Why do many of the lovers in Shakespeare comedies rely on deception in their romantic maneuvers? Did Shakespeare believe that this was commonplace in the realm of love? Or, did he write these scenarios purely for the sake of good comedy and in order to weave his many subplots? I’d vote for the latter…at least I’d hope for it.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Demetrius and Lysander both are influenced by the potion from the flower that Oberon orders Tuck to put in their eyes as they slept, causing them to fall in love with the first woman they saw. As it turns out, the both fall asleep in love with Hermia and wake up in love with Helena, as she is their first vision. Hermia and Helena both are confused; Helena believes that she is being made fun of, and Hermia believes that she’s been duped by Helena. It seems like deception, but actually is not; which might add to the humor of that play. However, when Oberon has the same juice put in the eye of Titania, his own lover, thus causing her to wake and find herself in love with an ass, which indeed was deceptive. He gained some gratification of having humiliated her in that manner.
In The Merchant of Venice, the major deception among lovers is between Portia and Bassanio. Portia dressed up as a doctor of law (and thus a man) in order to save Bassanio’s friend Antonio from his fate of owing Shylock a pound of flesh. Though her trick worked, she tricks Bassanio (who does not recognize her in her disguise) into giving up the ring (to the young lawyer as she was disguised) that she had sworn him to never surrender. When he returns home the next day, after her, she accuses him of having given the ring away to a woman. She toys with him in this manner until she deems it is time to tell him the truth about her game.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio is a shy young man interested in Claudio. Don Pedro says to Claudio that he will woo Hero for him, and Claudio agrees (probably more so out of his allegiance toward Don Pedro). When John, Pedro’s bastard brother, convinces Claudio that Don Pedro wants Hero for himself, Claudio feels betrayed but wishes him well nonetheless. Later, after that has blown over and Claudio and Hero are engaged to be married, John again interferes and constructs a plot to convince Claudio that Hero is unchaste. Having been convinced, Claudio, instead of calling off the wedding, goes ahead with it, and shames Hero at the alter. To the reader’s astonishment (on some level anyway, because it always “works out in the end”) Hero goes ahead and marries Claudio in the end.
When the reader tries to look at the stories as if they were realistic scenarios, it can only cause bother. Best to let it go and enjoy the laughs.
