In A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, the minor character Hippolyta functions in three ways. His first role in the play is that of an example of mature love as opposed to the two immature Athenian couples. His second purpose in the show is to help answer the question "Can love follow conquest?". Its ultimate function is to act as a voice of reason and clarification for the public. Although Hippolyta is a minor character in the play, her part is crucial to the development of the main themes of love and understanding. Hippolyta and Theseus begin A Midsummer Night's Dream by discussing their plans to get married. They remain faithful to each other throughout the play, until they finally get married. Shakespeare juxtaposes these with the volatile relationships of Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander. He describes the Athenian lovers as irrational due to their arbitrary love for each other. Their love is superficial and the objects change several times during the show. Demetrius is unable to explain his sudden love for Helena when he says: "I know not by what power - / But by some power it is - my love for Hermia, / Melted as the snow" (IV, i, 167-169 ). After saying these lines, he absurdly plans to marry Helena immediately, even though his love for her is arbitrary. Hippolyta's relationship with Theseus is not tainted or modified by magic, as is the case with the relationships of Athenian lovers. The magic experienced by the Athenian lovers represents the immaturity and uncertainty of their love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although Hippolyta's relationship with Theseus appears to be more stable and mature than that of the Athenian lovers, it is still based on the conquests of war. After Theseus conquers the Amazons, Hippolyta must become his wife. Their relationship is not as hateful and cruel as the relationship between Helen and Demetrius at the beginning of the play, however there is still considerable tension. This begs the question, “Can conquest lead to love?” Theseus comments that "he wooed you with my sword, / and won your love by insulting you"; (I, i, 16-17). This apparent paradox is not the typical standard of true love. When the couple goes hunting, Theseus seems to recognize the effort he must make to win Hippolyta's heart (IV, i, 122-128). He tries to impress her with the howling of his dogs even though she said there is nothing better than the howling of Hercules' dogs. The howling is like music to Hippolyta, which is symbolic because it represents harmony. He does not believe that he will have harmony in his life with Theseus, because it is the result of the war. Hippolyta proves that love cannot be won on the battlefield. However, the couple has only minor disagreements about the continuation of the show. The idea that she will end up loving him emerges with the symbolic dance of Titania and Oberon (V, i, 402-424). Their dance signifies harmony and order for the couple. Hippolyta's final function is to help the audience sort through the mess and chaos of the show. Her literal mentality and rational nature allow her to clarify the mysterious and magical events of the work to the audience. Her fiancé, Theseus, is the most powerful mortal in the play, yet Hippolyta proves to use less imagination and more reasoning than he does. Theseus sees the Athenian lovers as without reason because "The madman, the lover and the poet / Are all compact in imagination" (V, i, 7-8). On the other hand, Hippolyta uses reason to prove that the lover's stories are true, because all their stories coincide with each other. This allows the audience to realize that the scenes.