Immediately when reading the opening act of "A Midsummer Nights Dream" you can sense the hormones rushing throughout all of the characters. There is no doubt adolescence plays a huge influence in this play, making the reader wonder when first reading this, why Shakespeare came up with the idea of teenage emotions playing such a significant role in his work during the time period. Upon reading the first act you can sense the tension between Hermia and her father (Egeus) instantly; he views his daughter as a defiant child, with the threat of death among her if she disobeys his wish of her marrying Demetrius. Even today it's a known fact that most teens don't see eye to eye with their parents on just about everything and will do the complete opposite to defy them. However, Hermia claims to truly be in love with Lysander, but if she is purposely defying her father through that love remains to be seen by the reader. Egeus acts as though his daughter is his object, his trophy, his prize to give away to the best contestant, whom he believes to be Demetrius. I believe Hermia resents her father more and more throughout the course of the play because of this, nobody likes to feel like they're being controlled by another person, especially teenagers who are out to assert their newfound sense of independence.
The theme of unrequited love also plays a significant role in the play. Hippolyta does not seem to have the same level of love for Theseus as he does for her. Theseus can hardly wait to be married, claiming how long four days is, where as Hippolyta dismisses it, saying it will go by fast. Hermia is deeply in love with Lysander, whom she is forbidden to marry over Demetrius, chosen by her father, Egeus. Helena loves Demetrius. In this tale it seems to be an endless circle of love, with everyone intertwined and somehow involved with one another, like six degrees of separation.
The fact that this play resembles "Romeo and Juliet" in many ways proves to be interesting also. Shakespeare seems to have had a passion for writing about lovers in different social rankings and the many obstacles they faced. Could this possibly have been something he struggled with during his time period?
Another factor here that plays into the "tween" sense is the betrayal and gossip. Helena is hurt and insecure by Demetrius's love for Hermia, so she plans to tell him of Hermia's plan to run away with Lysander, even though she would be rid of her if she just kept quiet, she'd much rather stir up trouble- much like a teenage girl would.
2 comments:
I appreciate the further attention here to the adolescence of these lovers. It's true that Shakespeare gives us many characters in his plays who stand at this crossroads, age-wise--perhaps because it is a moment in life where there is much potential that is yet be realized?
The aspects of teenage emotion and relationship Shakespeare depicts between father and daughter helps any of his readers to relate to his play. I think that Shakespeare does an excellent job of keeping his works so on point that the remain relevant to his audience after such a long period of time since being written.
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