Veronica Sifuentes

Period 6
Literary Analysis
Love Was Never Meant to be Easy
Love was never meant to be easy. Heartbreaks, tears, and tough love have all
shown us that love isnt always easy. In A Midsummer Nights Dream by William
Shakespeare we can learn that love was nothing easy and things have remained
unchanged since the 1600s. In A Midsummer Nights Dream, William Shakespeare
included a total of four lovers who for many reasons experienced love in the hard
way. Hermia one of the main lovers wants to marry Lysander but her father didnt
admit of the relationship.When Egeus found out about Hermia and Lysander he
threatens Hermia to death if she doesnt marry Demetrius. However, Demetrius is a
character who is loved by Helena where both had been in love. Having all of these
characters being in love but not having the opportunity to be together can show us
that true love isnt something easy. In other words we can conclude that Lysanders
quote had many reasons to be proven true.
Lysanders Opinion
For Lysander all that mattered was Hermia. They experienced true love but the
Athenian law and Hermias father didnt approve of this love. They tried to preserve
this love but there were many bumps in the way. Lysander once states, The course
of true love never did run smooth. With this quote we can agree with him because
in many ways he is correct. There were many in the scenes in this book where we
can see that Lysanders opinion can be proven to be correct. William Shakespeare
indeed proved that love isnt easy. Among these scene would be how
1. Hermias father doesnt approve of this relationship between his
daughter and Lysander.
2. Another scene would where Hermia is threaten to death if she doesnt
marry Demetrius.
3. Demetrius hurts Helena with his words and his actions yet they both
feel something for each other.
4. The other scene in this story that shows that love isnt easy would be
where Puck (Robin Goodfellow) places a love spell on all lovers which causes
arguments, and fights.
All of these reasons that were included in the story truly show that Lysanders
opinion can be valid due to all the conflicts in this story because they all happen
due to love. From the beginning it was shown that A Midsummer Nights Dream
would support this quote as the conflicts for love begin in the first scene.

The Reasons

In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Mr. Shakespeare showed us in many scenes how

love isnt something easy to handle. In fact he showed us how love is difficult even
if its meant to be. For Lysander and Hermia everything was difficult. As they were
wanting to be together to her father disapproving and choosing Demetrius as her
husband. Evidence that shows this would be found in Act I,Sc I, lines 24-26 where
Egeus states, Against my child, my daughter Hermia-Stand forth, Demetrius,- My
noble lord,This man hath my consent to marry her. Egeus also states in Act I, Sc.I,
Lines 97 to 100 Scornful Lysander,true, he hath my love:And what is mine my love
shall render him.And she is mine, and all my right of her I do estate unto
Demetrius. This shows that one of the reasons Lysander thought love wasnt easy
would be because Hermias father didnt approve of him and all he wanted was to
be with Hermia with the consent of everyone. The fact that Egeus didnt approve
and instead choose someone else for Hermia really questions if true love can resist
everything. For Lysander and Hermia it was difficult since the beginning. For William
Shakespeare it didn't take five chapters to show us that love is a course that takes
many turns including its ups and downs. In fact in scene one we concluded that
Lysander and Hermia being together was going to be complicated in many ways.
When Egeus states, Demetrius,- My noble lord,This man hath my consent to marry
her. One can agree and connect with Lysander because from books, and movies
including plays from the 1600s it comes to a conclusion that shows that love was
meant to be difficult and it's something that doesnt run smooth. However, it takes
true love to manage and define all pebbles in the stone. Even if there are bumps in
the road Lysander mentioned love didnt run smooth but he never mentioned that
his love with Hermia wasnt true and for this reason they tried even harder to be
together.

Being in love with someone has always been described as always wanting to be
together and never getting separated from one another. However, for Hermia it was
a different case. Even though she wanted to be with Lysander she couldnt as the
Athenian Law prohibited this due to her father's orders. The fact that she was
threaten to death made it even harder for both Lysander and Hermia to be together
making love a hard path. In this play in Act.I, Sc.I, lines 42-46 Egeus and the
Athenian Law both state, I beg the ancient privilege of Athens;As she is mine, I
may dispose of her which shall be either to this gentlemen or to her death,
according to our law Immediately provided in that case. One can think these rough
times were included to show the audience that love is meant to be with a person
you love even if it is hard. In this case, Hermia is threaten to death if she doesn't
marry Demetrius but it was proven that she didnt care what happened to her as
long as she was with Lysander. It can be understood that this is really important
from Lysanders point of view because Lysander stated what he said because of past
experiences, due to the drama of being taken away the person he truly loves. Over
the course of this book one can tell that love isnt easy. Not only did things get
complicated for Lysander and Hermia things also got complicated for Helena and

Demetrius. Even though Helena would die for Demetrius he didnt even have the
time or day to say hi or even look her way. Though Helena was truly in love him, it
wasnt easy for her either. Watching the love of her life, love someone else was
something many dont want to see. Though after time passed he realized that they
were meant to be together.
Many have seen that love hasnt been easy for anyone, including for Helena and
Demetrius. Helena was a character who didnt care what she did,she would show
her affection for the person she loved. Being put down made no difference for her,
she continued to follow and show her love. Though Demetrius was rude and hard.
Their path to love was not smooth.Evidence that shows they had a hard path would
be found in Act.1, sc.1 Line 204 where Helena states, The more I love, the more he
hateth me. Another fact that can be used as evidence would be found in Act. Sc.I
Line 559 where Demetrius states, I love thee not; therefore pursue me not. This
can be seen as like this love was never meant to be. Helena begged to him like a
servant rather notice who she was.The fact that Demetrius was in love with
Hermia made it more difficult for Helena. This evidence represents something
different. From the beginning William Shakespeare introduced the fact that women
didnt have a voice. Not even to choose who they would marry. However, Helena
didnt care what respect she lost. To her all that mattered was being able to be with
the love of her life again.Even if it meant betraying her best friend. For this reason
being in love is something hard. Helena did in fact betray Hemia just to earn a small
affection from Demetrius. Helena betrays Hermia when she told Demetrius that
Hermia and Lysander would be in the woods to early escape this outrages marriages
of choice. Many can agree with what Lysander said. Love is course that has so many
bumps in the way but in ones opinion love is not easy. All of these bumps in the
way are nothing if a person truly knows how to act according to the situation and
how they manage to strengthen their affection for one another.

Love has been known to make you do things to be with the person one love. For
Hermia and Lysander it was going into the woods to escape Athens and marry one
another. However, having faires and a friend you betrays you doesnt help. Once
these two get in the woods they are followed by Demetrius, Helena , and Puck and
mischievous assistant fairy. There Puck does what he is best known to do. Cause
more trouble. In those woods Puck puts a love drops on Lysander and Demetrius to
fall in love with Helena. Which then causes arguments and fights. Evidence that
supports this would be found in Act.ll. Sc.ii Lines, 72-75, where it states, Through
the forest have I gone,but Athenian found I none,one whose eyes I might approve.
The flowers force in stirring love. According to the play A Midsummer Nights
Dream this was a scene where Puck puts a love drops on Lysander thinking it is
Demetrius where he then falls in love with Helena. In Act. Sc. Lines 110-111 it
states, When thou wakst, if she be by, Beg of her for remedy. This is a scene

where Oberon (the king of fairies) puts the love drops on Demetrius so he can fall in
love with Helena.This is one of the most important scenes that shows that love isnt
something easy. From one love spell to another many can see that one thing or
another can make things hard. Being in love with someone he or she doesnt love
due to a love spell only makes matters worse. For Hermia was even worse as she
had to see how Lysander was in love with Helena. From love potions, to laws, to
death we can truly see where Lysander is coming from. All he wanted was to marry
the women he loved but there were so many things in the way for this to happen.
When he states, The course of true love never did run smooth. It can be seen why
he did in fact state this. After being hurt along with Hermia it made him realize that
even though he was in love it is something that runs quite easy and many can
agree with Lysander. William Shakespeare made it clear that any little bump or rock
in the way can make things diffuclt buts how a handle this bump. Overall, we can
truly see that true love comes with a big package deal.
Opinion
One can think that love is something time handles. When reading A Midsummer
Nights Dream it took a while for one to understand the true meaning of
everything. For this reason agreeing with Lysander is understood because even if
it's true love people still need to work hard to make things work with one another.
Meaning that the path to a happily ever after doesnt come so easy. Having small
problems, or arguments is something that makes Lysanders quote true. As these
arguments mold the relationship a couple has.However, Lysander stands correct.The
course of true love doesnt run smooth because problems along the way are put
there to teach a couple and make them realize that all these problems are planted
in a relationship to teach and improve. In Veronicas opinion Lysander and Hermia
had many problems along the way but their love for one another didnt let that hurt
what they had. This play might not be realistic but William Shakespeare plotted all
of this to teach us something and many learned new things from this play. It isnt
about who a person is with or if your love is meant to be. At the end what matters is
how we handle hard situations. Overall, one can agree with Lysander not just by the
evidence found in this play but because things like this happen can happen all the
time.
Conclusion
From beginning to end we can see that William Shakespeare wrote this play for a
reason. It wasnt just so people would have a good time reading it. This play was
written to transmit a message. From a perspective one can think that he wrote this
play to show us that love is something hard but it isnt impossible. There were many
events where it clearly showed, the audience that true love exists and its how one
manages to handle the problems that makes love stronger. Since the beginning of
the play Lysander never gave up on the love he and Hermia contained. Even though
Demetrius and Helena also had hard times it was Helena who showed Demetrius
how love doesnt go away in just a day. Helena ended up saving the love both of

them had for one another and Lysander helped preserve the love he and Hermia
had fearless of the consequences. At the end one can see what Lysander meant
with his quote. Even though the course of love is hard it can resist to anything if
there is true love between the two.

Works Cited
"Midsummer Night's Dream: Entire Play." Midsummer Night's Dream: Entire Play. Web. 26 Feb.
2016.