Discuss in detail Shakespeare's attitude to love - You should consider all the different types of love tackled in the play - You should also consider the differences between Shakespearean love and love today.

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Rachel Henderson      Amu     Ass. 4     17.5.02

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

(Lysander Act 1: Scene 1)

Discuss in detail Shakespeare’s attitude to love.  You should consider all the different types of love tackled in the play.  You should also consider the differences between Shakespearean love and love today.

        You must remember that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a play-how do love elements and various plots affect the reader or audience?  Consider the role of Puck, the confusion and the humour.

        The play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, written by William Shakespeare is a focus on many types of love.  The play was written at a time when a daughter’s life was not her own.  Her father would decide who she would marry and live with, it was a statement of ownership.  Marriage today, however, is a statement of love, whereas is Shakespeare’s time it was arranged on a basis of financial security and gain.  If the prospective bride refused to marry the chosen spouse, she would have to face the consequences, which could range from banishment to execution.  This situation is shown in Act 1, Scene 1 between Hermia and Demetrius.  If we are to understand the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ then we need to understand how societies’ attitude has changed since Shakespeare’s time.  At this time women were seen as property to be controlled by men; the father’s and then the husband’s.  An arranged marriage is also used in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.  Although arranged marriages do exist nowadays they are less common than they have ever been.  We use the idea that love and marriage should be connected, leading to the definition of romantic love.

         

        Though ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a play about lovers there were no female members of the cast.  This is another situation where we see how attitudes have changed since Shakespearean times; young boys would play all the female parts; now it is universally accepted that women should play female parts in television, film and theatre work.  

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        There are, and always have been, a variety of different types of love, the most prominent and desired is true love, this includes two people who truly love each other, and is often linked with marriage, nowadays.  Married love is the love between two more mature lovers where their love for each other is shown in a variety of manners.  Young love is seen as true love to the people involved, who are often teenagers, who can be naïve about what they feel love is.  This type of love can be applied to Lysander and Hermia at the beginning ...

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