Juxtaposition of Darkness and Beauty in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Anonymous College

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that explores what is universally thought to be one of the most bewitching and relatable themes present in literature: love and longing. There is something about the notion of love or romance that has the power to captivate an audience, most likely because love is something that most people want and spend much of their lives searching for. Romantic love is a human ideal, and for as long as literature has been written, authors have written about it. However, in this play, William Shakespeare uses a variety of characters, plot twists, and symbols to portray love in a different, darker light than typical romances. Conversely, he also utilizes tragedy in a somewhat comical way in many instances throughout the play, bringing light to many darker scenes. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that takes traditional themes and motifs and presents them in an unorthodox fashion to the audience which makes for a truly riveting story.

Shakespeare was not attempting to write a play about true love, but rather the confusion and problems that love has the power to induce. Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius are not archetypes of romance, but rather simple characters to be sympathized with. Love is...