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Midsummer Night's Dream: Puck's Actions and its Relation to the Overall Theme
“Love is not an equation, it is not
a contract, and it is not a happy ending. Love is the slate under the chalk,
the ground that buildings rise, and the oxygen in the air. It is the place you
come back to, no matter where your headed” - Jodi Picoult. Similarly, William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream tells a tale
of true love, depicting the course of true love. As the play's mischievous
prankster, Puck plays inevitably plays a trick on the four Athenians who possess
a interlacing web of affections towards one another, thus contributing to
overall theme that the course of true love never did run smooth.
The
play starts out with the controversial conflict addressing the issue of
Hermia's available choices. Either she marries Demetrius, faces the death
penalty, or becomes a nun for the rest of her life. Hermia refuses to accept
any of the three choices due to the fact she loves none other than Lysander.
Aside from the love triangle present here, Helena is an addition to it - she
loves Demetrius. The complicated love web is depicted early on in the play,
establishing the conflict of the overall plot.
As
stated in the overall theme itself, true love would not have been found without
the presence of a sophisticated, problematic journey. The king of faeries
Oberon notices the way the poor human Helena is treated by Demetrius, so he
sends his servant Puck to acquire a magical flower,
the juice of which can be spread over a sleeping person’s eyelids to make that
person fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. Mistakenly,
Puck induces Lysander with the love potion, tragically leading to him waking up
to Helena and abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses, Puck tries to correct
his mistake, but ends up having Demetrius fall in love with Helena as well. Consequentially,
the two Athenian men duel for the hand of the fair Helena. Hermia becomes
jealous and challenges Helena to a duel as well.
As complicated and awry events have unfolded, Puck finds
this hilarious. His actions clearly support the theme of the play by reflecting
the tragic turn of events, which eventually lead to a happy ending. Through the
actions of Puck, Shakespeare constitutes the complicated journey of true love.
In the end, true love finds its way and is rejoiced with the marriage of the
four Athenians to their respective lovers. Although Puck's actions cause utter
confusion and chaos, his actions ultimately unite the lovers with their true
loves, illuminating the overall theme of the play, "The course of true
love never did run smooth".
