MSND - Journal Entries

Journal Entries 

Act 1

         *Imagine you are Hermia. What do you feel about your father’s opinion? Given the options, which choice would you make and why?

     If I was on Hermia’s position, being forced to get married to a man I don’t want to marry, (other ways I would be forced to take a chastity vow and become a nun or I would be put to death) I would feel oppressed, I would look for another options and I would chose to get revenge from the oppression that I feel.

     I would feel oppressed at first as well as frustrated and irritated. Not being able to decide for myself would get me really upset, especially when I am forced to do things that will change my path for the rest of my life. Hermia had the right to get upset with her father, because she asked for his sympathy when she says “I would my father look’d but with my eyes,” (1.1.58) but instead of this, Theseus told her to understand Egeus’s (her father) decision by saying “Rather your eyes must with his judgment look.” (1.1.59). Being in Hermia’s place, I would feel betrayed and with no support from others, because I would feel that my father have the power to manage my life in whatever way he wants, and that my word is worthless as well as myself. In this position, I would rather look for another option outside the frame of the 3 original options which are marry Demetrius, be a nun or be putted to death as the Athens’s law state.

     After being on Hermia’s place, I would most probably think with my heart instead of my sanity. I would also feel that I am worthless and that my opinions don’t have any influence over my own life, therefore I wouldn’t care for others (like I usually do). If I was on Hermia’s place I would think in other options. For example, to make Demetrius hate me; to marry Demetrius and then kill him after we are married so I get to free myself again; to escape from the place where I am currently living and go to a place where nobody would find me; or to find a third person to make him fall in love with me, then make him kill Demetrius and after I am freed I would make the society to put him to death by using some sort of punishment form the law (I would just do this on an oppressing society where I am forced to follow my father’s decisions of I would be put to death ). I would know that none of these options would make me completely happy, but at least it would make me feel powerful over my life. 

     Even though the feeling of power over my life would be something that I would want (regardless of the consequences), I would feel guilty if I harm others, so my most probable options are either to escape, or to make Demetrius hate me. Being in Hermia’s exact place (and society) I would try the second one first since it would be better for me to be able to stay in the place where I am currently living. Also, if I am successful on that, since my father would be mistaken this time, I may have more opportunities for having him sympathize with me when taking important decisions for my life. It would be hard like the others, but in my opinion it is the best one for me to remain safe and to be able to be on the place where I am without fear of being killed.

     If I was on Hermia’s place, I would be really disappointed and irritated, but I would find a way to make my life worth and to feel that I am independent and capable to take my own decisions, even though sometimes it would be really hard. Personally I rather to be killed before I am forced to marry someone I don’t love, but I would never let somebody kill me or force to do something without fight for my decisions first.

   * Hermia’s feelings appear to be ignored; write her appeal to be heard.   
   Hermia should have the right to make her own decisions and to have power over her life; therefore she has bases to make an appeal, defending this statement.  As a human being, she should have the right to decide for herself, as well as to be treated equally. Her love for Lisander should be respected and the Helena’s love for Demetrius should be respected as well.
    
  As a human being, Hermia should be treated equally and she should have the right to decide for herself. It is not fair for her to have to oppress her feeling because she is a woman. Women should have the same power as men when it comes to take decisions because women are not objects, nor family pawns. To have a prosper life, women should have the right to express their feelings and since Hermia is in love with Lisander and vice versa, they should have the right to marry.

  Lisander is in love with Hermia, and vice versa, but Hermia’s father doesn’t care about this. Apparently, Lisander doesn’t have his father’s support, and that is why according to Egeus, Demetrius is a better option for Hermia. Both Lisander and Hermia love each other and talking about something like marriage, (that will drastically change each other’s life) they should have the right to honor that love. This love is not the only one that is being affected on this decision. Helena’s feelings are also being hurt with Egeus’s verdict.

Helena (Hermia’s friend) is in love with Demetrius because he made her fall in love, then he used and he forgot about her after words. Hermia have the right to plead that Demetrius is not going to be a royal husband for her. He can leave her the same way he did with Helena. That reflects an egotistical individual as well as a dishonorable person who may stain the family’s name.    

All of the above statements can be used being on Hermia’s position. Not because she is a woman, it means that she is an object. Hermia is a human; therefore she deserves to be treated as one.



Act 2

         *If you had the power to cast any spell, what type of spell would you cast? Explain your reasons and be sure to add who it serves (yourself or others).

If I could have the power to cast a spell it would be resurrection. On this spell I would primarily think about me, since I would love to experience a lot of risky things on my life but even though this spell would have the power to resurrect anyone, I would think it more than twice if the opportunity to resurrect somebody besides me is presented.

I would chose to have the spell of resurrection because since I was little I have restricted myself from doing a lot of things due to my health. If I could be free to decide over my life without restrictions on those aspects I would take the chance with no doubt. To be honest, sometimes I feel like Helena when she said “I’ll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,” (2.1.247) because I need to live inside of all the restrictions I have but at the same time I fight to feel content with my life and I am grateful I have the opportunity to “make a heaven of hell,” even though I would love to see a heaven out of a heaven. This spell would not only work for me, but for those at my reach.

If I had the ability to cast the spell of resurrection, I wouldn't be selfish at all. I wouldn't use it just for me, but for those around me who ask me for help too. In my opinion, there is no worst thing as egoism, and if I could have the opportunity to free myself from my restrictions, it would be selfish from me to don’t help those who want to free themselves. Obviously, I would only help those with a pure heart that won’t use the power of this spell against others, or I would use the power of the spell to resurrect them just once. That way, they can’t cause that much damage to others if they try to, because we all deserve respect.

I know I would think it more than twice before using this spell on somebody else, because it is easy to think selfish and to do things that give you benefits, but prejudice others. Also, I would stop myself from resurrecting somebody that I love but he/she doesn't wants me to apply this spell on them because if I do use it they may then feel like Helena, making a heaven of hell.

There are a lot of spells to choose from, but if I could have the ability to cast one, I would chose resurrection with no doubt because I am thirsty for the feeling of freedom.

*Sometimes people don’t notice the people who love them the most. Agree or disagree with this statement and explain your answer.

Really often, people do not notice those individuals who love them the most. The stress of daily life, stereotypes and the blindness caused by the desires of individuals, vanish the perception people have about others making people don’t notice those who would give their lives for them.


The stress of daily life, sometimes make us concentrate on things like work, school or duties, making it hard for people to concentrate on their feelings, and as a consequence, to notice who love them the most. This may not be the case for everybody, but these factors can really affect the way somebody sees the world, as well as the way somebody sees others. These are not the only things that can influence the way somebody perceives other’s feelings.  

The stereotypes on society play an important role when it comes to perspectives. Things that are expected from us, definitely influence the way people behave in order to feel accepted by the society. This makes it hard for people to express or to correspond back the feelings of a certain individual, when it is known that society expect something different from you. Even though stereotypes are a big factor of this problem, personal desires are also things that do not let people appreciate those who love them the most.

The blindness caused by personal desires make people get to depreciate those who love them the most. This is not only seen now days, but it is also seen hundreds of years ago. We can see this on the Shakespearean (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) play when Demetrius told Helena “I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Where is Lysander and fair Hermia? The one I’ll slay, the other slayeth me” (2.1.192-194). Helena love Demetrius a lot, but he doesn’t care about this love, because he is submerged on his desire to marry Hermia.


Most of the time, people don’t get to appreciate the person who love them the most, and this is influenced by various factors, but mostly it is influenced by a personal decision of blindness or indifference about others feelings.

Act 3

            *Which method of reading the text (acting, listening, reading or viewing) has helped you to understand the play? Give reasons for your answer.

       Reading Shakespeare’s creations is not an easy task. People often get confused by the diction and syntax used in his texts, and his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is not an exception. Something that has helped me when reading this play is reading it out loud, reading the play in Spanish (since Spanish is my first language) and watching the 1999 movie of the play, directed by Michael Hoffman.

                   Reading the text out loud has been a helpful tool when I found it hard to understand the syntax of the play. For example when Lysander says, “Now she holds me not. Now follow, if thou darest, to try whose right, of thine or mine, is most in Helena” (3.2.350-352). I found it hard to understand the syntax and word choice used by Shakespeare in this play, and after I read those lines around six times I decided to read it out loud and I finally understood that Lysander was madly in love with Helena and he would do everything to get her love. Reading out loud was not my only strategy.

 Since English is not my first language, I looked up for the play in Spanish to get a better understanding of the context of the story. I have to admit that even in Spanish the diction used was one that could be compared to college level reading but the vocabulary was easier for me since I was already familiarized with it. While I was reading back and forward between the text in English and Spanish I was able to have a better understanding of lines such as “Lo, she is one of this confederacy! Now I perceive they have conjoin’d all three to fashion this false sport, in spite of me. Injurious Hermia! Most ungrateful maid!”(3.2.195-198). After I read the text both in English and Spanish I figured that Helena tough that Lysander, Demetrius and Hermia were making fun of her because of the love she felt to Demetrius. Watching through the eyes to somebody else also helped me when reading the Shakespearean play.

            Another really useful tool that I used was watching the 1999 movie of the play directed by Michael Hoffman. Watching the play through somebody else’s eyes can be really helpful when it comes to critical thinking. As a reader we can notice that directors can make the characters either look really evil and selfish or either look sympathetic and harmonious. This strategy helped me with lines like “I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me; to fright me, if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can; I will walk up and down here, and will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid”(3.1.112-115). When I first read this part of the text I didn’t quite understand if he got lost, or the other actors hided from him, or if the other actors ran away from him. When I watched the movie I understood those lines clearly, as well as the context of the story on that specific moment, but I have to admit that connecting the information was not too easy.

  It is hard to read Shakespearean creations that are made in such way that its complexity get us confused when we are trying to imagine the scenes and specially when we are trying to get through the syntax and diction, paying attention to other literary devices such as imagery, figurative language and allusions, but it is not impossible to get through it. We, as readers can get a clear understanding of William Shakespeare’s works by finding the correct tools and by thinking critically and expanding our vision.  

            *Helena and Hermia, who were at one time like “two lovely berries molded on one stem,” are now fighting over the love of a man. Here, jealously has seemed to destroy the bond of friendship. Explain whether or not it is worth ending a long friendship over a romantic relationship.

            A romantic relationship is not worth a friendship because a friendship is like having a brother or a sister that you choose to have and is always going to be there for you, while a romantic relationship can flip to a relationship with not credibility of love, and love is fickle and unstable.

A friendship is like having a brother or a sister and it is worth a lot more than a romantic relationship. On the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena and Hermia are like sister until the moment when the love of a man comes to play. As Helena says “Is all the counsel that we two have shared, The sister’s vows, the hours that we have spent, when we have child the hasty-footed time for parting us,-O, is all forgot? ”(3.2.201-204), and “And will you rent our ancient love asunder, to join with men in scoring your poor friend?”(3.2.218-219), they are fighting over a man’s love, but they have shared more love together on their friendship than what now seems to be worth, which is the heart of a man. A romantic relationship is not worth a friendship because that kind of love is fickle.

Romantic relationships are based on fickle love that can change in one second. As we can see on the play with Demetrius, he just wanted to have Hermia’s love, but then he says to Lysander, “Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none. If e’er I loved her, all that love is gone. My heart to her but as guest-wise sojourn’d, and now to Helen is it home return’d ”(3.2.171-174), we can see that he doesn’t care about Hermia anymore, even thought she was his fiancée. Even though he was under the power of a spell, it was stronger that his will in having Hermia’s love. This is an example of how unstable love can be and the way it can change in a moment. This is not the only struggle with love, but its credibility sometimes starts to deteriorate.

            All relationships are based on trust and credibility, but it is common to see credibility getting deteriorated on romantic relationships. Since they are based on the desire of humans to feel complete and satisfied with somebody else, sometimes people don’t pay attention to those things that are really important, and people get to change people like a really good friend for somebody that once he/she gets tired of them, they will leave them and change them for somebody else. For example, when Helena says “These vows are Hermia’s. Will you give her o’er? ” (3.2.131), there is no credibility on Lysander’s voice when expressing his new feelings to Helena, because he was so madly in love with Hermia that there is no credibility when promising love for somebody else besides Hermia.

            Love is a complex thing, but a romantic relationship is not worth a friendship that can be like a brotherhood or a sisterhood because those friends that are like your siblings are the ones that will never let you down, unlike people involved in a romantic relationship. Romantic relationships are unstable and fickle, changing sides from one second to other.

Act 4
     * What is Oberon’s idea of a good relationship?
 What is your idea of a good relationship?

A good relationship is based on freedom and it should not be forced in any aspect. On the play of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare portrays Oberon and Titania’s relationship as a manipulative relationship and as a relationship where Oberon wants to have control over Titania, instead of being a relationship based on respect towards each other.

Oberon wants Titania to obey him and he does everything he can to get what he wants regardless of Titania’s decisions. When Titania is under Oberon’s spell, Oberon takes advantage to get the children that he wanted, as we can read on the play, “I then did ask of her her changeling child; which straight she gave me” (4.1.58-59). To ask for something when somebody can’t control his/her emotions is not correct, and Shakespeare wants the reader to see that these kinds of actions are more frequently on romantic relationships. People will do whatever they can to get what they want with no boundaries. This kid of actions lead to manipulation of people, forcing people to believe and do things that they don’t necessary want to do.

Often, romantic relationships get into manipulation where either one or both individuals try to get what they want by blackmail or by doing things that force others to do what they want to get. Oberon used Titania under the spell to get what he wanted, the child; and after he got the child, he decided to dissolve the spell, as we can see when he says “And now I have the boy, I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes” (4.1.61-62). This form of manipulation gives the powerful person on the relationship more power, and satisfaction to know that they can get what they want. Unfortunately, this is seen now days when people take advantage of others by using blackmail. Love is not meant to be this way; romantic relationship should be about freedom.

Romantic relationships should be about love and freedom, not about oppression and manipulations. Love back then and now days, is based on the freedom and respect given by both individuals on the relationship, even though romantic relationships are often harmful for either one or both individuals. The base of a relationship is trust and if there is any kind of manipulation, there is no trust on a relationship so it is not healthy for the individuals. This can lead to catastrophes that in some cases influences the way people act, doing reckless actions and harming everybody.

Romantic relationships are meant to be based on freedom and respect, not in manipulations like Oberon did with Titania. Shakespeare uses this example to make the reader see that when manipulations take place in this kind of relationships, nobody wins because trust is corrupted and people gets hurt with wounds that can never heal completely. 


    *Explain the implications of Puck’s spell on all of the characters.

On A midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck’s spell had a great impact over all of the characters; from the discontent of the fairies, to the “fortunate” love of the young lovers, and the beliefs of Bottom. The impact of this spells over the characters changed the life of everybody in the play, as well as the way they decided their future.

After Puck had casted the spell over Bottom, and Titania falls in love with him, the fairies that live with Titania get tired of Bottom’s attitude. Puck’s spell make it hard for the fairies to follow Bottom and Titania’s requests but the only thing that they can do is to keep on trying to serve Titania’s wishes. Shakespeare wants to portray the irony of life by portraying Bottom really lovely to Titania but really annoying to the other fairies. This is not the only impact on the characters by the spell, and its implications play an important role on the play.

Because of Puck’s spell, Demetrius falls in love once again with Helena, leaving Lysander and Hermia be happy together and giving them the option to stay in Athens. Shakespeare wants to portray the instability of love and how the decisions of somebody can change the life of a lot of people around that person. As Demetrius says “The object and the pleasure of mine eye, is only Helena” (4.1.171-172), we can see how unstable his decisions are, but at the same time, it gives a better future for Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius himself. The power of Puck’s spell on a single person gave happiness to the four lovers by changing the love of just one of them. Shakespeare also uses the power of this spell to influence Bottom.

 Nick Bottom converts into a donkey because of Puck’s spell and his perspectives change. After he “wakes up” from what he tough it was a dream, he thinks that he had have a vision but after he finds a ring he realizes that it was true. After this, Bottom starts running back to the town to meet with the other actors and represent the play with a new perspective. This is relevant to the play, because he changed the way he behaved with the other actors, and as a dreamer, he expanded his vision of the projects that he wanted to do for the future.

Puck’s spell had a lot of “side effects” that in a certain way made the life of most of the characters better and with a brighter and more prosperous future. Shakespeare uses this as a tool to illustrate the complexity of life and love, and to say that humans are not stable on the decisions that we take.

Act 5

*Explain whether or not you think Oberon and Titania are the ideal couple to bless the newlywed couples.

            In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, a series of tragic but funny events happen to all the characters. The fact that some fairies (Oberon and Puck) control the feelings of other characters reflects the need of William Shakespeare to say that when somebody wants something and he/she has a way to get it, they will try whatever they can to get what is wanted.  Even though Oberon and Titania is a strong couple, throughout the story the reader can see that it is not the more indicated couple to bless the newlyweds because they are not harmonious, Oberon is manipulative over Titania, and two of the newlywed couples got married because of a spell that was cast by fairies.

            Unlike Theseus and Hippolyta, Oberon and Titania is not a harmonious couple. Talking about blessing this couple would not be appropriate for Oberon and Titania because when they disagree in something , they decide to drastically take over in order to remain strong in their position.One example of this could be when Oberon takes advantage of Titania being confused by the spell to take the Indian boy. They do not share the same believes, nor they can get into an agreement on a peaceful matter. Not being harmonious is not the only behavior that the couple express, reflecting that they are not that appropriate to bless the newlywed. 

           Shakespeare reflects a certain bias towards men, portraying the women's roles as weak and as one that should obey what is told by man. Blessing a couple, being a machista couple may not be appropriate for the new wife, neither the new husband if they believe that women should have respect and a high level in society. Shakespeare portrays a manipulative relationship as something acceptable for the majority of society, but Hippolyta and Theseus are kind of an exception. The reader can see this by the way they talk "(Hippolyta) I am aweary of this moon, would he would change! (Theseus) It appears by this small light of discretion, that he is in the wane..." (5.1.250-253), showing a harmonious couple.

             Shakespeare decides to leave one character under a spell, making possible two of the three weddings. It results that Oberon and Puck were responsible of that spell and that they practically chose what Demetrius should of have done about Hermia and Helena. It is not appropriate for Oberon to bless either Demetrius and Helena, nor Lysander and Hermia, because they altered Demetrius's feelings. Even though this spell made possible a happy ending for everybody, It is not correct to force somebody to love somebody else by using a force that they have no chance to get ride of.

   Shakespeare portrays Oberon and Titania as a not harmonious couple and as a couple that is manipulative with each other. This makes it hard for the reader to think that this couple should bless the newlywed couples. 


       *Now that you have observed all of the love relationships on the play (from Lysander and Hermia to Pyramus and Thisbe), which of the couples do you think has the strongest bond of love? Explain why. 

          In a Midsummer Night's Dream, there are various couples that could apparent to have a really strong bond of love, but because of the way that the story is presented, the reader can only see gradually what couple has the strongest bound. The couple that has the strongest bound of love is Pyramus and Thisbe and their story is presented basically on act five. Pyramus and Thisbe are royal to each other, they are willing to be together, no matter what  and they would die for each other as well.

       Pyramus and Thisbe is a couple that is always  royal to each other. The reader doesn't know a lot about the story of the characters before they are presented, but by the way their story goes the reader can infer that Pyramus and Thisbe are madly in love and there is nobody else in their heart. Even tough they see each other secretly, they do it because of the society they are living on, but they held their love for each other all the way to the end. Shakespeare not only uses this to show that they a couple with a really strong bond of love, he also uses their will.

The story is developed in a place where seeing your love in private was not allowed. Since they talked to each other secretly, Pyramus and Thisbe also planed to see each other on secret. Doing this in that time was really risky for both of them, as well as improper and it could result on a lost of honor for both of them (especially for Thesbe). Shakespeare shows a strong bond of love by talking with the actions of the characters. The fact that they risked so much just to see each other when they already had a way to talk to each other in a safe environment, shows that they both are willing to be with each other, no matter what. Shakespeare makes this perspective more vivid towards the end of their story, showing an indestructible bond of love.

Pyramus and Thisbe seem to just be two young immature people who would risk a lot for love. The reader can see that they are really serious once Pyramus thinks that Thisbe is dead and he kills himself and also when Thisbe find Pyramus dead and then she kills herself too. Shakespeare portrays this couple with a really strong bond of love that with actions, it says "if you are not with me I don't want to live anymore." It was so insupportable for any of they both that they both decided to kill themselves when they saw that there was no way they could be with each other, as we see when Pyramus says "Come, tears, confound; out, sword, and wound the pap of Pyramus"(5.1.293-295). Once Pyramus thinks Thisbe is dead he thinks it is not worth to live anymore.

Pyramus and Thesbe is the strongest couple on the play, because Shakespeare demonstrates that they both love each other and they would do whatever they can to be with each other. Unlike most couples shown on the play, they remain royal to each other and they believe that there is no more important person in the world than their loved one.