Examples Of Happy Endings In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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. …show more content…
When Oberon first cast the spell on Titania he even says “What thou seest when thou dost wake, /Do it for thy true-love take,Love and languish for his sake: /Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, /Pard, or boar with bristled hair, /In thy eye that shall appear /When thou wakest, it is thy dear: /Wake when some vile thing is near”(II.ii.685-686). And she does. Titania falls in love with Bottom and dotes on him, the magic juice convincing her that Bottom is the most beautiful creature that she has ever seen even if he does have an ass’ head. But because the audience is not under the spell, it is easy to see how bizarre Titania is acting, and also understand that she does not truly love a Donkey headed man. In other words Titania’s love is all just the result of the spell. So why is Titania’s love false, and Demetrius love true? Because her love has a donkey