“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind” (Shakespeare 17). When we are in love, we don’t see with our eyes, we see with our minds. That is why paintings of Cupid, the god of love, is always shown as blind. Since Cupid has no eyes, but has wings, he is bound to cause trouble.
What are facts about Cupid?
- In this tale, Cupid was already a young man. ...
- She started to miss all the attention and altar sacrifices, so she sent down her son, Cupid, to Psyche to make her fall in love with a gross monster.
- But he scratches himself with his own arrow, and when he sees Psyche he falls completely in love with her.
Is Cupid a Roman god?
- Interesting information and Facts about the Roman god of love
- Cupid, the Roman god of erotic love and beauty
- Stories and Legends in Roman Mythology associated with the god of love
- Facts and information about the Gods and Deities of the Ancient World for schools and kids
- The Roman god of love and beauty
Why is Cupid an infant?
Perhaps Cupid is usually seen as a baby because babies represent the combination of two people in love. In Greek mythology, his mother is Aphrodite. Cupid is the equivalent to the gods Amor and Eros, depending on which myths are told. He is represented by the symbol of two hearts with an arrow piercing through them. Read more
Is Cupid a myth?
In myths, Cupid is a minor character who serves mostly to set the plot in motion. He is a main character only in the tale of Cupid and Psyche, when wounded by his own weapons, he experiences the ordeal of love.
What does painted blind mean?
IN this case, the name is a metaphor for love itself. One might read the quote as “winged love is painted blind.” Painted: used to describe how one's perceptions are covered. Love is “painted blind” in this quote by Helena. Blind: lacking sight or understanding.
What figure of speech is this Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind?
Personification. Personification is using language to give life-like or human qualities to non-human things. In Act 1, Shakespeare writes: ''Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind. '' In this quotation, love is being treated like an entity of action.
Who Wrote Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind?
William ShakespeareQuote by William Shakespeare: “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind...”
Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts?
1. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? He wants to be the only one playing all the parts because he likes the attention and thinks he is the best actor of the group.
Who said it's not enough to speak but to speak true?
THESEUS 125This fellow doth not stand upon points. not enough to speak, but to speak true.
What is jealous Oberon?
Oberon is jealous that Titania is keeping the Indian changeling as her attendant when Oberon wants him for his henchman, with a changeling being a child that fairies steal and raise as their own, leaving the partners with a fairy child instead. However, the two fairies also accuse each other of infidelity.
What is Shakespeare saying about dreams?
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
Who says my soul is in the sky?
William Shakespeare— William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V. Scene I. My soul is in the sky.
Who said Ill Met Moonlight proud Titania?
OberonOberon. Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.
Why won't Titania give up the changeling boy?
Titania refuses to let the boy go because his mother was a close friend of hers, and when she died in childbirth, Titania agreed to raise her son. Hatching a plan to win the Indian boy, Oberon sends Puck in search of a flower called love-in-idleness.
What mistake does Puck make?
What mistake does Puck make? He squirts the juice on the wrong man.
Why does flute not want to play Thisbe?
Flute, the bellows mender, is assigned the role of the heroine, Thisbe. Not happy to play a female role because he wants to let his beard grow, Flute is pleased to learn that he can wear a mask for the performance so he won't need to shave.
What does Helena mean when she says Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind?
This is the case, she argues, because “love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”—love depends not on an objective assessment of appearance but rather on an individual perception of the beloved.
What is the most famous line in Midsummer Night's Dream?
The course of true love never did run smooth. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
What figure of speech is as soft as a pillow?
Simile: It is one of the most used figure of speech. It involves comparison between two persons or things that have features that can be said not to be similar or comparable. Simile is usually introduced by words such as ” as, like, as and as”.
What play is love is blind from?
'Love is blind' is a phrase spoken by Jessica, a character in The Merchant of Venice.
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 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 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 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.
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 is blind" mean?
This quote is basically the adage, "Love is blind." What he means is that if you love someone, you generally love them not for what they look like, but for who they are inside. Out of context, the quote is quite romantic. In the context of the play however, the quote is quite ironic; later Titania will fall in love with Bottom after he's been given a donkey head. Bottom's character is not admirable, so there is really no reason--heart or mind--for her to love him, and that's where irony enters the situation.
Why is Shakespeare's quote "Love is blind" important?
As for the meaning, the quote is important because it represents one of Shakespeare's many ideas about love, and Shakespeare is often considered to be an expert at getting to the heart of human emotions. This quote is basically the adage, "Love is blind.".
What does the quote "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind" mean?
The quote "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; / And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind" sets a humorous and ironic tone for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Thanks to Puck and some love potion, the exact opposite of this quotation proves true throughout the play as lovers fall in love with a mere look and no thought at all.
Why does Demetrius love Helena?
When the play begins, he's in love with Hermia, and Helena indicates that the main reason is because Hermia is prettier. By the end of the play, Demetrius has found his true love in Helena. He was looking for love with his eyes; however, he wasn't finding true love.
Is love blind in Puck and Puck?
Thus in this play, love is far from blind. It appears as the direct result of seeing another person (at least if the seer has love potion on his eyelids). What's more, love has nothing at all to do with the mind, but rather with Puck's magical flower and clumsy ways. Helena's words about love not looking with the eyes but with the mind turn out to be hilariously ironic indeed. In the end, though, Puck finally sorts everything out, and both couples, Demetrius and Helena and Lysander and Hermia, marry and presumably live happily ever after.
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").
What do Lysander and Hermia confide to Helena?
Lysander and Hermia confide to Helena that they have decided to run off together to Lysander's aunt's house , which is beyond the Duke's' authority. Helena decides to use this information to show Demetrius that Hermia doesn't love him—that he can never marry her—and to win Demetrius back for herself.
What does Helena feel about Demetrius?
Helena is left alone at the end of the scene, and in her monologue, she confesses that she's envious of Lysander and Hermia, jealous of Demetrius's love for Hermia (what does he see in Hermia that he doesn't see in her?), and feels that Demetrius made a mistake in preferring Hermia to her —but that she loves him anyway and wants him back.
What does Hermia rebel against?
Talking with Lysander later in the scene, Hermia rebels against the idea that she must conform to her father's wishes and reinforces this motif:
What should a person's eyes be capable of seeing?
Thus, if the rest of the world sees a hideous person with an ass's head, a person's "eyes" should be objectively capable of easily seeing that the person in question is a hideous creature. That would be reasonable or show the person was judging using their reason or logic.
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. ...
