'Methinks I see these things with parted eye, when everything seems double'. To what extent does Hermia's statement at the end of Act 4 capture Shakespeare's intentions in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?

From the very beginning of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Shakespeare plunges his audience into a 'rare visions' of the intoxicating 'purple wound' of love and the fragments of confusion that ensue from it. Shakespeare cleverly blurs the divide between the Fairy world and the constraints of the Athenian court, leading to the creation of a 'double vision' that entangles the audience within the illusion of the play. It is as if in handling the 'hateful fantasies' of the Agents of Chaos amongst the 'sweet thunder' of the Athenian lovers' plight, Shakespeare hopes to explore for us, and himself, the misconceptions of love. Perhaps the play is Shakespeare's internal debate exploring what love; is Shakespeare ultimately mocking the audience for believing in false love, just like the blind lovers? Or is Shakespeare evaluating 'true' love which decays so easily into tepid affection, at the result of human fickleness? In Act 4 Scene 1, Shakespeare cleverly presents a duped Hermia to offer the audience a moment of clarity, even though she herself is torn by the night's 'dreams'. Hermia's sight has not been stained with the manipulating 'love-in-idleness', which perhaps illuminates Shakespeare's intentions; in exploiting the character of Hermia he is perhaps mocking the audience for also being fooled by their emotions and believing in the same 'weak and idle theme' of illusory love. 'Methinks I see these things with parted eye When everything seems double.' Shakespeare immediately presents Hermia as trying to piece together the night's 'accidents' with 'methinks'; in gradually coming to a conclusion she is refraining from being exact as the fragments of her understanding have almost filtered into her speech. Hermia alludes to the notion of a 'double vision' as if everything has become unfocused and blurred; perhaps she realises how frail her comprehension of Lysander's love for her has become in contrast to his love for Helena, albeit with another 'vision'. Hermia's character is suspended 'half-sleeping', 'half-waking' as if for the audience to mock, but instead Shakespeare could be intending for audience to realise how helpless Hermia is and how we should be careful not to become the same duped lover.

Answered by Esther B. English tutor

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