Themes in A Midsummers Nights Dream

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The themes in the play

There are many different themes explored in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Betrayal, freedom, love and power are the themes that surround the lovers. Themes surrounding the fairies, include jealously, magic and power where as the mechanicals bring about the idea of reality. All of these themes are important to the play as they give the audience more to think about.

Freedom and power are the first two themes that arise in the play in the first scene where Egeus asks Theseus to make Hermia marry Demetrius.

And she is mine, and all my right of her                                                I do estate unto Demetrius”

This decision takes away Hermia’s freedom of choice. This may be why speaks so little until she is alone with Lysander and women had little freedom and power at the time the play was written. Throughout Act 1, Scene 1, Hermia speaks very little showing how much freedom of choice she had for who she should marry. Power is linked in with freedom due to the fact that Egeus is trying to make his daughter marry someone and is asking Theseus, who is the Duke, to use his power to make Hermia marry Demetrius. However, women in the play don’t have much power, however high they are in status due to their family. Freedom also features in the love potion. As the love potion is magical, it has the ability to take away the choice of the person it is applied to. Once someone is under the influence of the love potion, the have lost their freedom of thought and choice.

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O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!” 

This shows that Demetrius is now in love with Helena, where before, he only loved Hermia. Demetrius has lost is choice to love Hermia and is now being forced to love Helena, which is what happened to Lysander.

Power is also shown through the fairies, particularly in Oberon and Titania. As they are king and queen of the fairies, they have power over them. Puck also has a lot of power with the love juice. Whilst he has it, he has a lot of power because the juice can change someone’s entire perspective ...

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