Teenagers: Now and Then

Literary Analysis Final Draft, AMND

Katherine Xie
Crush. A word that haunts the halls of junior highs and high schools that spreads through
the whispers of teenage gossip. Love is a universal emotion that has existed in human
interaction ever since humans were aware of their feelings and capability to care for one
another. Puppy love is especially notable due to the fresh, daring, and innocent characteristics
of falling in love for the first time. It is a sensation and escapade everyone experiences, past,
present, and future. Though technology and human intelligence and understanding has
advanced through time, the aspects of love between young adults have remained unchanged.
Shakespeares particular play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, is one example when it comes to
comparing the elements of the past and the presents love amidst adolescents. The love among
the four lovers in Shakespeares play is similar to the love among young adults today through
the rebellious traits, unrequited love, impulsive decisions and consequences of ending
friendships.
One trait the four lovers of Shakespeares play and the love among teens today share is
the rebellion and disobedience displayed towards parents. For example, in A Midsummer
Nights Dream, father of Hermia, Egeus says, Full of vexation come I, with complaint Against
my child, my daughter Hermia. This man [Demetrius] hath my consent to marry her This man
[Lysander] hath bewitched the bosom of my child With cunning hast thou filched my
daughters heart, Turned her obedience (which is due to me) To stubborn harshness.And, my
gracious duke, Be it so she will not here before your Grace Consent to marry with Demetrius
(Act 1, Sc. 1, II. 24-44). Hermia is disobeying her fathers wishes for her to marry Demetrius due
to the fact that she is in love with Lysander. Egeus claims that Lysander turned Hermias usual
obedience towards her father into a stubborn harshness, showing how her love for Lysander
led to her defiance towards her father. This same rebellious trait is seen in a one of todays
shows, set in the 1980s, The Goldbergs, Season 3, Episode 14, Lainey Loves Lionel,
representing modern days teenagers. Teenager Adam Goldberg sneaks out to use the phone to
call his girlfriend Dana in Seattle, notwithstanding the fact that his parents had declared that he
was not allowed to, showing signs of rebellion and daring characteristics driven by love. Both
Hermia and Adam are young adult characters that are centuries apart, yet their romantic
relationships are the trigger to defy their parents. Puppy love is when one first experiences a
special feeling and emotion for a particular person, leading them to begin feeling more
independent, mature, and daring, which results in going against a teenagers initial authority:
parents. The growth of a teenager and the process of falling in love for the first time have
remain unchanged, the human emotions and the journey of growing up not really differentiating,
despite time differences. Representing the past and the present, the two characters display how
teenagers, for the sake of what they consider love, would choose to dishonor their parents
wishes, a common characteristic in young love.
Another similar quality both the four lovers love and todays teenagers love have is the
unrequited love tangled among them. A love and longing many know all too well, unrequited
love is a love that is a one-way mirror, a love that is not returned or accepted. Teenagers Helena
and Demetrius illustrate this one-sided love in A Midsummer Nights Dream. In the play, the

character Helena states, The more I love, the more he hateth me, referring to Demetrius.
Demetrius tells Helena, I love thee not, therefore pursue me not do I not in plainest truth Tell
you I do not, nor I cannot love you? (Act 2, Sc. 1, II. 195, 207-208), proclaiming that he can not
return his feelings for her. Demetrius himself has an unrequited love for Hermia, who is in love
with Lysander. Demetrius insists that she marry him instead considering that her father
approves of him, as seen in Act 1, Scene 1, Relent sweet Hermia, and, Lysander, yield Thy
crazd title to my certain right (Act 1, Sc. 1, II. 93-94). These love triangles and unrequited
loves are still common among teenagers today. As an example, pop artist Taylor Swift released
a song, Teardrops On My Guitar (2006) at age 17, that expresses her unreciprocated love ,
quote, Ill bet shes beautiful, that girl he talks about/And shes got everything that I have to live
without. As it can be understood from the rest of the song lyrics, the artist is demonstrating the
painful and longing situation of an unrequited love. Swift, an artist representing modern day
teenagers in this comparison, is describing her love for a particular person who loves someone
else, which is similar to how Helena loves Demetrius, who loves Hermia. Hermia herself loves
Lysander, leaving Demetrius in the dust and devastating pain of a longing, unanswered
affection. These love triangles are seen in both the ancient Athenian characters and modern day
teenagers, playing an extremely common role in the love among young adults.
Another typical attribute the love among teenangers from past and present have is the
reckless behavior they all possess. Hasty decisions and careless actions are made under the
influence of young love. An example of this rushed and rash conduct is seen when Hermia and
Lysander decide to escape Athens and its laws to elope in Act 1, Scene 1, ...hear me, Hermia: I
have a widow aunt, a dowager Of great revenue, and she hath no child. From Athens is her
house remote seven leagues, And she respects me as her only son. There, gentle Hermia, may
I marry thee; And to that place the sharp Athenian law Cannot pursue us. If thou lovest me, then
Steal forth thy fathers house tomorrow night, And in the wood a league without the town There
will I stay for thee (Act 1, Sc. 1, II. 158-170). Teenage lovers Lysander and Hermia have barely
given the situation a second thought and have already decided to run away from home, family
and friends, all for the sake of their love for one another. They have not considered how running
away could affect their family and loved ones, acting in haste under the influence of love and its
excitement, illusion of maturity and the feeling of independence. In addition, character
Demetrius also further demonstrates careless, unfaithful conduct amid the love of the four
teenage lovers, considering that he had expressed love to more than one woman, as seen in
Act 1, Scene 1, Demetrius, Ill avouch it to his head, Made love to Nedars daughter, Helena,
And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes, Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry, Upon this
spotted and inconstant man (Act 1, Sc. 1, II. 108-112). Demetrius is said to have declared
love to Helena before leaving her and chasing after Hermia, his love ever-changing, evidence
that he is unable to make and commit to important decisions, such as choosing a lover. These
traits within the ancient Athens lovers are also seen in todays teenagers in love, such as how
easily ones current crush can change. Many in relationships are actually unfaithful and
uncommitted due to a teenagers inability to know who they want, and who they really love.
Teenagers, despite different historical periods and time gaps, are the ages where one begins to
grow and develop, slowly taking the first step into the world. They begin to make their own
decisions, but due to how young and inexperienced they are, it is rare of them to stay committed
to a decision for long. Juveniles do not know or understand themselves much yet, therefore

resulting in indecisiveness. Due to their young age and lack of understanding their own selves,
they are constantly changing their minds after making a choice. The choices made are also
made in haste, their rush and desire to grow up, become independent (also referring back to the
first paragraph about rebellious traits) and feel mature being the cause. They hurry to make a
decision not because of the situations themselves, but rather because of the freedom and
power they have to make a choice for themselves.
Whether they are from ancient Athens or present day, teenagers will be teenagers. The
growth and development of a child to an adult, mentally and emotionally, doesnt change, even if
technology, culture, and the rest of the world does. Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream
love portrayed among the four lovers is very much like the love in todays world, from the
rebellious effects of puppy love, to the painful and bitter longing of unrequited love, to the
impetuous traits due to the idea of affection between two people being something exciting, new,
fresh, and different to the innocent, taking their first steps and having their first tastes of the
great, big world. Teenagers would always find love interesting, and fall in love with love before
falling in love with anyone or anything else. In the eyes of young adults, love is a new sensation
that they are yet to be acquainted with, something unlike anything they have ever known or
experienced before in their short lifetimes. Like a shiny object, they would lean in to take a
closer look, and touch it if they dare, and swoon in the soaring feeling that they believe they will
never grow tired of. Fresh, new, different, daring, and exciting was how innocent young adults
has and always will first see love when they open their eyes a bit wider to see the world, before
they truly obtain understanding of it.

Works Cited
Lainey Loves Lionel. The Goldbergs. ABC. KABC-7, Los Angeles. 10 Feb. 2016. Television.
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. A Midsummer Night's Dream.
New York: Washington Square, 1993. Print.
Taylor Swift. Teardrops On My Guitar. Taylor Swift. Big Machine Records, 2006. CD.