The course of true love never did run smooth, one of the best quotes in A

Midsummer Nights Dream, one of Shakespeares most known comedies. It tells

the struggles some lovers have to go through in order to be together. The will of
a father against the love of two young people, and how their love is stronger
than anything. That is why, in my opinion, the main themes in the play are love
and marriage, being love the main reason everything happens and marriage,
the result of the whole story. These are Shakespeares most addressed topics,
but he gives them a timeless touch, so people even nowadays can relate to
them.
First, the dominant theme is love, Hermia and Lysander love each other, but her
father wants her to marry Demetrius and Helena loves Demetrius, but he loves
Hermia. Therefore, everything the lovers do through the play is for love. For
example, in act I scene 1 Helena gave Hermia and Lysander away thinking
Demetrius would be grateful, still he even threats to rape her. She is so
desperate to make him love her that she accepts his horrible manners and
threats, just to be near him. On the other hand, Shakespeare also addresses
the lack of depth of the young lovers. As in act III scene 2, when Lysander,
under the effects of Oberons love juice, states he is in love with Helena,
Hermia attributes this to her height, even though it should not have to do with
her lovers sudden change of mind. The love juice represents how frugal
young love can be. Nevertheless, the message of the whole play is that true
love always prevail, and the best way to do so is marriage.
Therefore, marriage is a very important topic throughout the play. In fact, the
play ends in a triple marriage. It is the ultimate fulfilment of love, and Hermia
and Lysanders main goal. Further, the reason why they decided to escape is
because the Athenian law did not allow them to get married. There is even a
contrast between two couples, Theseus and Hippolyta, who are about to marry,
and Titania and Oberon, who are going through a crisis. The first couple
represents order and stability, while the second one represents jealousy and
distrust. There are many aspects of marriage addressed in the play. It also
shows how unfair the law was, at that time and the prevalence of patriarchy.
This can be seen in the punishment Hermia would have received if it had not
been for the love juice, she would have been either sentenced to death or
celibacy.
In conclusion, the main topics in A Midsummer Nights Dream are love and
marriage. These two topics are the most used by Shakespeare, he addresses
every single aspect of love, from true to superficial love; and he states marriage
as the most significant way to express love. We can see throughout the play
that love is what gives most of the characters a reason to do what they did, so,
at the end, the three couples marry their loved ones. I think this play is one of
the best comedies he wrote, and although it was written so long ago, the topics
still are relatable.