Various parallels can be drawn when comparing William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, even when taking into consideration Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy. These parallels pertain to events in the plays, prototypical Shakespearian characters, actions by these characters, motifs, and themes. Both plays also include cities and "safe havens" in the setting as well as a pair of lovers, Romeo and Juliet and Hermia and Lysander, respectively. By drawing parallels it is easy to see how Shakespeare uses similar character types in a variety of plays, as well as how Shakespeare makes a satirical imitation of his own play, Romeo and Juliet, within A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the worker's "Lamentable Comedy."

One of many parallels that can be derived from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet is the arranged marriages and "love...