In Shakespeare's time, marriages were generally not made for love, but rather for power, wealth, or even just so that a parent can be assured of care in old age. Such marriages were concluded very young and most of the time arranged between the parents of the two brides and grooms, or between the bridegroom and the parents of the bride. Watching A Midsummer Night's Dream, this notion is not exempt. In fact, it's almost emphasized throughout the play. Shakespeare's comedy exposes a person's desire to dominate the emotional states of those they love, represented by the tandem conflicts that connect the mortal and supernatural worlds. The more the characters fight to control their counterparts' affections, the clearer it becomes that they have virtually no control over where the objects of their own love, such as Hermia's and the wishes of his father, Oberon and Titania, and a role reversal in the case of Helena and Demetrius. Although the play is meant to be as absurdly comic as possible (and, in fact, even the great con man Robin Goodfellow apologizes at the end for his ridiculousness), this central theme truly captures the flavor of changing times, where External romantic arrangements were beginning to be exchanged in Western Europe for arrangements from the heart. A classic depiction of this male desire to control a woman's affections is seen in Hermia's struggle with her father whom she wishes to marry. Hermia loves Lysander more than anyone, and yet her father, Egeus, demands that she marry Demetrius instead. When the conflict between Hermia and her father assumes epic proportions, where it now involves both suitors and Theseus himself, it is the last middle of paper...... affections, and so it always is . unable to really have any control. In all three cases, a character wants dominance over another's love, and yet he can never gain a true sense of dominance; Hermia's father is forced to relent when Theseus allows his daughter to marry whoever she wants instead of whoever he wants, Oberon gets what he wants but takes pity on his wife and relinquishes his control, and Helena is ultimately the apple of the eye from the eyes of Demetrius. but only by the action of another person. Each of these examples emphasizes a central theme, that love is an uncontrollable force for those who wish to control it. This is what Shakespeare tried to convey to his audience, and it is still relevant today. Either way, love is not a force that can be conquered, it's something that must be earned, it's that simple..