If there were no such things as sympathy, empathy, or love in our world, it would be a difficult place to live. If there were no laws or hard reasons in our world, it would be a crazy place to live. Neither of these worlds would be anyone's first choice for home – it's just common sense: take away one of these two fundamental aspects of life, and everything immediately becomes chaos. Indeed, it is only in a world like ours, where legal and human emotion work together, that we are happy. In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare recognizes this truth and uses the two settings to represent the city of Athens as law, order, civilization, and judgment, while the woods represent chaos, incivility, dreams, and love. By moving the play between these two settings, Shakespeare demonstrates that it is necessary to balance law and order with dreams and love: he says that when there is only law, or when there are only dreams, nothing works Well; it's only when the two are combined that things work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the city of Athens, reality-bound ideas such as law, order, and judgment are supreme and have a tight hold on society; however, this system, without balance between dreams and magic, rarely gives good results. The unsoftened law of Athens is often too harsh for the characters, and as a result, nothing can go right. This is exemplified in Act I when Aegeus, Hermia's father, asks Theseus, Duke of Athens, to use the law that thus defines Athens to bring drastic consequences on his daughter, regardless of love: “I ask the Ancient Privilege of Athens. Since it is mine, I can dispose of it, either to this gentleman or to his death, according to our law” (1.4.41-44). Aegeus pleads with Theseus for the "ancient privilege of Athens", a law which says that "[Aegeus] may dispose of [Hermia]". Even though he, "according to [the] law", can make Hermia marry the man he approves of and only that man - otherwise she will be sent "to her death", Aegeus does not notice his daughter's true love - he he just wants to stick to the law, his reason and his judgment. This law, part of what defines Athens as an orderly place, is used without the knowledge of love, and because of this, none of the options would work for anyone. Therefore, no one will be happy if the law is enforced alone. Later in the scene, Theseus appears to agree with Aegeus and warns Hermia that she must conform to the law, otherwise the consequences will be great. “As for you, fair Hermia, try to arm yourself to adapt your fantasies to your father's will, otherwise the law of Athens will consign you (which we cannot in any way attenuate) to death, or to the vow of a single life” ( 1.1.117-121). Theseus is warning Hermia that she must follow "her father's will," otherwise the law will make her eligible for death or the convent. He also says that none of them have the power to cancel or weaken the law, since Athens has supreme power over society. Regardless of her love, the Duke of Athens must, by law, force Hermia to make this difficult decision, which cannot end well no matter what happens: either Hermia marries someone she does not love, or she will die or remain single. for life. Theseus himself can't even "dilute" or weaken the law, showing how much power he actually has over everyone in the city. This supremacy of the law in Athens forces Hermia into a situation that cannot end well. If there were dreams, love and magic to balance the law, everything would be much easier and happier; however, at this point in the game, there are none, and so the law hascomplete control. Shakespeare uses it to demonstrate that law without dreams cannot and should not exist. The woods near the city, however, are a place where reason and judgment have no hold, a world where magic and love have a hold on society; but this also leads to chaos without law and order to balance it. The woods are the exact opposite of the city of Athens – all reason and judgment are lost when you venture into them – yet the two environments have the same consequences. In the woods, Puck is describing to Oberon, the king of the resident fairies, how the Mechanics, fleeing from the "new Bottom" (for Puck by this point has transformed Bottom's head into that of a donkey), without reason or judgment, began to imagine things that were not there, and everything became chaotic: “Their senses so weak, lost with their fears so strong, meant that senseless things began to hurt them, because brambles and thorns from their clothes tear some sleeves, some hats; from the transferors all things are torn away: (3.2.27-30). Puck describes how the Mechanics, running from Bottom's changed face with "their senses so weak, lost with their fears so strong," began to imagine sticks and brambles catching their clothes and hats as they ran away. Because the Mechanics were in a place like the woods, where reason and judgment have no hold, they made everything seem chaotic, at least in their minds. They stopped using reason and started imagining things. This pandemonium was the result of the lack of reason and judgment in the woods. Likewise, at a different point in time but still in the woods, Lysander's decision to love Helena, made under the influence of magic, subsequently causes chaos due to his lack of true reason. “Not Hermia, but Helena whom I love. Who wouldn't exchange a raven for a dove? The will of man is influenced by reason, and reason says that you are the most worthy servant” (2.2.119-122). Insisting that "reason says that [Helena is] the worthiest maiden," Lysander demonstrates how the woods are a place of dreams: Lysander truly loves Helena because of the magic. Consequently, there is no reason for Lysander to tell Helena that she is a dove and Hermias a raven. This lack of reason and judgment creates such a chaotic and pandemonium-filled chain of events, where Demetrius and Lysander love Helena, Helena thinks no one loves her, and Hermia loves Lysander, that because of Lysander's actions, nothing is as it should be . . It is magic in a place of magic, dreams and love, which without reason, judgment and law to keep in check, creates total chaos. The lack of order in the following scenes, then, is the direct result of an initial lack of reason and judgment, turning the plot into a spiral. The absence of law and order in the woods is critical and obvious, making the right things wrong and creating chaos everywhere. Although laws and dreams taken separately can have drastic consequences, when they come together, as in the ending of A Midsummer Night's Dream, all is well. The lovers bring their experience, their love and their dreams from the woods into the law, order and reason of the city of Athens, and everything, seemingly instantaneously, is made right for them. In the fourth act, the lovers wake up at the edge of the forest, full of “dreams” of the forest, and are greeted by Theseus, who greets them: “Proud lovers, you are lucky. We will hear more about this later. Aegean, I will dominate your will. For in the temple, little by little and with us these couples will be eternally united” (4.1.174-178). Theseus sees the lovers and decides that he can now "subjugate [Aegeus'] will" and let the couples marry according to their true love. He says that, in fact, they will get married soon. The lovers have already been in the woods with all the.