In A Midsummer Night's Dream, how does Shakespeare present true love?

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents love as an all encompassing emotion felt by a variety of people and expressed in diverse ways. Indeed, it could be said that the theme of love (or "true love," if you want to think of it that way) is the glue that binds the play together, and that Shakespeare is concerned with exploring the different ways in which love manifests itself in romantic relationships. Interestingly enough,...

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents love as an all encompassing emotion felt by a variety of people and expressed in diverse ways. Indeed, it could be said that the theme of love (or "true love," if you want to think of it that way) is the glue that binds the play together, and that Shakespeare is concerned with exploring the different ways in which love manifests itself in romantic relationships. Interestingly enough, Shakespeare doesn't always present love in clear-cut or idealized terms. Indeed, he shows that love is often irrational, as Lysander and Hermia persist in loving one another despite the limitations of Athenian law, while Demetrius initially refuses Helena's advances, despite the fact the she is clearly in love with him while Hermia is not. Moreover, love in Shakespeare's world can be cruel or even vengeful, as Oberon engages in a lover's quarrel with Titania by commanding Puck to play magical tricks on the fairy queen. However, even if true love is not always perfect, it seems to have power over society, as the characters within the play all bend to the demands of love and find their way into the ideal relationship. As such, though Shakespeare points out that love is often irrational and not always pleasant, he also proposes that love is an important force of order in society and cannot be easily denied.