Essay: Shakespeare's Interpretation of Love in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream



“Romeo and Juliet / A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s interpretation of love”;

William Shakespeare, is arguably the most influential writer in history. With his tremendous word play and thought process, William Shakespeare was able to bring many creative works to life. His thought process lives on through his works to this day featuring plays like Romeo and Juliet as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare was not only an influential writer in the world of poetry, he was also able to transfer his thinking process into the theatre world allowing him to further express his advancement in diction and convey his elite interpretation of literature. Although Shakespeare lived in the 17th century, his literature not only lives on, but it also applies today to modern day literature almost 400 years later. William Shakespeare's plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet are very different yet share many of the same elements and themes. In Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, there is a recurring theme of passion and craziness which both come together to create Shakespeare's interpretation of love. Shakespeare’s interpretation of love is that it is simply madness.  

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare is able to develop his interpretation of love through Romeo. In his tragic “love” story he portrays Romeo as madly “in love” with Juliet even though he’s only acknowledged her existence a couple hours prior to his love confession to her. On the contrary, the characters portray themselves to be careless and irresponsible. Shakespeare allows them to make dangerous and reckless decisions with little hesitation all for the the cause of “love”. This idea of love being madness is first shown in Act 1 in a conversation between Romeo and his cousin Benvolio:

Benvolio: What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?

Romeo: Not having that, which, having makes them short.

Benvolio: In love?

Romeo: Out-

Benvolio: Of love?

Romeo: Out of her favor, where I am in love. (RAJ. 1.1. 168-173)

In the above lines, Romeo is confessing to his cousin that he is indeed heartbroken because his “true love” interest Rosaline does not love him back. Even though Romeo seems devastated because of Rosaline, later in Act II we see Romeo’s love, attention, and interest turn to Juliet almost spontaneously after he sees her at a party. In Act II, Romeo goes to Juliet's balcony and speaks his “feelings” to her. He expresses his undying love to her in a monologue by saying:

  It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

   Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

   Who is already sick and pale with grief

   That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. . . .

   The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars

   As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven

   Would through the airy region stream so bright (RJ. 2.1.40–60).

Romeo’s monologue compares Juliet’s beauty to the sun and elaborates how the moon is "malicious" of her. This excerpt itself shows the madness and craziness in Romeo is for her since he only met Juliet a couple hours ago. This madness or “love” that he has for Juliet makes him compare her to the sun, arguably the most important thing in people's existence. This shows how love is portrayed to be madness because of the extreme and almost spontaneous shift from one person to the other since it is insane to feel this connected with someone very quickly.

This idea of love changing extreme and almost spontaneous shift allowing it being a kind of madness is also present in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this play, love is a potion and people under the potion fall in love with the first person they see. This creates the illusion of love when in fact it is the potion that makes the person feel this way supporting the fact that love in Shakespeare’s plays is just pure madness.  Lysander's love changes from Hermia to Helena once the potion is applied and he much like Romeo forgets his original "love" in favor of someone new who he only recently laid his eyes on. Lysander resembles Romeo when he first meets Juliet when he refers to Helena as "My love, my life my soul, fair Helena!" (MND. 3.2. 249) Lysander’s love and obsession switches from Hermia to Helena back to Hermia due to the use of the love potion. Hermia continues to love Lysander even when he proclaims to hate her and love her best friend, but she welcomes him back into her arms when the potion makes Lysander love her again, and none of these characters know that this potion exists so they are unable to attribute these changes in behaviors and affection to the potion. Hermia and Helena insult each other and almost fight while all of this is happening, and their friendship almost ends due to “love” driving them crazy and it lead them to make a rash decision without hesitation much like Romeo and Juliet.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theseus' speech states how love is insane and poetic all in one. This continues to carry the theme that love is madness. Theseus explains love in his speech:

   More strange than true. I never may believe

   These antique fables nor these fairy toys.

   Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

   Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

   More than cool reason ever comprehends.

   The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

   Are of imagination all compact.

   One sees more devils than vast hell can hold—

   That is the madman (MND. 5.1.7-10).

Theseus interpretation of love is evident that it represents madness. Considering this is a product of Shakespeare's work we are able to see the connection between his bodies of work as it relates to Shakespeare's method of addressing love in Romeo and Juliet. It is madness when Romeo was pleading for Juliet’s love outside of her balcony, just like the spontaneous shift of love between Lysander and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

To conclude, Shakespeare's bodies of work demonstrate two separate but similar themes that still travel from the 17th century to modern day literature. However they share many of the same structures, and themes. Despite each play contrasting in morals and climax, they each resemble many of the same ideas and foundation, which allows the readers to compare two of Shakespeare's bodies of work to understand broader concepts such as love and Shakespeare's insight and thoughts on such concepts.