Amanda Couture English 2100 Ms.

Camargo 04/24/2013 Exploring the Green World in A Midsummer Nights Dream The Green World describes the changes a hero goes through to overcome a particular challenge typically within a forest. Star-crossed lovers Hermia and Lysander enter the forest to escape Athenian rule and in hot pursuit of the couple are Demetrius and Helena, which could only lead to a disastrous outcome. The lovers believe the woods is a safe haven and rest for the night waiting till daylight to finish their journey however, there are fairies hidden within the forest who turn their night to chaos until they find their true love. At the beginning of the play, Hermia and Lysander are just young and infatuated adults who do not know the meaning of true love. Demetrius, who loves and wants to marry Hermia, but is unfortunately being pursued by his one night stand Helena. As Hermia and Lysander enter the forest, they do not know they are being watched by fairies that will experiment with the couples to test their love for each other with a flower. Puck, who is ordered by the fairy king to use a flower that would make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. Unfortunately, he puts it on Lysanders eyes and he awakes to Helena and falls in love with her. To Hermias horror, the man she thought loved now loves another woman. In order to correct his mistake, Puck then blots Demetrius eyes and he too falls in love with Hermia. Now everything has gone to complete and utter chaos within the Green World. Now deep within the forest, Hermia has to deal with the fact that the man she loved no longer loves her with no explanation. Lysander and Demetrius are now head over heels in love

with Helena. The watching fairies continue to oversee the fighting couples to test their true dedication to each other. Even though Lysander told Hermia his loved belonged to Helena, Hermia continued to fight for him. This changed their relationship for the better. If Hermia and Lysander had not entered the forest to run away from their problems, they never would have faced an even greater one, the misunderstanding of true love. Many young lovers can promise their love to each other, however, until they can face true issues, they cannot grow from infatuation to true love. The forest provides the perfect outlet for Hermia and Lysander to face their deepest fear of losing one another. After Puck finds the antidote; he gives this to Lysander so he can return to his true love, Hermia. All the couples then awake in front of Theseus and Hippolyta who give their consent for the couples to marry who they please. Even though Theseus and Hippolyta did not enter the forest, the Green World had an effect on their relationship as well. Since the couples ran away into the forest, this gave time for Theseus to change his original order for Hermia to marry Demetrius and her punishment if she didnt. After the couples appeared from the forest, he gave them mercy because he saw the couples knew what true love meant. After this new decision, Hippolyta began to see Theseus in a new light, someone she could definitely spend the rest of her life with. If the young couples had not entered the forest, they would not have been able to flourish into adults ready for the commitment of marriage. Had Hermia and Lysander escaped, they would never have been able to face their true problems and overcome them. Even though not all the characters experienced the Green World, they were all effected by the change that came after the couples returned. The Green World becomes a place of growth and prosperity for the heroes in many of Shakespeares plays.