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In the mid-1500’s the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, written by William Shakespeare, there are many motifs. This essay will focus on the motif of contrasting settings in the city and the palace, compared to the forest. Two of the many central themes are love and obedience to law. In this play, a character’s actions were greatly affected by his/her current setting. With the characters being in the forest, compared to being in the city or palace, played a tremendous role dealing with a character’s actions. In terms of love, the setting plays a big role as well. For instance, in the city and palace, as well as in the forest, Hermia loved Lysander. Similarly, Helena loved Demetrius throughout the play, regardless of the setting. Lysander, on the other hand, loved Hermia in the city and palace, but loved Helena in the forest, as result to the love potion. Demetrius loved Hermia in the forest, but at the end of the play, as result of the love potion, he instantly fell in love with Helena in the palace. In conclusion, the women loved the same men throughout the play, regardless of being in the forest or city and palace, and the men loved different women, depending on their current setting.
Royalty had a big part to do with ones actions in a given setting as well. In the city and palace, Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena all had power over those below them because of their superior royalty. In the forest, their royal position did not matter. Everybody inside of the forest were instantly equal when the four characters stepped foot into it. With all four characters being born into royalty, items and necessities were given to them without problems or hesitation. In the forest, nobody was there to give them these things. The characters were completely independent in the forest, with nobody to hold their hand and guide them along granting every command. This had an important effect on the character’s patience and feelings.
In terms of...