A Midsummers Night's Dream
In a novel or play, a certain setting or settings can have numerous effects on the characters and the events that they are involved in. In the Shakespearean play A Midsummer Night's Dream, the contrasting settings of the city, with its law and order, and the forest, with its confusion and chaos, bring about drastic changes in several of the characters. Through their struggles, these characters learn from a society of light and a society of dark; a society of rules and a society of no limits. The play begins in the city of Athens, Greece where strict codes and laws are an everyday way of life. The "light" of the city reveals its reality; nothing is left hidden or unknown. Only inner emotions of those who reside in the village seem to conflict with the rules and regulations of this perfect society. For example, the harsh reality of the city life comes into perspective when Hermia and her father, Egeus, fall upon a disagreement over whom the young girl is to marry. She loves Lysander, but Demetrius is the man her father has chosen for her. After bringing this conflict before Theseus, ruler of Athens, Hermia is left with an ultimatum. Either marry the man of her father's choice, take a vow of eternal chastity, or be put to death.