I write this post not as an author of this blog, but as the actor of Lysander for the afternoon casting. As of late, I've been trying to figure out the magic behind the fairy flowers. Throughout the plays, it so warps the love of the characters in so many ways, from Titania loving an assheaded weaver to Lysander turning to hatred to his beloved Hermia. And to complicate it even further, Demetrius remains under the spell of the flower in the end of the story!! How does the flower actually affect others, and what are its true powers?As a bit of background, the purple flower is actually referenced as "Love-in-Idleness" in the uncut playscript, which is nothing more than a pansy. Throughout the story, it is squeezed into the eyes of the characters, causing the characters to "madly dote upon" the next person or creature it sees. Puck quite accidentally messes up and pours the flower on Lysander as opposed to Demetrius, and everything goes wrong from there on.
Lysander becomes completely infatuated with Helena, and after Oberon has Puck try to fix it up by pouring the flower on Demetrius as well, both boys begin arguing for Helena. Insults are said, swords are drawn, and people fall asleep. In the end, Lysander has the spell removed, and he returns to loving Hermia. They all wake up, thinking it was all a terrible dream, and head back to Athens.
And they all lived happily ever after, right? ..Right?!
Well it could be argued that since Demetrius remains under the spell of the flower, his love is nothing more than a fake enchantment, thrown upon him by the fairies of the forest. When the flowery curse was removed from Lysander, he immediately returned to loving Hermia. What's keeping Demetrius from being the same, beyond the powers of a magical flower?
I really don't know, to be quite honest. I really don't know.
It could be argued that the flowers brought out the true love Demetrius had for Helena deep in his heart. It could be argued that the flower only engaged what was already there, and actually had no effect on Demetrius anymore. But if that was argued, what about Lysander? What "true love" did it bring out in him?
It could be argued that the the flower only shifts the love of the character to another, reversing the relationship to another person, that being the very first person they see after waking up? But if that was so, what love did Titania have that was shifted to the furry faced Bottom? And more than that, why did Lysander not only love Helena after waking up, but truly despise Hermia with hatred?
I really don't know. And it really bothers me.
Maybe, in the end, Shakespeare merely meant for this to be a light hearted comedy of romance and conflict; not something so deeply analyzed and debated. But it still asks a lot of questions, many of which still remain unanswered.
I was bothered by that to, until I realized that it really all depends on your interpretation of Demetrius. If he is one of the "heroes" of the play, then it is disturbing that he's under the flower's spell at the end. However, consider the possibility that he is the villain--In this case, he gets what he deserves, ironically having to marry the woman he should have married in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI dunno; that seems a little odd. Shakespeare has a way of needlessly converting the "villains" of his stories, but I don't think that's what's going on here.
ReplyDeleteAaron gave a theory the other day that the flower reverses who you are, so if Demetrius is just a "bad" person with a "bad" personality, the flower would reverse him and make him a "good" person while Lysander is shifted a "bad" person.
Of course, if you consider Titania in it all, this doesn't really hold up, and Demetrius is still just as mean after being affected by the flower; it's just focused on somebody else.