Dreams Vs. Realities in a Mid-Summer Night’s Dream

Dreams vs. Realities in a Mid-Summer Night’s Dream

Magic has the power to make impossible things realistic. In literature, magic dreams and nights mares reality. A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream is a Shakespearian play in which a character named Oberon demonstrates how dreams can alter reality, his character is shown to be observant, obsessed, and vengeful.

To begin with, Shakespeare characterizes Oberon as an observant character; he connects him with the theme of dreams altering reality. Oberon is first shown as an observant character when he notices the love conflict between Helena, and Demetrius. Oberon tells Puck, “A sweet Athenian lady is in love /With a disdainful youth. Anoint his eyes, But do it when the next thing he espies /May be the lady” (2.1.265-268). Oberon’s observant nature emphasizes the main idea of this play, that dreams can alter reality. The use of the flower in the dream world(fairy world) later affects the relationship between Demetrius and Helena in reality. This connects to the main idea of dreams altering reality because it illustrates how the dream world affects reality. To add, Oberon also observes the mistake Puck made. Oberon says, “Thou hast mistaken quite, And laid the love-juice on some true love turned, and not a false turned true” (3.2.89-91). Oberon demonstrates the qualities of an observant character when saying this. This later leads to using magic to change the who each person loves. This connects to the theme of the play, because it shows how a character in the dream world affects the outcomes of couples in the real world. To recap, the observant nature of Oberon connects to the theme of dreams altering reality.

Furthermore, Oberon is also really obsessive. He will also do anything to get the little Indian boy. He consistently demanded his wife to surrender the little baby on numerous occasions. Oberon once remarked; “Do you amend it then. If it lies in your why should Titania cross her Oberon? I do but beg a little challenging boy, to be my henchman”? (2.1.120-124). After being rejected several times, Oberon decided to place Titania under a love potion for his selfish needs. Oberon once declared; “And now I have the boy, I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes”. (4.1.60-61). He was so obsessive and jealous that he put his own beloved wife under a potion and humiliated her to get his own way. Nevertheless, Oberon’s obsessive character played a critical role in this classic play.

Lastly, Oberon’s character is shown to be vengeful, throughout the play he