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All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 2Scene 2
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"will of man"
Cultural Context
Act 2,
Scene 2
Lines 110-122

An explanation of the phrase “will of man” in Act 2, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Lysander

Transparent Helena, nature shows art,
That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart.
Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word
Is that vile name to perish on my sword!

Helena

Do not say so, Lysander; say not so.
What though he love your Hermia? Lord, what though?
Yet Hermia still loves you; then be content.

Lysander

Content with Hermia? No, I do repent
The tedious minutes I with her have spent.
Not Hermia but Helena I love.
Who will not change a raven for a dove?
The will of man is by his reason swayed,
And reason says you are the worthier maid.

For Elizabethans, life was seen in metaphorical terms as a civil war in which the body’s desires are rebelling against their natural ruler, the rational intellect. Topping their list of dangerous desires were the cravings for sex, alcohol, and trivial entertainments such as going to the theater.