Law And Love In The Athens And The Fairy Land Of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Abstract

Love and in relation to it law are among the central motifs of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their significance comes to the fore especially when they are symbiotically investigated in the context of the Athenian society and the realm of the fairies. The playwright offers a solution to the amatory problems resulting from the strictures of Athenian law. Engendering an aura of the Carnivalesque, the writer has the love tensions resolved by taking the pairs of Athenian lovers to a fairy landscape where the tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe is to be staged; from this vantage point, the play might be viewed as a mirror held up to rulers, suggesting the possible tragic consequences of strict adherence to traditional strict laws.