A Midsummer Night's Dream

“Either to die the death, or to abjure

For ever the society of men.”

Theseus presents Hermia with a choice: She can either obey her father or face punishment, which may include death. Though Theseus seems sympathetic to her romantic desires, he values the rules and order of Athens more—particularly the patriarchal norms that give fathers the right to marry off their daughters. As the ruler of the city and the person charged with maintaining the society, he is willing to carry out the law, even if the law seems unreasonable. Theseus prioritizes the maintenance of order in Athens over any single individual.

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Lysander’s comment on the nature of love is an ominous warning of what will happen when the Athenians enter the woods. To Lysander, Egeus and Demetrius are the biggest threats to his relationship with Hermia. He believes that the legal consequences of Hermia’s broken engagement are the clearest example of true love’s course not running smoothly. However, the magical intervention of the fairies will soon throw Lysander’s life into turmoil. Lysander might believe that the course of true love is difficult, but he cannot possibly envisage just how right he is, in part because the obstacles he imagines are mostly external—not the inner turbulence the fairies’ magic both provokes and symbolizes.