Control In A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

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Pages: 4

In modern society it is easy for the average person to forget that multitudinous civilizations have risen and fallen over the course of history to bring us to the journey the world travels today. Most of those civilizations have at some point during their existence, if not entirely, oppressed their own citizens under the "authority" of government. Control is, by definition, the power to influence or direct someone’s behavior or the course of events. Some of the most well-known dictators, such as Adolf Hitler and Kim Jung Un, have been able to control millions of people effectively because they were (or still are in Kim Jung Un’s case) part of a national government. In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, a monarch— Theseus, has the power to control the citizens of Athens. This piece of literary work mainly focuses on 4 young lovers. However, their love is not that simple. Hermia, a young Athenian woman, and Lysander, a young Athenian man, are in love, but Egeus …show more content…
The most compelling evidence to support this claim, is that Oberon had the power to compel humans. You might be thinking “but can’t all fairies do that?”. The answer to this question is no, they cannot. The only fairies with the ability to compel were King Oberon and Queen Titania as a result of them being fairy royalty. In one scene Titania pronounces “Out of this wood do not desire to go; Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no. I am a spirit of no common rate; The summer still doth tend upon my state, and i do love thee; therefore, go with me.” (pg. 88). This line she recited forced another character to abide by what she told him. By the same token, Oberon used a magical potion to sway the lovers’ feelings for one another. With this potion, the fairy king caused Lysander to love Helena. If he had not gone back to fix what he had done, Hermia and Lysander wouldn't have