Dark Sides in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare
The play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare presents a dark side that exposes the negative aspects of society. The dark side outlines the nightmare that characters experience. Shakespeare uses different scenes and characters to demonstrate a nightmarish side of the play. The relationships in the scenes expose misogyny and reversed love, especially against women. The author outlines both comedy and dark-colored moments that happen in society. The dark side of the play is evident by the misogyny, infidelity, and chauvinism in how the characters’ treat each other.
Oberon acts jealous and means towards Titania after she reduces to give the little boy. “Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex,” is a stamen that expresses the impacts of chauvinism. The intentions of Oberon in requesting for the Indian boy are unclear. The audience suspects that the reasons are ill-intended to overwork the young boy. Titania refuses to hand over the child to Oberon despite his power to prevent harm (Shakespeare, 76). The arguments between Oberon and Titania over the little Indian boy presents a dark side of the play.
Oberon verbally humiliates Titania when he accuses her of infidelity. “‘The bouncing Amazon, Your buskin’d mistress and your warrior love.” Titania reacts to the humiliation by accusing Oberon back. Oberon argues that Titania engages in illegal acts with Theseus after the misogynistic reputation. Oberon sexually manipulates his wife using the drunks from the magician. The manipulation leads Titania to fall in love with the donkey-headed man. The marital issues between the couple present a dark side in the play that is evident in society. Oberon also accuses Titania of contributing to the rape issues in the community.
The father of Hermia is unpleased with Titania due to her gender despite his position. “Hermia’s current plight as a human victim of patriarchal law is apparent from the play’s opening.” Elizabeth society discriminates against women and considers them inferior to men. Titania suffers psychological and physical abuse from all-powerful positions. The father to Hermia makes decisions that affect all family members, and women have zero charges to air their opinions (Shakespeare, 72). Women fall victim to the patriarchal laws which expose the negative side of the play.
The jealousy demonstrated by Oberon and humiliation shows the inability to control his emotions in the play. The magical act demeans Titania as a woman, although she does not engage sexually with Bottom.” Titania doesn’t benefit from the relative benevolence with which the same potion is ultimately used on the human lovers”. The quote shows the dark effects caused by infidelity and chauvinism demonstrated by Oberon (Shakespeare, 70). The patriarchal laws introduced by Hermia in the society humiliate and darken the life of women.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, W. (1996). A midsummer night’s dream. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1-120