The Failure Of Love In William Shakespeare's Night

To begin with, Shakespeare demonstrates the difficulty of love as the characters first run away into the forest trying to find true happiness due to the father’s actions. The main character’s, Hermia, father denies her lover and went on to accept someone else who was more convenient on his behalf (1.1.20-126). Her father, believe it or not, is trying to save his daughter from being used only to make love as that’s all he saw her lover always trying to do. Her father chooses someone who has proven himself to be more honorable, who he thought will save her from a heartbreak. Having no option but to marry someone who she had no affection towards is a difficulty of love. Shakespeare wants to indicate to his audience that having peace with ones’ …show more content…
Out of nowhere, Lysander and Demetrius falls deeply in love with Helena instead of Hermia. The male characters have no idea why they carry so much attachment for Helena but only the audience can really tell what the real reason is. There was a lot of miscommunication between the characters which kept evoking the situation. King Oberon and Puck was the cause of the partner mix-up and was basically in control of love. After seeing Demetrius run after Hermia and Helena run behind Demetrius, Oberon thought it was a bit petty for a man to leave someone that cared so much about him. Oberon took action and assigned Puck to place a love potion on Demetrius, but it turns out it was placed on the wrong guy. Trying to fix a problem with magic may not always be correct and for that the couples where the ones suffering the consequences. Another dramatic irony was how Helena concluded both men were trying to insult her in order to get rid of her so they can be left with Hermia. According to the play, Helena remarked, “Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born / when at your hands did I deserve this scorn?" (2.2.125-126), portraying to the audience mocking was an unwanted feeling. Lastly, Helena was confused and thought Hermia was playing a cruel joke on her as denoted, "Lo, she is one of this confederacy!" (3.2.195). Demetrius and Lysander aren’t aware they’ve been enchanted by a love potion causing them to fall in love with Helena but, the audience knowledges that. Using a lot of dramatic irony to actually create the character and having to separate them from knowing the causes is what really kept the audience from seeing what was going to happen next. You can say it built suspense throughout each act. Those are great examples Shakespeare pulled from a dramatic scene to provide a visual of the romantic