A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a romantic play about love-struck relationships that deal with lust, jealousy, and revenge. Key characters are Theseus, Hippolyta, Lysander, Hermia, Egeus, Demetrius, Helena, Oberon, Titantia, Puck, and Nick Bottom. Theseus is the king of Athens, who is engaged with his fiancй, Hippolyta, the queen of Amazon. Lysander is an Athenian man who is in love with Hermia, the daughter of Egeus. Hermia is also in love with Lysander. Demetrius is an Athenian man who also loves Hermia, and wishes to wed with her. Helena is Demetrius’s old lover, and a close friend of Hermia. Oberon is the king of fairies, and Titantia is the queen of fairies. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is a fairy who makes love potions for Oberon. Lastly, Nick Bottom is a weaver whose head is turned into an ass for his ridiculous mistakes and foolishness. The setting takes place in Athens and in the forest. The time period is approximately around ancient Greece.

There are three conflicts throughout the play, which are: the dilemma between Lysander and Demetrius both falling in love with Hermia, Helena’s plan to regain the relationship with Demetrius, and the decision of whether the Indian prince should be knighted or not. Lysander and Hermia wishes to wed together but Egeus wants her to wed with Demetrius. They both eloped to the forest, in order to get married at Lysander’s aunt’s house. Helena is, however, still in love with Demetrius. Demetrius cruelly left her for Hermia. For revenge, Helena overheard the news of elopement and told Demetrius, who follows her to the forest to hunt for Lysander and Hermia.