Perception In Midsummer Night's Dream

From olden days to modern society, the purpose and meanings behind dreams have been considered an almost indecipherable mystery for many scientists and historians worldwide. Naturally, an important question emerged from this thought— which contains more truth, dreams or waking perceptions? Although one may be conscious in their waking perception [ADVSC], dreams still tend to depict more truth than waking perceptions because they reveal one’s true nature at a state where there is no control over the thought process. To elaborate upon this notion, in a conscious state of mind, there are numerous factors that may alter one’s perception of the world, such as influence from friends and family or the media. However when dreaming, these factors are eliminated because they cannot partake directly in one’s thought process, thus causing

Although confused often, the state in which the characters are under the influence of the magic flower is not a dream; it is simply their waking perceptions under the influence of an outside factor— the flower. On the other hand, dreams occur only when the characters are physically asleep. Readers can see the shift in each character’s disposition after Robin anoints their eyes with the flower. For example, Lysander says, “Content with Hermia? No, I do repent / The tedious minutes I with her have spent. / Not Hermia but Helena I love,” (II.ii.118-120). Even though in reality, Lysander is in love with Hermia, not Helena, readers can see that he is deceived by the flower, making him believe that he is in love with Helena instead. All in all, it is evident that the magic flower acts as a hindrance to the waking perceptions of the characters, thus mismatching the couples and not allowing them to see their true