Chaos in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, from the opening act of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", it's clear that Shakespeare is setting up a framework for unbalance and potential chaos, a theme which is the thrust of the play beneath all its magical trappings. The paper examines how the first act is spent showcasing the way that everything has been thrown out of synch and how it is clear that things will need to reach homeostasis before the play can come to a resolution. The paper then analyzes how this orderliness seems to be only attainable through figures of authority and how the initial chaos is caused by disrupting monarchical authority, and only draws to a suitable close at the will of the respective rulers, Theseus and Oberon.

From the Paper:

"The play's resolution is only possible through the will of the respective kings. The lovers, now appropriately matched--through the heavy-handed intervention of the fairies--return to Athens, but would have returned to exactly the same circumstances under which they had left if Theseus did not decide to grant Lysander and Hermia's wish to wed; it is the somewhat arbitrary judgment of the duke of Athens which resolves these matters of the heart, not the enduring power of love, and certainly not the depth of human reasoning. Love notwithstanding, the only thing that brought the lot of them to any sort of peace was the manipulation and good graces of higher authority."

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