1. The Course of true love never did run smooth (I, i,134)

Explanation: One of the important themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is difficulty in attaining love from the one, love is sought.  The lovers in this play undergo difficulty but at the same time, their difficulty does not create sympathy among the audience, since the difficulty the lovers encounter brings out fun but not emotional breakdowns.

In this play the difficulty in love arises due to imbalance between the love pairs.  There is either imbalance or the mutual love is disturbed.  There is mutual love between Hermia and Lysander but Demetrius causes imbalance in their love by his affection towards Hermia.  Nevertheless Hermia loves only Lysander.  Helena is not loved by both the men but she loves Demetrius.  This imbalance in love could be seen between the fairy couple Oberon and Titania as well.  The imbalance arises when Oberon’s love extends to the Indian boy in the custody of Titania.  Moreover there is imbalance between Titania and Bottom.  Titania is graceful but Bottom is clumsy in appearance.  Hence due to the imbalance in love, the course of true love does not run smooth.

2.  Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. (I.i. 234)

Explanation: A Midsummer Night’s Dream deals with love among many characters but of all the characters, the most lovesick young woman is Helena.  Her love for Demetrius is sincere from the bottom of her heart and she is the one who thinks more about the nature of love, of the four Athenian lovers.  In this line she defines the meaning of love.  According to her perception, love does not originate from one’s eyes but from one’s mind.  She gives up to such a notion about love for two reasons.  The first reason is that, she believes that Demetrius has formed an idea of beauty in his mind that makes him dote on Hermia.  The other reason for such a notion is that she herself has formed an idea of beauty in her mind that makes her dote on Demetrius.  Therefore both Demetrius and Helena are not able to forget the persons with whom they are in love with.  This results in both the characters chasing the impeccable beautiful people, they carry in their minds.