In William Shakespeare play A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, the theme, "...The course of true love never did run smooth" is evident throughout the story. One of the main characters that is able to execute this theme is Puck, the loyal servant of Oberon, the king of the fairies. Considering the fact that Puck is a clever mischief, his actions throughout the play causes problems between the four Athenian lovers, Titania, and Bottom.
The overall theme of the play means that true love isn't easy. That true love is going to have to overcome obstacles along the way and that people should be willing to endure it in order to persevere. In the beginning of the play, the reader learns about the complicated love triangle between the four Athenian lovers. Hermia is in love with Lysander and Helena is in love with Demetrius but Demetrius is in love with Hermia. When Oberon learns about this issue, he decides to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. However, the mischievous Puck accidentally makes Demetrius and Lysander fall in love with Helena with no one loving Hermia. Rather than fixing his mistakes, he decides to just sit back and enjoy the show. The fact that no one loved Helena in the beginning causes her to have a hard time in accepting Demetrius and Lysander's love for her. The theme of "the course of true love never did run smooth" is evident in this scenario because of the way the four lovers has to fight each other for their one true love. The fact that all four had to work in order to win their true love shows that "true love never did run smooth". Puck's decision to not fix his mistakes right away causes the four lovers to hate each other leaves them all heartbroken.
Moreover, Puck turns Bottom into a hairy ass in which Titania falls in love with. Since Titania is under a spell, she couldn't really help herself from falling in love with Bottom. The whole repulsive situation changes the way she feels about Oberon. The theme is evident in this scene because of the way Puck and Bottom has to show Titania whose "boss". Oberon's decision to put her under a spell and have Puck make her fall in love with the first thing she sees, in this case, Bottom, shows that "the course of true love never did run smooth" because he is willing to put their relationship in a situation where Titania is under a spell and is force to do something she never expected herself to do.
Puck's careless mistakes throughout the play is really what the overall theme is all about. Rather than fixing them, he decides to watch and enjoy the show instead. His actions causes all four to love someone they never really had feelings for. His actions only made complicated situations even more complicated. This only forces the four Athenian lovers to face obstacles and fight for their one and only true love. In Titania and Bottom's case, he decides to turn Bottom into an ass without Oberon knowing and Titania really having no option to refuse to.
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