The Irrational Nature of Love in 'A Midsummer Night´s Dream' and How It Is Mirrored in the Lovers´ Behaviour

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2019 im Fachbereich Didaktik - Englisch - Literatur, Werke, Note: 1,5, Private Pädagogische Hochschule der Diözese Linz, Veranstaltung: Understanding Drama and Film, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: In 'A Midsummer Night´s Dream', Shakespeare portrays a concept of love that heavily influences the lovers´ behaviour. Therefore, love parallels a kind of madness, not only making people look foolish and blind but also being the only motivation behind their actions. Considering this, one important aspect of love in the play is its irrationality. This paper serves to shed light on aspects of the play which reveal the irrational nature of love. It takes a closer look at who, why and how the four lovers love, all under the perspective of irrationality. Those aspects will not only be dealt with by looking at the passages of the play that reveal details about the lovers´ ideas of love but also by including claims of various authors of critical essays on the topic. The first chapter serves to find out how the nature of love manifests itself without the fairies´ intervention. In the second chapter, the focus will be on the irrationality of love which is mocked at in the enchanted wood. The paper will conclude by summarizing the most important aspects.