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Question
Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer because he understood human nature better than anyone else. Explain the statement in the context of the play.
Solution
Through the play, 'A Midsummer Night‘s Dream‘, William Shakespeare has depicted the various facets of human nature through the characters of the play. He has displayed how people can be silly in love and how easy it to confuse physical attraction with love. He even shows how jealousy can drive someone to do something ridiculous.
The character of Oberon is driven by jealousy and administers the love potion on Titania. Oberon chooses vengeance over love. The character of Hermia chooses to elope with Lysander, her true love, instead of following the Athenian law of marrying Demetrius, the man her father chose for her. She chooses love over following the Athenian law. The character of Helena betrays her friend, Hermia, by telling Demetrius about Hermia‘s plan of eloping with Lysander. She chooses love over a long-standing friendship. Even her choice of following Demetrius into the forest shows she let her feelings for Demetrius overpower her a better sense of judgment. The character of Demetrius, who was in love with Helena before, leaves her for Hermia. He chooses physical attraction over love. The character of Lysander, though under the influence of the love potion, pursues Helena and leaves his betrothed Hermia. Even the Queen of fairies, Titania, falls in love with Bottom, whose face had been turned to that of an ass.
The nature of all the characters in this play is driven by one dominant emotion. Shakespeare‘s keen observation of human psychology is evident through his characters. Whether it is the star-crossed lovers, the contrasting pair of the Fairy Queen and the ass, or the all-consuming jealousy of the fairy king, Shakespeare aptly demonstrates the feelings of two people who are attracted to each other. By giving the four lovers similar traits, he unifies them under the idea of blind love and thus brilliantly conveys the predictable nature of love. He even illustrates the powerful emotion of jealousy and, in a comic manner, its unfortunate consequences. His deep insight into these emotions, which might seem silly to someone who doesn‘t feel them, makes him the greatest writer who understood human nature better than anyone else.
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