ghanem Theatre History I Tracy Leigh Campbell 27/11/14 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of William Shakespeare s most well-known work, is a comedic play that has more than one plotlines. The play has many themes such as magic, dreams, and contrast. However, there is one theme that is reflected most throughout the play and that is love. In the play, Shakespeare shows us that love isn t always what it seems to be; he shows us that love can be expressed in many different types. Throughout the play, we see three different types of love, blind love, inconstant love, and cruel love. Shakespeare shows us that love is never continuous, it may have some ups and downs, and some actions that may end it. In the beginning of the play,†¦show more content†¦However, he fell in love with Helena instead; He then swore the same thing to Helena, and then dumped Hermia after calling her an ethiope, a vile thing, and other insults. Hermia was very upset and was really confused about why Lysander would say those things to her after swearing to h er. She then told him that she was going to kill herself. Her broken heart caused her to say that which means that love may also be cruel. Hermia and Helena’s friendship also got affected by what happened. The arguing between Demetrius and Lysander upset both of the women. Hermia feels cheated on and she is very confused on what’s going on, and the first person she finds to blame is Helena. On the other hand, Helena is feeling like she is being mocked and that her best friend Hermia has to do with it and she puts the blame on her. They start fighting and insulting each other. Due to the effect of love on Helena and Hermia, their relationship changed completely. Their friendship changed so much from before they fought till after they did, and this change resulted in the destruction of their childhood friendship and their trust in each other. Another example of cruel love can be found in Demetrius and Helena s relationship in the beginning of the play. Helena wanted him badly because of how much she loves him. However, unfortunately for Helena, Demetrius doesn’t feel the same way, he completely ignores her because he loves Hermia. Demetrius’ way of