Question: the Play Presents a Cynical View of Love. Discuss

2007 Essay Question 2 Question: The play presents a cynical view of love. Discuss.

Respond In the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Shakespeare presents the nature of Love in many different points of view. For instance, the play actually presents a cynical view of love very clearly throughout the entire play. Shakespeare describes love to be rash and impulsive, to be easily deceived and even complicated with difficulties. All these eventually lead to the chaos and confusions happened in the play.

First and foremost, the love is viewed cynically as rash and impulsive. It is said to be so especially in the part where Hermia who cares a lot of Lysander accuses Demetrius for killing Lysander. At that particular part, Hermia acts quite reckless and rash to confront Demetrius without much thought for her safety. She is even willing to sacrifice her own life for this relationship of love with Lysander. For instance, “If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep… and kill me too,” she said desperately. Since she is willing to sacrifice her life, this then showed how deep she is in love with Lysander. This can also be inferring that love can bring a person to lose his or her mind. One could probably change to become a person who acts rash and impulsive without thinking of the consequences. In addition, love can also seen to be impulsive when the decision she and Lysander had made earlier in the play to elope and let down Hermia’s father, Egeus. They are blinded by love and they do not think of the consequences that may need to face if they are caught. Therefore, love makes one blind in one’s own action.

Besides, another cynical view of love will be as being easily deceived. One of the part about love is that lovers are usually temporary changing as one can be easily deceived and becomes unfaithful to the other lover. If one has no strong determination on another, one could be easily affected by other physical attributes. For example, the lovers are manipulated by the magic and intervention by the fairies. In the Athenian forest, Lysander’s love for Helena suddenly disappears literally in the blink of an eye when Puck accidentally anoints a few drops of “love-in-idleness” flower’s juice onto his eyes. This eventually triggers a series of conflicts and chaos in the second part of the play whereby a love triangle is formed between those young lovers. Helena became angry as she thought she had been tricked and fooled by Lysander and Demetrius while Hermia was frustrated with Helena whom she thought has “stolen” her lover, Lysander. Finally, they quarreled and even have some physical attacks between each other.

In addition, love is viewed cynically as one in love needs to gone through a lot of difficulties. “The course of true love never did run smooth,” said Lysander. This quote mainly describes the entire play by telling the audience that the process of love needs to overcome lots of difficulties. In the play, the two pairs of young lovers have gone through difficulties to persuade Hermia’s father, Egeus, to gone through chaos and confusions in the Athenian forests and finally get married. Besides the two pairs of young lovers, Titania and Oberon also did gone through difficulties when they fought against each other over the Indian boy.

As a result, the play presents love in a very cynical view that makes us feeling angry, yet disappointed.

Written by, Ng Boon Pin (3BN-33)