The love theme in "A Midsummer's Night Dream" can be summed up in a line from the play: "the course of true love never did run smooth." Many characters illustrate that theme. Titania and Oberon, king and queen of the fairies, have a huge fight over who should own a slave boy brought back from India that leads them to split up from each other. Hermia wishes to marry Lysander, but her father insists she must marry Demetrius, and he has the law of Athens behind him. Helena, Hermia's friend, loves Demetrius, but he rejects her scornfully. Hermia, having been told she must wed Demetrius or enter a convent, makes plans to run off with Lysander. Helena tells Demetrius of Hermia's plan, hoping Demetrius will thank her. He follows Hermia and Lysander into the forest, and Helena follows Demetrius. In the forest, many love mix-ups occur due to the antics and confusions of the faeries, including the mischevious Puck. At the end of this light-hearted play, albeit with dark undertones, all the characters are sorted out, but not before Shakespeare has shown the many ways love can go wrong before it goes right. Shakespeare values true love over arranged marriage in this play but shows it doesn't triumph without a struggle.
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