A Midsummer Night’s Dream

            In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare brings four different worlds together to demonstrate how human beings tend to fantasize and abide by beliefs that may not necessarily be true, especially in the name of love. The four worlds are the world of classical myth which is represented by Hippolyta and Theseus; that of modern lovers as shown by Demetrius, Helena, Hermia, and Lysander; the fairy world through Oberon, Puck, and Titania; and the rustic world represented by Bottom and Quince. The events that unfold in the play demonstrate how fantasies and beliefs affect people’s perception of things like love and also how people interact with one another. 

           From the play, it is evident that the inability to differentiate imagination from reality greatly alters one’s perception of life. A good example is a case where Puck mistakenly anoints Lysander with the magic potion instead of Demetrius who diverts his affection to Helena (Shakespeare, 1605). Once Demetrius’s spell is broken, he tries to reclaim Helena, and the conflict between the two leaves Helena confused. The various lovers were similar in that they could not differentiate reality from imagination. They acted on the emotions triggered by the love juice as if they were real. They differ in that some characters like Helena did not go along with all the affection displayed by victims of the love potion.

The differences in the settings relate to the different reasons that led the characters to the forest. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope while Demetrius goes to the forest to confront elena. while at the forest, the characters are dosed with the love potion, allowing the reader to see how inability to differentiate reality from fiction affects people's decisions. 

Throughout the play, Puck acts as the catalyst that pushes the characters to act per the emotions evoked. Despite being a fairy, he is presented as having a good heart yet still capable of performing cruel tricks such as transforming Bottom’s head into an ass just to amuse himself. His character demonstrates how people, despite their good nature, can engage in wrong actions when influenced by their emotions. The activities engaged in by the characters successfully demonstrate how emotions and fantasies influence people’s behavior as seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Reference

Shakespeare W, (1605) “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”