A Midsummer Night's Dream is a tale involving the manipulation of love and the way love works itself out between various sets of people. It tells the story of characters that encounter chaotic situations of real love and also love that was controlled for the benefit of others. The characters caught up in the "love scandal"� are Oberon, Titania, Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena. All these characters were involved in the different triangles of love presented in the story. The main theme in A Midsummer Nights Dream is the manipulation of love and how occasionally it takes time get the path of love on the right track.
The first set of characters impacted by the manipulation of love was Oberon and Titania. Throughout the story, their love was rocky. In the beginning of the play, the two were fighting heavily about a young boy in Titania's custody who Oberon apparently wanted for himself.
English: "Midsummer Nights Dream Act IV Scene I--A...
Washington Allston's 1818 painting Hermia and Hele...
Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. Fro...The two fight for a while and eventually part on bad terms. This leaves Oberon feeling unsettled so he calls for Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, to find an herb that holds the power of love. This is where the manipulation begins. Oberon gives Puck instructions to place drops of the herb in Titanias eyelids and then "the next thing then she waking looks upon, be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, on meddling monkey, or on busy ape, she shall pursue it with the soul of love."�(Shakespeare, 2.1.179). Oberon believes that when Titania is madly in love with whomever or whatever, she will be more willing to give up the boy that he wants so badly. Titania falls in love with another character in the play, Bottom. The story goes on and towards the end of the play, Titania is released from the spell of...