A Midsummer Night's Dream Quote Bank

[caffinatedloz]

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM QUOTE BANK

What is this thread for?
This thread is a collaborative quote bank for the text A Midsummer Night's Dream, to be used in conjunction with this thread for the textual analysis of the play. This is a play to compile quotes (sorted by theme, Act, chatacter ect.) and the analysis of such quotes too. Everyone is welcome to contribute; even if you're unsure of yourself, providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable. Please don't be dissuaded by the fact that you haven't finished Year 12, or didn't score as highly as others, or your advice contradicts something else you've seen on this thread, or whatever; none of this disqualifies you from helping others. And if you're worried you do have some sort of misconception, put it out there and someone else can clarify and modify your understanding! There'll be a whole bunch of other high-scoring students with their own wealths of wisdom to share with you, so you may even get multiple answers from different people offering their insights - very cool.

Thread Index:

quotes by character

quotes by act & scene

quotes by theme

quotes about love

[caffinatedloz]

QUOTES ABOUT LOVE

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
This is a line that Shakespeare uses to emphasise his point that love makes people blind; and that when people are in love they will often do crazy and stupid things without thinking things through properly. This is a statement made in many of his plays, and is certainly seen in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the four lovers, Titania and Oberon, as well as the play that the mechanicals performed for the Duke and Dutchess. Read more here.

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Lysander says this to Hermia as the two of them play to run away together. He is trying to convince her that there are often difficulties in love, and that if it is true love, they would be able to work it out and thus they should persevere together.

“And yet to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.”
Bottom says this to Titania during the scene in which she is doting over him and his donkey head. This is incredibly ironic during the play, but emphasises Shakespeare's idea that people in love go absolutely insane.

“For you, in my respect, are all the world. Then how can it be said I am alone when all the world is here to look on me?”
Helena is in love with Demetrius. She has been for a long time. She tells him that he is her entire world and that she loves him so much that she doesn't care about anything else except him. In her eyes, he is so special that when he looks at her, she feels as though her whole world is watching.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be."
Puck says this when observing the crazy antics and behaviours of the lovers. It highlights the absurdity of their behaviour in the name of love as well as serving to contrast the actions of human lovers with the silliness of the fairy world. Read more here.

This "Theme Tracker" from LitCharts may also help you when reading and writing about the theme of love.

(the grey bar is the length of the scene, and the purple bars are how much they contain about love)