There were parallels between A Midsummer Night's Dream and Breaking Dawn?
Um...
I suppose that one could argue that Jacob's imprinting deal mirrors the fairy love potion in MND. On the other hand, a large chunk of the MND plot revolves around Puck's mix-up with Lysander and Demitrius; there is no mix-up in BD. I mean, I *thought* Meyer was setting up Jacob x Leah, and then it ended up Jacob x Renesmee, but that's not anything like what happened in MND.
I'm guessing the logic goes something as follows:
Lysander x Hermia = Edward x Bella
Demitrius x Hermia = Jacob x Bella (and unrequited, obviously)
Fairy potion = shapeshifter imprinting thing
Ok. I'm down with that. It makes sense. The issue I have with the comparison is Renesmee, who I'm guessing is Helena? The problem with that parallel (if indeed that is how the logic goes) is that Helena was in love with Demitrius from the start, whereas Renesmee is just a baby, and Jacob fell for her first, and then she reciprocated, rather than the other way around.
On a much more general level, I can kind of see the parallels, though I never would have made the connection if I hadn't seen it here. There is the whole theme of sudden, dramatic changes in perception (the fairy love potion, and imprinting) which lead to a happy ending.
However, the dramatic changes in perception pretty much are the plot in MND, whereas they play a very backseat (and much less complex) role in BD. If Jacob's sudden, dramatic switch from Bella to Renesmee was the main plot of BD, I could go along with this MND is similar to BD! thing. However, the main plot is comprised of Renesmee's birth and then the lead up to the battle that wasn't a battle with the Volturi. Jacob's imprinting seemed like an afterthought to ensure a happy ending, to me anyway.
So, bottom line; I can't really see how MND inspired BD. I can see how MND might have provided inspiration for a happy ending for Jacob, but not how it could have provided inspiration for the entire book.
