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How Does Shakespeare Use The Magic Flower In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Anyone in love knows that it can strike at any moment. Love can tangle around hearts and cause people to do unimaginable things. For instance, marry one another on a whim, continue to stay in an abusive relationship, or in extreme cases commit suicide. People do not choose to fall in love; it can affect anyone at any time. In a moment someone may realize they love a boss, a former lover, or even someone who only suddenly appears attractive. William Shakespeare, in his Elizabethan era romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, uses the motif of the magic flower to reveal how love can hit suddenly and consume everything.
People can easily fall in love. Shakespeare uses the motif of the magic flower to show how even Titania, queen of the fairies, can fall in love with an ass in an instant. “What angel wakes me from my flow’ry bed?” (Shakespeare III.i.131) She does not choose to fall in love with Bottom; love chooses her. Shakespeare shows how people cannot control their love. People simply become immersed in their love and begin to forget everything else. Even Helena wonders at how Demetrius falls in love with Hermia. “O, teach me how you look and with what art // You sway the motion of Demetrius’s heart” (I.i.196-197). She loves Demetrius so much, but he does not love her. Shakespeare shows that if Demetrius could choose who to love, …show more content…
Helena lets her love towards Demetrius consume her to the point where she will do anything to keep close to him. “I am your spaniel and, Demetrius // The more you beat me I will fawn on you” (II.i.210-211). Shakespeare uses the dynamic of the dog and the owner to show how Helena allows her love to consume her. “(But by some power it is) my love to Hermia // Melted as the snow, seems to me now” (IV.i.172-173). Shakespeare reveals how love can fade away when a new person comes around. Even Demetrius says that even his true love for Hermia, which he used to feel so strongly, seems faded and distant to him

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