Introduction
When it comes to love, many challenges purpose to make the relationship difficult. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare proves this point when he illustrates the love relationship between Lysander and Hermia, a relationship that Egeus, Hermia’s father, forbid. Egeus decides that Hermia will marry Demetrius, but she is in love with Lysander. The condition for the marriage, as set by Egeus, is that if Hermia refuses the arrangement made, she will face the law of Athens (Ellinas et al., 2021). Therefore, Hermia’s refusal to marry Demetrius becomes either a death sentence or a consignment to a nunnery. With an understanding of the outcome of her refusal, Lysander comforts Hermia with the words, “the course of true love never did run smooth” (Shakespeare, 2016: 137). After observing Hermia’s challenges, Lysander intends to show her that every relationship has its ups and downs, and the two run after each other.
The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth
No relationship is perfect, none has ever been, and in the course of its lifetime, every relationship must encounter setbacks that intend to make the lovers heartbroken and out of love. In the case of Hermia and Lysander, their relationship faces many challenges. The main opposition to the association is Egeus, who proposes that Hermia must marry Demetrius instead of Lysander. In the play, Egeus says the following “Stand forth Demetrius my noble lord. This man hath my consent to marry her” (Shakespeare, 2016: 24). In the complaint Egeus raises to Theseus, the duke of Athens, the father wants Hermia’s relationship with Lysander to be terminated and demands she marries Demetrius. Theseus says, “Take time to pause and by the next new moon, the sealing day, betwixt my love and me. For the everlasting bond of fellowship, upon that day either prepare to die, for disobedience to your father’s will or else to wed Demetrius as he would” (Shakespeare, 2016: 87). From Theseus’s words, the request given is for Hermia accepts to marry Demetrius, or she becomes a nun, or she dies.
True love must be given priority and must be worked on to survive the challenges that come with it. However, in the instance where the only options for love are death or a consignment to a nunnery, then substituting true love with an imposter relationship becomes the way to say life (Adam, 2017). Every young couple must understand that forces exist to make true love hard to achieve. Among the troops are the restrictions set by parents, as seen in Hermia’s case.
Conclusion
The other couple faced with love challenges is Helena and Demetrius. While Helena loves and stays true to Demetrius, he finds it hard to return his love to her (Adam, 2017). However, the issue can be traced back to the beginning of the play. Until Oberon orders puck to put a magical love juice on the men, none noticed Helena’s presence, and she would have been lonely forever. Once the men fell in love with Hermia, the love juice erased her from their world and the men thoroughly enchanted Helena. In Demetrius’s duel with Lysander, Helena thinks the two are mocking her since none had loved her before (Ellinas et al., 2021). The understanding established about the encounters at the beginning contributes to the quote since, as Hermia wanted to be in a genuine relationship, Oberon’s interference made it difficult.
References
Adam, M. (2017). A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Adam Matthew Digital.
Ellinas, G., Ray, J., Shakespeare, W., Candlewick Press., & Shakespeare Globe Trust. (2021). A midsummer night’s dream. Library Ideas.
Shakespeare, W. (2016). A midsummer night’s dream: A comedie: the course of true love never did run smooth. Place of publication not identified: Scribe Publishing.