A Midsummer Night 's Dream By William Shakespeare Essay

As it turns out, happy endings and not joke or silly characters, is the most import characteristic of a comedy play. Such endings might include the protagonist winning back their kingdom, finding a great treasure, or, most often, gaining the hand of their true love. Still, no matter what the goal, the protagonist must achieve it for a play to classify as a “comedy”. But what if the goal of a protagonist is only created through the use of magic unwillingly forced onto the character? In Shakespeare 's “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” the character Demetrius is forced into loving the character Helena due to the faerie king Oberon’s magic flower juice. While Helena, who views Demetrius as her true love, get her “happy ending” once the two wed, Demetrius’ side of things is less than perfect. It was his wish to marry Helena’s friend Hermia, but he is denied the girl that was seemingly his “real” love because of the the magic. Demetrius’ situation begs the question, if love is created under the powers of a magic spell, is it really true love and is the ending truly happy? While it is undeniable that Demetrius ends in a better place than he began as he is now married, his emotions were manipulated and forced, and he was, in essence, tricked into loving a woman he felt nothing for. Demetrius love is not true, rather it is an illusion created by faerie magic, resulting in a less than happy .

Right from the start of the play, it is established that Demetrius does not love Helena.…