3 Major Themes in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare heavily uses contrasting to tell this story, by using 3 groups of extremely different characters. The first is a group of Athenian nobles in which the backdrop of the story is set against ancient Rome, more specifically in the city of Athens. The duke of Athens Theseus, is anticipating his wedding to Hippolyta, queen of the amazons. To pass the time, he sends his master of revels to find some entertainment. Not much later Egeus, an athenian nobleman enters the court with a complaint. He wants his daughter Hermia to be wed to a young man named Demetrius, who infact does love Hermia, but she is in love with another man named Lysander. Egeus wants the full penalty of the law enforced on his daughter if she doesnt comply with his demands. Theseus rules on the matter by giving Hermia until his wedding to decide what it is she wants to do. Despite possible repricussions, Hermia and Lysander decide to escape Athens, therefore also leaving Athenian law behind, and be wed at Lysander's aunts house which is 7 leagues (or roughly 21 miles) from Athens. Lysander and Hermia make note of their plan to Helena a friend, who is also in love with Demetrius, although the feeling is not mutual. In an attempt to gain Demetrius's favor, Helena tells him of the elopement that the two have planned. At the given time, Demetrius goes into the woods after his love with Helena in tow.
In these woods, we meet our second and third groups of characters, the fairies and the commoners. Composing the fairies are Oberon the fairie king, and his queen Titania. Their story begins in the forest, with Oberon and Titania quarreling over the ownership of a young indian prince given to Titania by his mother. Oberon thinks he is extremely beautiful, and so, wants to knight him. Titania would rather have him as an attendant, so she refuses.
