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By NASEER AHMAD
From beginning to end, A Midsummer Night's Dream is filled with supernatural themes. The primary plotline involves Hermia and Lysander, two lovers who have decided to elope to be married, though Hermia's father has chosen a husband for her already. Meanwhile, the King and Queen of the fairies, Oberon and Titania, are out in the forest, quarreling because Titania will not give over her favorite Indian boy.
As the play goes on, the fairies become involved in the love story, as well as creating their own mischief, going so far as to bespell a number of the characters in the play in humorous and endearing ways.
The fairies’ magic, which brings about many of the most bizarre and hilarious situations in the play, is another element central to the fantastic atmosphere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare uses magic both to embody the almost supernatural power of love (symbolized by the love potion) and to create a surreal world. Although the misuse of magic causes chaos, as when Puck mistakenly applies the love potion to Lysander’s eyelids, magic ultimately resolves the play’s tensions by restoring love to balance among the quartet of Athenian youths.
Magic is the delightful thread that runs through the tapestry of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Magic is about the supernatural elements of the mythic and fairy world (like Cupid's arrows on a starry night), but it's also a simpler, more natural force. There's the magic of love, the magic of the morning dew, and even the magic of poetry and art.
the play ends with all the enchantments being removed from the characters, with one exception - Demetrius, previously in love with Hermia, is still enchanted to be in love with Helena. The two couples are married in a group wedding, and the fairies come to bless the house with prosperity and good
BY NASEER AHMAD 9797230056
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