— From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 185)

-MM

–From A Midsummer Night’s Dream (I, i, 134)

[Jump to the quote in the text of the play]

Lysander and Hermia are in love in this whimsical tale of love and magic in the woods outside Athens. Hermia’s father, however, insists that Hermia marry Demetrius, and goes to the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to complain that his daughter is disobedient, and to demand that Theseus invoke the law requiring a daughter to obey her father or else die, or enter a nunnery. Theseus tells Hermia that her father’s authority over her is complete and absolute, and she must obey him in this regard. Once left alone, Lysander and Hermia ponder their situation, at which point Lysander reminds his beloved that true love is always beset with obstacles. He suggests that they elope the next night. The theme of true love not running smoothly (and the problems this brings) repeats again and again in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Themes/keywords: love, marriage, obedience