Out of Decorum in Shakespeare

Out Of Decorum In Shakespeare

        Decorum refers to the appropriateness of speech and actions to role and behavior in accordance with the characters portrayed.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduces various love conflicts from early on in the play.  Throughout the play many of the characters are confronted with risk-taking in the name of love.  Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, Titania and Oberon are all taking risks in various ways to conquer true love because in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream it demonstrates that to love well is always in decorum.  Everything on earth has power of good and evil, even love but it all depends on how it’s used.

          In Act 1 Scene 1 Egeus, the father of Hermia demands that Theseus enforce the Athenian law upon Hermia and execute her for refusing to marry Demetrius.  His ‘will’ for his daughter is stronger than his judgment as a man and father.  This leads to immediate conflict in the play as Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuse to marry a man she doesn’t truly love.  Her father becomes furious and act with inappropriate anger towards her.  “I beg the ancient privilege of Athens:/ As she is mine, I may dispose of her, / Which shall be either to this gentleman/ Or to her death, according to our law/ (Act 1, 1, 42-45).  He talks about Hermia as if she is a possession to him and his anger causes him to loose all judgment.  He becomes a monster without emotion and his absence of willingness to see reason compromises his spirit.  Egeus’s only concern is that his reputation in society might be stained if his daughter doesn’t marry the man he has chosen for her, and his greatest fear is what people might say about him.  As a father he shows no compassion towards his daughter.  He disturbs decorum in the play by acting with selfishness and without love.

        Later in the play passions are out of control and more conflict is evident when the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania enters the play.  They argue over the possession of an Indian boy.  Titania is acting out of decorum by letting her ‘will’ cloud her judgment while she does whatever gives her pleasure.  Oberon reminds her that he is her lord: “Tarry, rash wanton.  Am not I thy lord?” (Act 2, 1, 65).  Titania immediately reminds Oberon: “Then I must be thy lady…” (Act 2, 1, 65) and make it clear to Oberon if he wants to be called her husband he needs to act faithfully.  Titania also tells Oberon because of their bad behavior earth has been disrupted.  “From our debate, from our dissension; / We are their parents and original. (Act 2, 1, 43).  Their disagreements have upset the seasons and agriculture for when love is disrupted, the world is disrupted.  “Pale in her anger, / washes all the air, / That rheumatic diseases do abound. / And thorough this distemperature we see / The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts /” (Act 2, 1, 41).  Oberon urges Titania to give him the Indian boy but she refuses and they part their ways.  Both Oberon and Titania let their ‘will’ get in the way of their judgment and this is the main reason for the trouble in their marriage.  Oberon’s love for his wife Titania should be more important than quarreling about the boy but he is acting out of decorum and is selfish for his own personal gains.  There is conflict on earth and there is more conflict between this married couple because of the “little changeling boy” (Act 2, 1, 43) and whenever there is conflict in a Shakespeare play it is clear that decorum has been disturbed.  It’s evident from the play, whenever decorum gets violated bad things happen.  

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