Shakespeare On
Love.
CLAIRE YOUNG
Similarities and
differences between the portrayal of love in Romeo and Juliet and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.
"Love is the most
beautiful of dreams and the worst of nightmares" (Hylton, J quoting Shakespeare,
2007). Love. A commonly analysed
topic in relation to Shakespeare, as it can be seen in many of his works. In the
1590´s Shakespeare wrote two plays which have many similarities, although
remaining very different works, Romeo and Juliet (R&J) and A Midsummer
Nights Dream (MSND). Scholors are unable to date which came first, but it is
known that they were written very close together, if not at the same time. The
two plays have some very similar elements such as parts of the story line and
the themes of love. This paper will be looking at the differences in the overall
presentation of love in these two works by Shakespeare. R&J has been called
the greatest and most consistently popular love story of all time (Wikipedia,
2007) a timeless story which has remained popular for over 400 years, the play
is a tragedy, therefore ending in heartache. In this play love is shown as a
deep and uncontrollable force, driving the characters to their behaviours as if
there were no other option. MSND is a comedy ending in three marriages, the
story line is funny, imaginative and mystical. In this play we see love as
something to be laughed at, love is madness, evidenced in desire which is easily
interchangable between people. There is an intrinsic link between the two plays
which can be seen in the play by Pyramus and Thisbe. This play mirrors in many
ways that of Romeo and Juliet, using a the same story line to cause different
reactions in people. It is interesting to compare these two plays written in the
same years, about love relationships as we can begin to understand the
differences between a comedy and a tragedy about love.
Tragedy and
comedy
Although love is the
central theme for both of the plays there is a great difference between the way
love is portrayed. One of the most obvious and influential differences between
the two plays is the style of play, one is a tragedy and one is a comedy. This
immediately tells us that each play is distinct in structure, theme and mood,
altering the way the emotion of love is relayed to us. A Comedy such as MSND, is
a play which lightens our spirits with a happy ending, the viewer knows that in
MSND order will be restored by the closure of the play and they will be left
feeling happy and positive (Halliday, 1964). However in a tragedy, such as
R&J the viewer is not sure how it will end, knowing only that the ending
will be tragic and the mood at the closure of the play will be dark and sombre
due to the outcome (Halliday, 1964). These predispositions automatically evoke a
different mood within each play and within the audience. Although the two plays
are both addressing the same emotion or theme, love, the mood surrounding love
will be different in each. In a comedy such as MSND the viewer will be left
laughing at the emotion, and the stupidity of our behaviours when we are under
the spell of this emotion. However the audience of a tragedy such as R&J
will see love handled in a completely distinct manner. They will feel the
intensity of this emotion through the prose, this will leave them feeling a
sense of despair for the emotion with a different, perhaps more critical, view
of the societal structure which surrounds them. R&J is more critical and thought
provoking, at the same time having a beautiful and emotional end, where as MSND
has a more light hearted comic mood leading to a very distinct treatment of the
emotion.
The
Plot
Greenblatt et al. have
discussed the link between the two plays R&J and MSND, saying “one of
Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies and one of his most beloved tragedies
appear to have been written at virtually the same time and out of some very
similar materials” (Greenblatt et al.) While both of the plays address the
emotion of love they have different stories. MSND is the story of four young
Athenian´s and their insestous adventures of love in a moonlit forest, meanwhile
there is also a second story line involving a group of 'rude mechanics' and
their performance of a tragedy about love. These two story lines are intertwined
with the presence of faires and magic in the wood. The fairies are a symbol of
eroticism and imagination. They have the power to change a persons passion from
one momment to another (McEvoy, 2000). Romeo and Juliet is the story of the love
between two young teenagers, from oposing social groups who go against the
opinion of society and their families to be together. Although the story lines
are different, we can see many similarities between the plots, they are similar
plots however in reverse to each other. In MSND the couples begin with societal
and paternal disaproval about their relationships and confusion between who
loves who. The dirrection of peoples attention although it changes several times
throughout the play, all the characters end up happily in love. Romeo and Juliet
begin happily in love and although this love remains strong throughout the play,
it ends in the dissolve of their love, through the death of the characters.
There is a strong link between the two plays which can be seen in the
entertainment performed for the newlyweds in MSND and the play R&J. The play
by Peter Quince is about two young lovers Pyramus and Thisbe who are separated
by a “vile wall” they attempt to elope together. This is similar to the
separation of Romeo and Juliet by bitter social rivalry between the Capulats and
the Montagues. In the conclusion of
the play, Pyramus believing Thisbe to be dead, takes his own life and Thisbe
when discovering Pyramus dead, stabs herself, as Juliet stabs herself in
R&J. The difference is in the presentation of the two plays. Whilst in Peter
Quinces play Shakespeare allows us to laugh at the situation, through its
presentation by the amateur actors who are always tripping over their words and
making mistakes (Halliday, 1964). However in Romeo and Juliet he does not shy
away from real deep emotion in the play. (Greenblatt et al.) This is an
interesting example of the same story line, used in two different ways, one
causing the audience distress and the other causing them to laugh.
Presentation of the
emotion; Love
In the words of
Lysander, ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’(Hylton, J quoting Shakespeare, 2007). This phrase can be seen as a good summary of
either the plot of MSND or R&J. Showing a similarity of ideas about love. We
can see a real difference between the presentation of the emotion of love
between the two plays. Whereas R&J show love to be intense and passionate,
instead of mocking the foolishness of love, such as MSND, it leaves us stirred
by this emotion serving to compel us toward passion and true love. In MSND
desires are irrational, intense and alarmingly interchangable between
characters. (Greenblatt et al, 1997) A good example of this interchangability is
when the Queen of the faires awakes to find herself in love with the most absurd
character, Bottom one of the most dense of the rude mechanics, who in this scene
has an ass for a head. This shows the emotion of love being quickly detached
from one person and directed toward another. The choice to change the direction
of affection, although there is reason does not hold any security between the
lovers, and there is always the likelihood of abandonment of these feelings for
another (McEvoy, 2000). In MSND love is a game, and the fairies add to
the playfulness by influencing the feelings of the lovers through magic. Love
and madmen are closely aligned in this play. Theseus states in Act V, Scene 1
that lovers, madmen and poets all possess ‘seething brains’ and that the
lunatic, the lover and the poet are of an imagination compact (Hylton, J quoting Shakespeare,
2007). In Romeo and Juliet love is presented in
an entirely different manner, the love between the couple the audience can feel
from the stage. It remains equally strong throughout the entire play, concluding
in both lovers deciding to take their lives as opposed to a life without the
other. This play is about true love, and presents the issue as serious and
although it is tragic that they take their lives it does not completly leave the
audience heartbroken, as it leaves them with hope as to the existence of true
love.
Protectors of
Love
In both MSND and
R&J there are characters assigned for the protection of love. This can be
evidenced in MSND by Puck and Oberon who watch over the young lovers to save
them from coming to any harm. These characters do so in a magical way, this
adding to the imaginative and mysticism of the play. In R&J the friar and
the Nurse are both supporters of the young lovers and they are trying to help
them realise their love, however they fail to be able to save them in the end.
This is the lead up to the tragic ending, the failure of the grand plan. Both
the Friar and Oberon use the aid of magical plants and potions in order to
intervene (Cupids flower and Dian´s bud). It is interesting to note that both of
these protectors use the aid of magic. McEvoy (2000) believes that in MSND the
fictional potion expresses the power of society to make people love in the
appropriate way. This is an interesting idea if we compare it to the use of the
potion in R&J, whereas it was meant to save the lovers and allow them to be
together, in the end society still won, the potion although it was not poisonous
caused the two lovers to die irrespective of its potancy. Through these two
plays we can see whereas the human helpers failed to succeed in stoping the
forces against true love, the fairies in the dream are successful. The fairies
are able to protect the lovers and deliver us to a happy ending. This can be
interpreted to say that only in a dream in a magical forest can love win over
society.
Setting of the
plays
In both plays the
setting is different hence making for a different outcome for the fate of love.
MSND the setting for a majority of the events is a magical forest, this is where
the four lovers undergo their transforming experiences to come out all happily
betrothed to the person they (now) desire. The setting of a magical wood within
the further setting of the presentation of the entire play as a dream, means
that anything can happen in the wood, and does. No matter how preposterous, a
woman can go against her fathers blessings. In the wood the lovers seem to think
that they can choose for themselves, free from state and patriarchal authority.
(McEvoy, 2000). The forest is a
place of freedom for the lovers and the fairies who live there, but it is just
an imaginary magical place which can be located only in a dream. The context of
Romeo and Juliet is that it is set in real life, in Verona. Therefore real
things must happen and the fate of love in the real world as shown by
Shakespeare is doomed.
Love and societial
opinion and expectation
This is a recurring
theme in both of the plays, this is not surprising as society had a big
influence on love in the times of Shakespeare. It is interesting to note that
speculation says Shakespeare himself was, like many in that time, driven by
society to do the right thing. At the age of 18 he was married to Anne Hathaway,
a woman 8 years his senior. This alone is enough to cause contrversy. It is also
said that the marriage was rushed through due to the fact that she was 3 months
pregnant at the time. There is also speculation of his love toward a married
women as addressed in 26 of his sonnets (Wikipedia, 2007). This shows that
Shakespeare was writing about things that were actually happening to him and
around him in society in relation to social control by the state and the church.
There is a similar plot line of forbidden love in both R&J and MSND, where a
secret love is outlawed by an outside force by society. In both plays we can see
heroines (Juliet and Hermia) who are subject to the authority of their fathers.
In R&J we can see a father who begins by giving his daughter a lot of
freedom but by the end removes it from her. In MSND we see Egeus, the father of
Hermia trying to control his daughter´s life for most of the play, but changes
and is reconciled to her by the end of the play. This similairty can also be seen in the
Pyramus and Thisbe play, where they as well supposedly have tyranical parents.
MSND follows the pattern of a comedy, which is a play acting toward marriage and
a happy ending, tracing the passage of young people out of their parents
control, usually ending in a marriage ( McEvoy, 2000).
This can be seen in
MSND with Hermia running away to the woods to be with Lysander, avoiding the
marriage to Demetrius that her father desires for her. The father of Hermia,
Egeus, in the beginning of the play asked Thesus to invoke old law and put
Hermia to death if she refused to marry the man he had selected. In MSND the rule of the father over the
daughter is enforced in a savage way, with Egeus insisting that Hermia marries
Demetrius (McEvoy, 2000). Family disapproval is also an obstacle faced by Romeo
and Juliet, however this simply worsens throughout the play and will not resolve
itself into a happy ending, as in MSND. These two young lovers are acting
against not only their family but against their entire social groups as well. A
social principle is shown by Friar Lawrence who embodies collective wisdom and
santiary of the community. He tries to help the young lovers as a symbol of
trying to repair the deep social divide in the society, however is unsuccessful
(Greenblatt et al. 1997)
Conclusion
The aim of the paper
was to look at the emotion love, and its presentation on a stage. The topic has
proved to be as difficult to write about on paper, as it is difficult to read on
paper. The presentation of the emotion is felt and seen on the stage, making its
representation in words difficult. The presentation of love in the two plays is
very different due to the fact that this was Shakespeares aim, to stir different
emotions in the audience of the comedy MSND, and the audience of the tragedy
R&J. He succeeded perfectly in both plays to give rise to their respective
emotions. The extent to which these two plays are intertwined is an interesting
subject, due to the fact that they were both produced within the same time
frame. It would be interesting to look at this subject through a wider lense,
not just focussing on the presentation of love. In conclusion even though there
has been much writing and specualtion about these plays in the years since they
were written, the fact remains, Shakespeare is not here to qualify any of it and
therefore this secures the fact we will never know anything for sure. This is
the mystery and magic of Shakespeare.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Greenblatt, S. Cohen,
W. Howard, J.E. & Eisaman, M. (1997) The Norton Shakespeare. Oxford
University Press
Hylton, J. The
compleate works of William Shakespeare. http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/
(acessed 02/01/07)
Halliday, F.E. (1964)
A Shakespeare Companion Penguin Books. Great Britain.
McEvoy, S. (2000)
Shakespeare, the basics Routledge. London.
Wikipedia,
Shakespeares Life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_life ( acessed
02/01/07)
Wikipedia, William
Shakespeare. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare (acessed
04/01/07)