A question from our friends at SHMOOP:
At the end of the play, the issues between the young lovers all seem resolved.
Demetrius now loves Helena, and Lysander returns to his original love for Hermia.
Still, we know that Demetrius remains enchanted, and that Hermia watched Lysander betray her but doesn't know he was enchanted when he did it.
Does the state in which the lovers leave for Athens then justify the claim that they'll live happily ever after?
If so, why?
If not, Why not?
And then Dr.G. wants to know:
If something like this happened to you and/or your friends in 2011,
what is the likelihood that the couples involved would stay together?
I think that they would have lived "happily ever afteer" in the world of the play because back then, as soon as they fell in love with someone they'd get married. Today it's not like that and just because you love someone doesn't necessarily mean you'll be with them forever. So if that happened today I think there's a chance they'd break up at some later point because relationships don't always last as long now as they did back then.It's probably not very likely that in our world they'd stay together because people don't usually end up with the people they dated as a teenager because couples now don't really marry as young as they did back then.
ReplyDeleteYes it does justify that they'll live happily ever after because it's just a play. Also it's a comedy so it ends happily in the end. Everyone will live happily ever after because everyone is with who they wanted to be with.
ReplyDeleteThe likelihood of that the couples involved would stay together today is very unlikely.
I think that the state the lovers leave the woods in does justify the claim that they'll live happily ever after. I think that because the play is a comedy, and everyone ends up happily. Also, the parents all agree with the lovers and let them get married and be happy. If something like this happened in 2011, the couples involved would not stay together.
ReplyDeleteI think that it would all work out because, in the end, they all got what they wanted. With Demetrius, what he wanted changed while they were all in the woods, but they all leave happily. If it were to happen today, I doubt that the couples would stay together because the experience would probably confuse you about how you feel, even if you were sure that you were in love with someone beforehand. The time difference between then in now would alter the outcome of the relationships.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the state in which the lovers leave the woods does justify the fact that they will live happily for the rest if their lives. I think this because the play is a comedy, and in a comedy the ending is happy. I don't know if the couples involved would stay together, it basicly just depends on the type of people that are in the relationship, but I would say that they probably would not stay together,=.
ReplyDeleteI think that they will be happily ever after but hermia will deffinatly always have lysander hitting on helena on her mind. But if this happened in real life i think that hermia would break up with lysander but at some point in the near future she would get lonley and want to go out with him again. I think that helena would think demetrious was still joking too so i dont know if she would take his love for her as real or not.
ReplyDeleteI think that the lover will live happily ever after because in Shakespearean comediesn living happily ever after is always the resolution for most characters. Also, back in the ancient days it was always immediate love and you never hear any of the bad love besides in tradgedies, which still usually ends in an act of love. However if this occured today, it would probably end in diasaster because I don't think people are as forgiving today about love as they were back in the shakespearean era and ancient era.
ReplyDeleteI think they will live happily ever after! In there times it seems like once you get married you are together for life and there is no such thing as dovorce. Also Demitrius us still enchanted so he will love Helena forever and she is all for that. Also Hermia is happy because she has Lysander and her father approves so she is fine with that and so is Lysander.
ReplyDeleteThe state in which the lovers leave the woods does indeed justify that they will live happily ever after. I think this because this a comedy in which there are no tragedies involved and because i believe the lovers were matched up happily.
ReplyDeleteI don't think couples today would stay together.
Yes, the state in which the lovers leaves the woods does justify that they'll live happily ever after. This is true because this play is a comedy resulting it to end happily. Something like this would most likely not happen in todays world. Relationships come and go with no control of the lovers.
ReplyDeleteI think that the state in which the four lovers leave for Athens does justify that they COULD possibley live happily ever after, but i feel like something is going to happen later on that affects the relationship of Lysander and Hermia and with Demetrius and Helena.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the state they leave for Athens justifies that they'll live happily ever after because it's a comedy and comedies always end happily. This would probably not happen in today's world, as people are not as forgiving as the people in this play.
ReplyDeleteI think that the state that they are left in, it is likely that they live happily ever after because everyone ends up getting what they wanted. But there is still a possibility that something could go wrong and it might not work out for them. If that happened today in 2011, they probably wouldn't stay together because there too many problems that happened and they just wouldn't stay together.
ReplyDeletei believe that their relationship would have worked out very well for them becasue they are living by the play's standards and way of life. Both of them would have gotten what they wanted. They would have most likely gotten married and then went off and lived together "happpily ever after". If they were to be in a relationship in 2011 they probably wouldn't have been together very long or at all.
ReplyDeleteI think that this pretty much justifies that they will live happily ever after. Shakespeare always writes ending that end very well or very bad. Since this is a comedy, it will end well. The likelihood of a couple our age in today's time staying together after something like this happened is slim to none. In this time period, people dated for the purpose of finding someone to marry. But now, people our age date simply to find someone to have a good time with. Most people don't experience 'true' love until later in life.
ReplyDeleteLike every other opinion, I think it means they will live happily ever after. Everyone gets what they wished for so why wouldn't they finally be happy? Shakepeare's style for writing is different and his stories always have ending that are surprising. If someone in 2011 was in a relationship similar to this one it probably wouldn't last long.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't today's relationship last long?
ReplyDeleteI realize that a play takes place in a world of "let's pretend" and Shakespeare can make things work out as he sees fit, but I also like to believe (and know it to be fact), that some relationships do work out in reality.
What factors do young people have to tend with that jeopardize their relationships?
Why don't people "live happily ever after"?
Just curious...
I think the end leaves you to believe you lived happily ever after. Nobodys without love anymore. Their relationships probably wouldn't have lasted in 2011 because there are so many more things to get in the way of relationships today than back then.
ReplyDeleteI think that the end when the lovers leave the woods justifies that they will live happily ever after. We know before even reading the play that it is a comedy meaning that something funny/good will happen unlike a tragedy when the play does not end on a good note.
ReplyDelete