Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream satirizes pastoral literature. Pastoral literature, very popular in Shakespeare's day, presents rustic, urban life as ideal and city life as corrupt. Yet, since A Midsummer Night's Dream satirizes pastoral literature, while all the characters venture into nature to escape, they wind up being even further troubled due to corruption. Hence, Shakespeare develops a theme of nature to show that nature isn't really the ideal escape pastoral literature paints it as; so long as human nature exists, corruption will always exist, no matter where the human being is located.
In line with pastoral literature, Shakespeare sets up the city of Athens as a corrupt setting. Its corruption is revealed in its unjust laws. Though Duke Theseus tries to rule based on compassion, reason, and justice, the fact stands that a law exists in Athens permitting a father to execute or exile a daughter who disobeys his wishes, even if his wishes are unjust. We know Egeus's wish for Hermia to marry Demetrius rather than Lysander is unjust and not based on reason because Lysander argues he is as financially capable as Demetrius and accuses Demetrius of unfaithfulness, a rumor Duke Theseus confesses to also having heard: "I must confess that I have heard so much" (I.i.111). For this reason, Theseus takes Egeus and Demetrius aside to try to get them to think more rationally about their desires but apparently does not succeed. The unjust law and Egeus's inability to rationally judge a decision as important as whom his daughter should marry shows the corruptness of Athens.
To escape corruption, Lysander and Hermia venture into the woods, into nature, through which they can traverse to the home of Lysander's aunt, who lives outside of Athens, and live happily ever after. However, corruption pursues them even in the woods when Puck, using magic, mistakenly makes both Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with Helena instead of Hermia. Though magic creates the conflict, the characters' reactions to what they are experiencing as a result of the magic reveals the corrupt nature of their souls.
As an example of corruption, Helena, suddenly finding herself being pursued by two men, accuses all three characters--Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia--of conspiring to mock her. She particularly accuses Hermia of developing the plot to mock her and temporarily severs her friendship with Hermia, her lifelong friend. Plus, the men feel incited to duel each other to the death. Since the actions of the characters in the woods show that our values, such as of love, life, and friendship, are so fleeting, their actions also show that mankind is corrupt, no matter where mankind is located.
Hence, Shakespeare uses the backdrop of nature to develop a theme that satirizes pastoral literature by showing that mankind is corrupt even in nature.
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