Is cupid painted blind?
Shakespeare is, and always has been, a staple of English literature – and probably always will be. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) This means that it shouldn’t matter what a person looks like, you love them for their personality and what’s inside.
Why is Cupid winged and boyish?
Cupid is winged, allegedly because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and boyish because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch, "because love wounds and inflames the heart.".
What is Cupid's relationship with Diana?
[70] Cupid was the enemy of chastity, and the poet Ovid opposes him to Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt who likewise carries a bow but who hates Cupid's passion-provoking arrows. [71] Cupid is also at odds with Apollo, the archer-brother of Diana and patron of poetic inspiration whose love affairs almost always end disastrously.
What does Helena mean by Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind?
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind meaning” Meaning. This quote suggests that love does not use eyes to see one's beloved but the mind. Love depends on one's perception of another person. It is a direct reference to what Helena believes is keeping Demetrius in love with Hermia.
What does Helena mean by it is not night when I do see your face?
The line "It is not night when I do see your face" creates a mood of romantic love.
What is winged Cupid?
Cupid is winged, allegedly because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and boyish because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch, "because love wounds and inflames the heart."
What is so ironic about Bottom's name?
Bottom's name is ironic because, for the most part, he tends to act like another name for 'bottom' while on stage. He is very proud and spends much of his time bragging. 20. What does Oberon tell Puck to do with the love juice after seeing the conversation between Helena and Demetrius?
What does Helena's statement I am your spaniel reveal about her?
What does Helena's statement "I am your spaniel" reveal about her? It shows that as long as she can be with him, she doesn't care how Demetrius treats her. Bottom uses words incorrectly: We will meet, and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.
What insult does Helena say about Hermia's appearance?
As Lysander and Demetrius become love struck over Helena, they are cruel to Hermia, making blatant racist jokes about her dark complexion. Lysander calls her an ''Ethiope,'' meaning a dark-skinned person from Africa. He also calls her a ''tawny Tartar,'' meaning someone of Asian descent.
Is Cupid blindfolded?
According to mythology, Cupid, the god of desire and erotic love, was often depicted as blindfolded as well as winged. Too, Cupid took a mortal wife, Psyche. And as a mortal, she was forbidden to look at him. So perhaps there are, after all, a variety of interesting reasons it is often said that love is blind.
Why is Cupid blindfolded?
Cupid's blindfold is also variously interpreted as positive or negative. For some, “love is blind” means that appearances don't matter in true love. For others, the blindness means that people in love don't know what they're doing, or that love is careless and uncontrolled.
How is love blind in A Midsummer Night's dream?
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Helena utters these lines as she comments on the irrational nature of love. They are extremely important to the play's overall presentation of love as erratic, inexplicable, and exceptionally powerful (I.i.227–235).
How does Bottom become an AS?
During play rehearsal, Bottom's head is transformed (by Puck) into that of an "ass" (donkey), making him the butt of the play's biggest joke. Clueless that he's been transformed, Puck declares that his friends have run away from him in fear because they're trying to "make an ass" out of him (3.1. 122).
Does Bottom know he is a donkey?
3.1: Bottom re-enters the stage after a break, but his head has been transformed into that of a donkey—unbeknownst to him. He declares the men are playing a joke to make him afraid.
How did Bottom become a donkey?
In the play, Bottom is a craftsman who is rehearsing a play with his friends in a forest near Athens. The mischievous Puck (or Robin Goodfellow) uses faerie magic to change Bottom's head into that of a donkey. Left alone in the forest after his friends abandon him, Bottom sings loudly to show that he is not afraid.
Important Vocabulary to Know
Cupid: a reference to the son of Venus and Mars in classical mythology. IN this case, the name is a metaphor for love itself. One might read the quote as “winged love is painted blind.”
Where Does Shakespeare Use This Quote?
Shakespeare uses this quote in Act I, Scene 1 in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is spoken by Helena at the end of the scene. It is part of a dramatic monologue that sets a humorous tone for the rest of the play. Readers will realize as the play progresses that the exact opposite of the quotation proves to be true.
Why Did Shakespeare Use This Quote?
Shakespeare used this quote as a prelude to the rest of the play. It is striking humorous, and ironic when one knows what will happen next. That is the exact opposite of what the quotation suggests. When Helena speaks this quote, she’s considering the relationship she wants to have with Demetrius (and that Demetrius wants to have with Hermia).
FAQs
What does Helena mean when she says, “Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind?”
Other Resources
Baldwin, Emma. "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind". Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/shakespeare-quotes/love-looks-not-with-the-eyes-but-with-the-mind/. Accessed 21 February 2022.
What does the quote "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind" mean?
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste. This quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream means that love does not look with reason (with the "eyes") but with the imagination ("the mind").
Do people in love look at their beloved?
However, people in love do not behave reasonably or perceive the beloved with objective eyes. Instead, when we say they LOOK at the beloved with their imagination, we mean the lover has created an idea in his or her mind of what the person they love looks like that may bear no relationship to reality.
Why does Demetrius say it shouldn't matter what a person looks like?
This means that it shouldn’t matter what a person looks like, you love them for their personality and what’s inside . The quote is said in jealousy, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by Helena because Demetrius thinks that Hermia is more beautiful than Helena and has been swayed by her beauty. Helena thinks that Demetrius should love her for who she is and keep his promises to her rather than loving Hermia for her beauty.
What does Shakespeare mean by "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind"?
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) This means that it shouldn’t matter what a person looks like, you love them for their personality and what’s inside. ...
Why is Cupid winged?
Cupid is winged, allegedly because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and boyish because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch, "because love wounds and inflames the heart." These attributes and their interpretation were established by late antiquity, as summarized by Isidore of Seville (d. 636 AD) in his Etymologiae. Cupid is also sometimes depicted blindfolded and described as blind, not so much in the sense of sightless—since the sight of the beloved can be a spur to love—as blinkered and arbitrary. As described by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1590s):
What is the meaning of the image of a cupid as a bee?
The image of Cupid as a bee is part of a complex tradition of poetic imagery involving the flower of youth, the sting of love as a deflowering, and honey as a secretion of love. Cupids playing with a lyre, Roman fresco from Herculaneum.
What does the cupid symbolise?
Particularly in ancient Roman art, cupids may also carry or be surrounded by fruits, animals, or attributes of the Seasons or the wine-god Dionysus, symbolizing the earth's generative capacity. Having all these associations, Cupid is considered to share parallels with the Hindu god Kama.
What is the meaning of the word "cupid" with a dolphin?
In other contexts, Cupid with a dolphin recurs as a playful motif, as in garden statuary at Pompeii that shows a dolphin rescuing Cupid from an octopus, or Cupid holding a dolphin. The dolphin, often elaborated fantastically, might be constructed as a spout for a fountain.
What kind of arrow does a cupid carry?
Cupid carries two kinds of arrows, or darts, one with a sharp golden point, and the other with a blunt tip of lead. A person wounded by the golden arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire, but the one struck by the lead feels aversion and desires only to flee.
How many arrows does Cupid have?
A variation is found in The Kingis Quair, a 15th-century poem attributed to James I of Scotland, in which Cupid has three arrows: gold, for a gentle "smiting" that is easily cured; the more compelling silver; and steel, for a love-wound that never heals.
Why is Cupid a popular figure?
In contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown drawing his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine's Day.
