Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream: A Valuation of the Irrational
Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" gives him the opportunity to consider how love can be irrational and the product of tension. Irrationality is behavior that lacks self-control. (Mele and Rawlings 9). He illustrates the conundrum four lovers are facing with wit and fun. Quickly and carelessly falling in and out of love are Demetrius and Helena, Titania and Bottom, Lysander and Helena, and Lysander and Hermia. This can happen occasionally as a consequence of love potions and occasionally it doesn't. Until everything is put right, just as it was made wrong by supernatural intervention, there are tears and fights. The tension between reason and irrationality in love is seen as a rivalry between Athens ruled by Theseus who advocates for ‘cool reason’ (5.1.6) and Hippolyta to whom logic is a valid argument in that the irrational ‘grows to something of great constancy,’(5.1.26) the dreamy world of the woods. In this paper, relationships and the power of imagination will be discussed in an attempt to explain the irrational motives of natural forces such as love. Shakespeare demonstrates that imagination can be the only explanation to irrationality. In fact, the marriage at the end serves to bring love and order and arbitrates reason or lack of it.
Helena and Demetrius show irrationality. When she describes her feelings towards Demetrius, she uses a soliloquy: ‘I am your spaniel; and Demetrius … Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me strike me, (2.1.203-10).’ Such a confession appears more of the pleading of a domestic abuse victim rather than genuine love. To lower oneself to the level of a dog, and to welcome and enjoy mistreatment is definitely not true love as supposed to be.
The irrational love appeared between Titania the Fairy Queen and Nick Bottom, a commoner, who is equally odd. She abandons her esteemed social status, standing, and vanity for Bottom. As a result, she orders her servants to sufficiently attend to Bottom. Despite enjoying all these, Bottom has no say in the way the relationship transpires. On their first meeting, Titania tells him, not to desire to leave because it would remain so whether he liked or not, (3.1.152-53). Normally, it would be out of order to intimidate a potential lover into a relationship yet this is exactly what Titania does. She ignores common sense and her partner’s opinion all which makes her love irrational.
Lysander and Hermia’s love is irrational although they appear physically devoted. Hermia is commanded by her father to marry Demetrius or face death but she disagrees. Instead, she elopes with Lysander and they plan to cross the woods to Lysander’s aunt’s house where they can escape ‘sharp Athenian law’ that threatens Hermia’s life (1.1.164). In the woods, Lysander tries to sleep with Hermia despite her objection. He uses seductive words to try and convince her, "One turf shall serve as pillow for us both; / One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth," (2.2.42-43). He demonstrates that their relationship is based on physical attraction and not genuine love.
It is difficult to distinguish between Lysander and Demetrius. Shakespeare tells us that Lysander is ‘as well derived as Demetrius and his fortunes are every way fairly ranked’ (1.1.99-101). The fact that both are fairly ranked makes it absurd for Helena and Hermia to pick one over the other yet this is exactly what happens. It can be argued that instinct and not reason is the guiding factor. When it comes to Helena and Hermia, it is possible to distinguish between them. Helena stands out as fair and tall and, therefore, a more appealing option yet the two men seek Hermia’s affection. Lysander argues ‘Who wouldn’t love a dove more than a crow?’ (2.2.120). He later says that his love for Helena is ‘by his reason swayed’. A clear observation of the turn of events indicates an illogical decision resulting from the fairies rather powerful juice. Such conduct is indicative of imagination rather than reason as an influence.
The irrationality of love makes it a catalyst of disorder and a fanciful misapprehension worsened by the fairies. Initially, Helena is rejected as both Demetrius and Lysander love Hernia. Once the fairies get involved, everything changes and the gentlemen now want Helena. Helena is deeply offended by Lysander’s rejection of her and the same applies to Hermia. Helena believes the two ‘all are bent/To set against for merriment.’ (3.2.145-146). The irrationality of lovers as discussed above eventually goes the rational way of Hippolyta towards the end of the play. As a result, imagination yet again comes out as an irrational stimulus that needs to be expunged.
Irrationality as it is finds no favor with both Theseus and Bottom. The claim by Bottom that ‘reason and love keep little company together,’ (3.1.36-137) confirms this view. It is surprising when Theseus, a mythical figure states that ‘never may believe/these antique fables, nor these fairy toys,’ (5.1.3). He says this after hearing the lovers’ conversation in the woods. The diction used by Shakespeare in expressing the irrationality of Theseus thoughts is ironical and intended to undermine the mythical nature the latter. Theseus goes on to distinguish between ‘the lunatic, the lover and the poet,’ as those who ‘are of imagination all compact,’ (5.1.7) and ‘cool reason,’ (5.1.6) alternately. To him, ‘lovers and madmen have seething brains,’ (5.1.4). The contrast between heat and cool reason is clear. The description of a lover’s brain as ‘boiling’ suggests too much fanciness that interferes with logical thinking by clouding realism. In a sense, Helena’s claim that ‘Love looks not with eyes but with the mind,’ (1.1.234-235) finds favor in Theseus. Through him, Shakespeare creates a distance between imagination and veracity, that those without too much imagination are closer to reality.
To understand reality, the author does not wholly demand from us that we adopt the view of Theseus. Instead, the position is for us to utilize imagination to help us appreciate natural irrational feelings such as love. The play within a play by Bottom offers a substitute end to those whose love story misses imagination. The tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe mirrors the untenable relationship between Lysander and Hermia. This serves to remind the readers that were it not for fairies, death would have been the ultimate outcome if the law was to be followed. Although it would be easier if Theseus chose this method and have everyone toe the line, he cannot since pursuing law demands reason which is not applicable to a situation like that of Hermia's love for Lysander which is irrational. To have to kill her for something beyond her control would be defeatist. As Theseus suggests, differentiating ‘lovers and madmen’ (5.1.4) is challenging even for reason since there exists a variation in terms of intention. Imagination then comes in to help in appreciation of irrationality and hence distinguishing the cause for people behaving the way they do. The truth is that Hermia is in love, and not crazy or unkind. Ultimately, the play's suggestion is that the natural world goes beyond reason but is still within the law. As such, the yardstick of integrity cannot always be reason, imagination is critical in understanding the intent of individuals when they behave senselessly and then let the law pick up from that particular point.
Art requires imagination. In the play within a play, Bottom is straightforward throughout. He argues points based on specifics and lucidity yet the irrationality in it all is that he cannot appreciate reality. As a consequence his life is a spectacle; made up of strange decisions that incite speculation (Sager). He is thus unable to know what spectators expect from him. He instructs the audience on the representation of the lion and the wall, ‘you must name his name, and half his face must be seen through the lion's neck: and he himself must speak through, saying thus,' (3.1.33-42). His talk irrational in the sense that reason which is not grounded with imagination may lead to art that is more dramatic than realistic.
Irrationality and imagination also find expression through language as an art form. Certain characters are used to demonstrate this. In the play, Bottom and the Mechanicals communicate in prose while the lovers' words of desire are in rhymed verse. The use of prose is seen as an expression of reason. As a result, it is unable to completely bring out the real emotions in the lovers. When Helena describes the nature of love, she says,
‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
‘And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted bling :’( 1.1.234-237).
The two lines suggest the idea that love is absurd yet an overwhelming feeling that cannot be expressed in a manner as simple as this. Prose, as illustrated in this example, is a rational manner used in poetry and one to which a simple AABB rhyme scheme can be attached to. Nonetheless, it lacks the propulsion to forcefully convey love as an irrational feeling.
Fairies that use trochaic pentameter set their verse far apart from the lovers. Their magic and fantasy finds full expression in the playful and airy trochaic verse. The difference between lovers and fairies is clear based on their dissimilar features. The fairies remain fantastical while the lovers utilize both their reason and irrationality thus their variation in use of prose and rhymed verse in their love discourses. It is Theseus and Hippolyta, however, who demonstrate advanced art and imagination. Their use of blank verse not only reflects their noble nature but also their artfulness in allowing imagination into their reasoning. Shakespeare wants us to recognize the value of art in replacing logic in order to fully convey implication of words and the mind behind truth.
The Bottom’s play within a play lacks sufficient expression for the natural and that which cannot be delimited by societal laws. As a result, everything that occurs requires reasonable clarifications and this exposes the play as out of touch with reality. Snout, in his role as a wall, explains himself, ‘This have I, Wall, my part discharged; And being done, thus Wall away doth go' (5.1.203-204). The response by Hippolyta to the wall is hilarious, ‘This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.’ (5.1.210-211). Theseus there and then recognizes the value in imagining in order to appreciate art, ‘The best of this kind are but shadows and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them.' Hippolyta points out the value in appreciating the audience and not the producers of artworks (5.1.212-213). To put on a show that would successfully achieve its objective, Shakespeare recommends imagination. As such, a play would easily be relatable and realistic and therefore meaningful.
The final act occurs when couples irrationally come together to celebrate their unbound love within the confines of the laws in Athenia. The fact that they choose themselves leaving everyone else offers an opportunity for law and reason to find common ground. Lysander’s state of mind is described as being ‘half sleep, half waking’ (4.1.146) as he wakes up from the love portion. He reminds us that it was the fairies who helped him marry love and reason. When Demetrius wakes from a dream and says that ‘things seem small and undistinguishable, like far-off mountains turned into clouds,' (4.1.186-187) the association between a dream, fairies, and the woods can easily be conceived. Nonetheless, to dismiss such a dream would ultimately achieve little since the results of doing so cannot easily be seen. To choose to believe in fairies and love portions is neither compulsory nor necessary but a key factor is that one should acknowledge that imagination has an influence on how we perceive reality. The placing of the love potion on the lover's eyes signifies the importance of the eye in the process of achieving both reason and imagination. At the end of the play, even Theseus in his own way as he ‘overbears Egeus' will and undertakes to ensure that ‘These couples shall eternally be knit,’ (4.1.179-180)
In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream demonstrates the irrationality of love and the dependability of imagination and reason in expressing reality. Shakespeare wants us not to ignore the irrational which is untamable as it answers to forces beyond human control. As such, it is better to let imagination and reasoning supplement appreciation of love and the irrational.
Works Cited
Mele, Alfred R. & Piers Rawlings. The Oxford Handbook Of Rationality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Sager, Jenny. The Aesthetics Of Spectacle In Early Modern Drama And Modern Cinema: Robert Greene's Theatre Of Attractions. New York: Springer, 2013.
Shakespeare, William & Peter Holland. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
