“unto his lordship, whose unwished yoke
My soul consents not to give sovereignty”
Egeus uses his authority as a tactic to pursue this conflict, this is a patriarchic conflict, and a conflict between generations (old versus young) . As Shakespeare affirms : “The course of love never did run smooth”. Hermia and Lisander decide to elope to the forest and get married. This conflict gets resolved through the events that happen in the play, whereby Demetrius falls in love with Helena and is no longer a suitor for Hermia and finally Egeus agrees to his Daughter’s wedding to Lysander.
Further conflict arises as Titania and Oberon, king and queen of the fairies quarrel. Oberon is angry with Titania because she refuses to give him the Indian boy she is raising. We see them criticizing each other's infidelities — Titania was supposedly in love with Theseus and Oberon with Hippolyta. (“Titania: But that, forsooth, the bouncing amazon, Your buskined mistress and your warrior love, To Theseus must be wedded; and you come To give their bed joy and prosperity.” Act 2, scene 1.) Titania reminds Oberon that their argument has led to chaos in the natural world. Oberon says this disaster will end if she lets him have the Indian boy, but Titania refuses. Oberon prepares a mischievous plan to get his revenge. He sends Puck, his servant, out to find a plant called love-in-idleness, the juice of which makes any person dote on the next creature he or she sees. When Titania falls asleep, Oberon squeezes the love juice in her eyes, hoping a wild beast will be the first creature she sees when she wakes up. Bottom, one of the mechanicals who was rehearsing the play for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding awakens Titania, who immediately falls in love with him. Puck had played a practical joke on Bottom, he had transformed his head into an ass’s head. Oberon returns to Tiana’s bower in search of the Indian boy. Tatiana, who only has eyes for Bottom, willingly releases the boy. Oberon’s plan is complete, but he is disgusted to see his queen in love with an ass, so he releases her from the spell. She awakes and does not remember anything; she thinks she dreamt of being in love with an ass. Now that Oberon has won the boy, he is willing to forget their argument and they are reunited. This conflict is also a patriarchic conflict because Oberon dominates, and has control over Titania.
In the Initial situation, the two girls are in conflict because Helena is jealous of Hermia’s beauty and the fact that she loves Demetrius but he is in love Hermia.
(Helena) “O, teach me how you look, and with what art
You sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart. “ Act 1, scene 1.
Helena is jealous; she wishes she were like Hermia.
“Demetrius: Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am sick when I do look on thee.
Helena: And I am sick when I look not on you.” Act 2, scene 1.
Helena is maddly in love with Demetrius, while he rejects her, and thinks only about Hermia. She begs him to love her back.
It’s a conflict of passion, a sort of love triangle. Shakespeare has begun his play by setting up an extremely difficult situation for the lovers.
The fairies also create additional and artificial conflicts. Oberon sees Helena running after Demetrius while he swears he will never lover her. Taking pity on Helena, Oberon decides to use the magic flower on Demetrius. Puck sees Lysander asleep, assumes he is Demetrius and puts the love juice in his eyes. Helena notices the sleeping Lysander and awakens him, he immediately falls in love with her. Helena, who is heartbroken, confused, and cautious, assumes he is mocking her. Hermia awakens from a nightmare, only to find herself left alone. Oberon realizes that Puck has mistaken the two men. Angry with this mistake, Oberon sends Puck to put the juice in Demetrius’ eyes when Helena is near. Now both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Helena, who still thinks they are teasing her. Puck is amused at the foolishness of mortals. Hermia is confused and heartbroken by Lysander’s sudden change of feelings. This all resolves when Puck reverses the spell on Lysander. When the lovers are awakened, Demetrius confesses that he now loves Helena. Theseus decides the other lovers should be married along with him and Hippolyta. Because the fairies are careless with the love potion, the situation of the young Athenian lovers becomes increasingly chaotic and confusing. Puck is the protagonist of these conflicts; he is an agent of chaos, who loves mischief.
In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Shakespeare explores conflict by using family conflicts, generation conflicts, patriarchic conflicts, society conflicts, etc. In each different struggle, the characters provoke and abuse one another, compete, and eventually reconcile and get back together. In this play, Puck is the protagonist, the doer of the play, . He sets the main conflicts by his clumsiness, and yet at the end he proves us that everything ends happily and everyone is for the better. (“Puck: Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Act 3, scene 2.)