Metaphors of the Madman: Conceptualization of Love in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Mirka Cirovic, Independent Researcher, Serbia

published in the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Love and Relationship Studies, 6-8 March, 2026

You can see the full video recording of this presentation at the YouTube channel of the International Institute of Love Studies

Introduction

Enduring appeal of Shakespeare’s plays, as Samuel Johnson (1765) noted a long time ago, lies in how his characters are moved by “general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, making their experiences communicable to all times and places.”  This means that Shakespeare’s genius lies in his mastery of metaphorically representing abstract notions such as love. While critics like Jan Kott (1964) have explored the psycho-sexual undercurrents of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it seems that researchers have not conducted a systematic analysis of the cognitive mechanisms structuring the play’s central theme.

This study aims to investigate conceptual metaphors underpinning metaphorical linguistic expressions about love, relying on George Lakoff’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (1980, 1989). On the second level of analysis, Fauconnier and Turner’s Blending Theory (BT) (1998) accounts for how the integration of various inputs projects more coherent impressions into a blended space, modelling love as an irrational and destabilizing force.

Methodology and Methods

This study employs tools from cognitive linguistics and what we know about human mental processing to analyze and understand the representation, experience, and nature of love in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

 The method of study involves the following steps:

 1. Identifying metaphorical linguistic expressions related to love in characters’ discourses

 2. Extrapolating the underlying conceptual metaphors (e.g., identifying that “You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant” and “The more you beat me, I will fawn on you” are based on the metaphors LOVE IS A PHYSICAL FORCE, and THE BELOVED IS A MASTER/ THE LOVER IS A SERVILE ANIMAL)  

3. Observing and analyzing the “blends” created by the integration of these metaphors as stable mappings

 For instance, MAGIC, NATURAL, and PHYSICAL FORCES project into a blended mental space the experience of love as an irrational and involuntary force.

Highlights of Results

The analysis reveals a coherent network of conceptual metaphors that portray love as an involuntary, irrational, and transformative power.  

Key findings include:

  • Dehumanization and Power: Helena’s self-conceptualization as a “spaniel” (2.1.203) and Lysander’s rejection of Hermia as a “cat” and “burr” (3.2.260) rely on the metaphor LOVE IS SERVITUDE, emphasizing the dynamic of hierarchical structures and loss of self.
  • Irreversible Force: Demetrius is conceptualized as a magnetic “adamant” who draws Helena’s “true as steel” heart (2.1.195-198), embodying LOVE IS A PHYSICAL FORCE beyond rational control.  
  • Magic and Fantasy: The personification of LOVE as a blind child-God Cupid or a “waggish boy” forswearing in a game illustrates love as illogical and capricious. This accounts for the tendency of the male protagonists to make and break love promises easily. 

Discussion and Conclusions

Shakespeare builds a network of words and phrases by relying on consistent cognitive patterns, playing around with the mental links among them. This is how he presents a unified cognitive model of love. It is not a rational choice but a potent force that invades, reconstitutes, and often humiliates the self. In this, Shakespeare conveys that the suffering of lovers is caused by forces as vast as the weather, as potent as magnetism, and as arbitrary as child’s fantasy.

Thus, the proposed cognitive approach in this study reveals various aspects that constitute meaning, such as psychological, cultural, philosophical, etc. It also accounts for the inference phenomenon, the cognitive, and aesthetic unity of varied inputs. Finally, the proposed cognitive approach explains Shakespeare’s enduring model of love’s irrational power, perfectly linking it to the “seething brains” of lovers, madmen, and poets.

References

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (1998). Conceptual integration networks. Cognitive Science, 22(2), 133–187.

Johnson, S. (1765/ 2004). Preface to Shakespeare. The Project Gutenberg EBook.

Kott, J. (1964). Shakespeare Our Contemporary. Translated by Bolesław Taborski, Methuen.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.