People can become jealous by wanting something that someone else has. Excessive jealousy leads to desperation where people act irrationally to obtain the object of their desire. With irrational actions, people can ruin their relationships to ensure that they will never get what they want; however, other factors may intervene to help them achieve it. William Shakespeare explores these ideas in his play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Two characters he uses to show these qualities are Oberon and Helena. According to Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream, jealousy drives people to take desperate measures to get what they want, and they may need intervention to get what they want. Shakespeare suggests that jealousy comes from not being able to have something that another person has. Oberon wants a male who Titania has. Titania cares for an Indian boy because of her mother's promise to protect him, but Oberon wants the boy to become a knight with him in the woods (MND 2.1.21-25). Oberon is selfish and wants the boy for himself. This jealousy causes conflict in their relationship. Oberon asks Titania about him again, and she fiercely refuses. He says he will not give up the boy, not even “for your fairy kingdom” (MND 2.1.144). She resists Oberon and does not give up. Her stubbornness in not giving in to Oberon's jealous demand drives them further apart. Titania chooses to distance herself from Oberon. He has “renounced his bed and his company,” and if he remains near him “they will reproach him openly” (MND 2.1.62, 145). Oberon's jealousy has driven Titania away from him. She is so disgusted by him that she doesn't want to be near him. Oberon's jealousy of Titania's son has caused a conflict in their relationship... middle of the paper... and thanks to Robin's intervention, Demetrius feels love for Helena again. Without outside influences, Oberon and Helena would not have achieved what they wanted. William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, explores the actions of jealousy, desperation, and intervention to obtain something desired by a person. With the intervention of the love spell flower, both Oberon and Helena were able to get what they wanted. However, the way they went about this was different; Oberon was selfish and deceitful, while Helena was envious and degrading. Despite this, jealousy led to desperation and irrationality, and neither character would have gotten what they wanted had it not been for the flower's interference. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2008. 849-896. Press.