A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Is this a classic?
Yes.
Does it deserve to be?
Yes.
I will be the first to admit that I didn't get around to actually reading this thing until taking my upper div class: Early Shakespeare plays. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good! On the contrary, if I didn't have to move on to Hamlet in the next week (and more plays after that), I'd want to read through it again because it sure holds a lot of delicious monologues and startling questions for me to ponder.
Having read this with approximately 80 fellow students in the English department, I'd say the biggest turn-off of this book is the plot.
...Not to say the plot is bad. Only that it comes off as slightly confusing.
Ok, maybe a bit more than slight. That love rectangle between Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetre can send any Korean Drama junkie on a run for her money, just because it's so hard to keep track of! At least in Korean Dramas and soap operas, the protagonists love the same person the whole time (disclaimer: this generalization does not apply to certain dramas with indecisive love interests). Here, Lysander and Demetre switch back and forth between the two women more than once. It does not help at all that Hermia and Helena have extremely similar names!
But drawing out multiple relationship charts for yourself will solve this problem. Do not let the confusion of hearing two men spout two different sets of romantic confessions turn you away, because this play really can get you thinking about the fundamental nature of love.
As most are aware, in this story the love potion of the little love flower plays a vital role. In a word, it creates a love disaster. Ironically enough, the mischievous fairy Puck uses this same flower to resolve the problems in initially caused, ultimately rounding out the play with a happy ending. It may be easy to move on at this point, nodding amicably at the nice resolution with 4 happy couples celebrating their love in the last scene. Yet the question of the love potion still remains - especially because Demetre remains under the spell at the end of the story. "What, so he's cursed to be in love with Helena forever, under a magical love potion?" some may ask.
I myself expressed doubts at the prospect of marrying someone he may not even love, but I realized that the question runs even deeper than this. What if Demetre's love for Helena isn't a lie? Sure, he's under a love potion spell, but he thinks he really loves Helena. He himself (and everyone else, especially Helena) is happy with their marriage. Then who are we, as outsiders, to question their feelings for each other.
Besides, his initial love for Hermia wasn't very convincingly justified either. Why in the world did Demetre love Hermia? The play never tells us. He never tells us. He simply feels himself in love, and acts upon it. Then how is that any different from the love induced by an outside source?
Following this train of thought brings the readers into a messy territory, where love remains undefined and the nature of the relationship between man and woman is challenged. The fact that the play never even attempts to answer this question amuses and inspires me all the more. If people wonder how scholars find so much to write about in a Shakespeare play (volumes upon volumes of literary criticism!), here's a tiny little sliver of an answer to that question.
The question of love definitely remains ongoing and unsolvable, but trying out brains at it through fictional romantic comedies like Midsummer Night's Dream always proves a worthwhile challenge.
