The Concept of Love in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: William Shakespeare is one of the most important English authors, his plays are well known today although he lived in the 16th century. Especially his love dramas enjoy great popularity. This paper deals with his comedy 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Nearly everybody knows the famous sentence Lysander says to Hermia: 'The course of true love never did run smooth' (MND I.i.134). Love is the main theme in this play and this sentence mirrors the love between the four Athenian lovers very well. The flower 'love-in-idleness' screws up the whole love constellation as well as Egeus, Hermia's father, who does not allow his daughter to marry the man she loves. Throughout the play love is presented with a huge range of metaphors and it acquires new shapes. It is notable that those metaphors who describe the love in the play are metaphors of nature. The moon, the image of inconstancy is often used to show the inconstancy of love between the four Athenian lovers caused by the magic flower. Furthermore, love is linked to the eyes, but it is misleading, however, to conclude that there is a simple association between love and beauty, just because the eyes are linked to love. Besides Shakespeare shows the power of love between the protagonists. Love is not only a feeling, it changes the perception.