The element of fantasy is used by William Shakespeare in different ways in different plays, but it is an element that is especially strong in certain comedies where the fantasy allows the playwright to poke fun at human foibles or to introduce an element of magic and danger. The way fantasy is used in two plays is very different. The fantasy in A Midsummer Night's Dream and that in The Tempest involves magic and a belief in fairies and sprites in each case, but the fantasy in the former is much lighter than the vengeful magic of the latter, in keeping with the subject matter of the two works. A Midsummer Night's Dream is essentially a love story, while The Tempest is a more seriously minded investigation into issues of revenge and the battle of right and wrong.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, one reason for the fantasy element is to create a dramatic stage on which to test human constancy and human worth. Lysander states that "the course of true love never did run smooth" (I.i.134), and this represents a theme that runs through many of Shakespeare's plays and indeed through much of world literature. The statement itself embodies several ideas. First, it assumes that there is such a thing as true love and that it is a conception based on the idea that two people are literally meant for each other. Second, it states that these two people, though meant for each other, may have to endure a good deal before they can actually achieve the love that is their destiny. In terms of A Midsummer Night's Dream, this statement helps characterize Lysander in a way that makes it evident the objections raised to the young man by Egeus are wrong and that Lysander is not one to feign love at all as Egeus believes he is doing. Lysander does indeed love Hermia as she loves him. The statement is also indicative of the plot of this play, for no one's love runs smooth in this complicated mixture of different couples all influenced by playful spirit...