Puck's Mischief

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Puck may be mischievous, but he is not cruel or evil. Do you agree?

I agree to a large extent that; although Puck may be mischievous and playful, it does not mean that he is inherently cruel and evil. Mischievousness, implies a sort of roguish fondness for trickery and pranks, this however does not necessarily dictate that Puck is evil at heart.

At the outset, the first impression the audience receives of Puck is that of a merry prankster and not a hard-hearted plotter who wishes ill. The first fairy the audience meets describes Puck as a ‘shrewd and knavish sprite’ referring directly to his mischievous spirit. The fairy describes Puck’s pranks of making ‘the drink to bear no barm’ and Puck himself talks about how he ‘jest[s] to Oberon, and make[s] him smile’ and even pretends to be a stool only to disappear when one wants to sit; all of which though they may sometimes be unkind, do not mean any serious harm. Thus from the beginning, Shakespeare creates the impression of a character that delights in mischief, but does not go out of his way to harm people.

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Though Puck catalyses the conflict between the lovers, it is not because of evil intent that he does this.  In fact if anyone should be deemed cruel or evil in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it should be Oberon. As it was due to carrying out Oberon’s orders, Puck caused the confusion amongst the lovers seen in Act 3 Scene 2. It is doubtless that Puck was indeed the one who ‘anoint[s]’ Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius, causing Lysander to pursue Helena to ‘honour… [her] and be…[her] knight’, creating a tangle of lovers when all four finally meet in Act 3 ...

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