A Midsummer Nights Dream2

William Shakespeare intensifies the emotion of love and foolishness in the epic tale of four lovers and an enchanted forest in his classic Midsummer Night’s Dream. Early in this work, we learn of two young maidens, Hermia and Helena, and their unfulfilled passions. Hermia, the daughter of a gentleman, is cast into the burden of marrying a suitor, Demetrius, chosen by her father for which she does not love. Instead, she has fallen for …

…partly my own fault, which death, or absence, soon shall remedy” (346). Fortunately, as with all comedies during the Elizabethan era, the play ends and “everything turns out exceptionally well” (327). With the help of the fairies, Demetrius pairs with Helena and she becomes a tortured soul no more. The only question left to ponder is the view of humanity as seen in this play a just view of love or that of infatuation, lust, and merriment?