True Love Isn’t So Dreamy

 In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love is an evident factor throughout the play. The play starts with Lysander’s forbidden love with Hermia, to Demetrius’s undesirable love for Helena, and ends with the tragic love between Pyramus and Thisby. Shakespeare uses these different love situations to show love is complicated.

            One of the hardest ordeals between lovers is being forbidden to be together. This is true for Hermia and Lysander. Hermia’s father does not approve of Lysander and forces Hermia to marry Demetrius or die. Lysander sums up the difficulty of love when he says, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Midsummer 1.1.134). At this point in the play Lysander is reassuring Hermia by telling her lovers face obstacles. They plan to escape the grim future of separation, but encounter more problems on the way when they get lost and put under the influence of a flower’s magical juice. Most lovers today face obstacles such as distance, financial problems, and death of a relative. Although trust seems a more likely obstacle in a relationship, Helena shows that no love in return is an obstacle in itself.

            The best way to describe Demetrius’s love for Helena is undesirable. No matter how hard Helena wants Demetrius to love her and show her attention he disregards her. Tricked by Demetrius’s once fondled love, Hermia cannot get over the fact he no longer loves her. Demetrius shows his feelings for Helena when he says, “Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, for I am sick, when I do look on you” (Midsummer 2.1.212). Despite the fact Demetrius treats Helena like a dog she considers herself worthy to be treated so. She even goes as far to say, “I am your spaniel: and Demetrius the more you beat me, I will fawn on you” (2.1.204). Hermia’s remark makes me think of those who are abused. Although they are abused they continue to stay because they are in love and would rather be treated like dirt than nothing at all. Hermia faces the hardship of loving Demetrius and tries her best to please him, but does not receive anything in return. Although all of the lovers face many obstacles, they are matched perfectly to the one they truly loved, but Shakespeare includes a comedy of Pyramus and Thisby to show not all true love ends happily ever after.

            In the play of Pyramus and Thisby we once again see a struggle between lovers. Like Hermia and Lysander these characters are separated by something that prevents them from being together and they face obstacles as they go to meet each other. Fooled by a bloody garment Pyramus kills himself and Thisby seeing her true love dead kills herself also. Death, a hindrance in their plan, drove the lovers to suicide. To me losing the one I love would be the most difficult obstacle to face. The fact they meet at a place called “Ninny’s tomb” (Midsummer 5.1.199) is symbolic of the foolish love that puts them both in the grave. Shakespeare may have included this short romantic play in the end to show: the greatest complication in love is death and not all love stories end happily.

            Unlike most fairy tales, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare shows the reality of true love. True love is not easy and many obstacles are faced along the way.

TMB: Too Much Blood

I am usually the type of girl who does not mind talking about gross things while I'm eating. I do not get grossed out when someone is bleeding a little or if I'm bleeding myself, but the dramatized bloody scene in Sweeney Todd was a little too much for me.
It is kind of hard to watch blood squirting out of someones neck with out closing my eyes or making a face. Sometimes it makes me feel as if I am feeling there pain watching them die such a gruesome death. I know the blood is fake, but it still has the same effect as if it was real.
In English last semester we talked about how the tune in the movie Jaws implemented fear in the viewer because it warned him/her the man-eating shark was coming. Now everytime I see Sweeney Todd's razor I am going to think of another blood squirting out-of-the-neck ordeal. The movie is still not over and I have been told there are numerous other victims.
The meat pies are a little creepy too. The idea of eating the flesh of a person has some influence on whether I will be happy to eat Grandma's chicken pot pie (And not because my grandma uses human flesh in her pies).
To wrap it up I just have to say slicing throats are a little much for me. Thankfully the glimpse of Sweeney's razor will warn me of the bloody scene that is coming ahead.

Wanting What We Can't Have

In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream love blooms in Athens. Lysander and Hermia are truly in love, but kept apart by Egeus, Hermia's father. She is told she has to marry Demetrius or die. Demetrius more than likely doesn't love Hermia like Lysander, but he wants her because she is Lysanders'. Demetrius is already loved by Helena, but treats her cruelly although she is almost as fair as Hermia. Why does Demetrius want Hermia when he already has a beautiful girl? It is common nature for any person to want what they can't have.
Many people can relate to coveting things they do not have. People always strive for better or unobtainable things such as cars or in this case women. For example, two children may receive happy meals with two different toys. One child is more than likely going to want the other child's toy. The child might even pretend to hate his toy although he truly knows he likes it anyways. This example may be simple even silly, but most of the time it's the small things we desire.
After waking from a crazy night, Helena and Demetrius are in love and marry. And the child in the example is more than likely going to forget the other toy and be satisfied with his own. In the end most people realize the thing they wanted the most was in front of them the whole time.