Conflicting Themes of Love in a Midsummer Night s Dream
In my opinion, William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a play full of conflicting themes of love. There are distinctly two themes of love that come into conflict with each other. The first theme is “mutual love.” By my own definition, “mutual love” consists of two people feeling equally affectionate towards each other. One person does not feel less about the other in this type of love, and each person is solely devoted to one another. The second theme is “unrequited love.” Again, by my own definition, “unrequited love” is love that is not returned by the beloved. For example, if peanut butter loves jelly, but jelly does not return the love felt by peanut butter; we have “unrequited love.” Now in the context of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” we see that there are two relationships for each form of love that I have previously described. The way these relationships take shape and all the confusion they create around them is essential in understanding something I call the “dreamers idea of harmonious love.” In the “dreamers idea of harmonious love” everything is ideal.