Midsummer Night's Dream

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How is the conflict between illusion and reality central to the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream ?

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a dramatic comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595. It's a play about characters who confuse reality and illusion. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. The whole play takes place in Athens- and around 'the cradle of civilisation'. In the play Athens represent the world of reality where people are under rule of order, sanity and enlightenment, whereas the Woods is the home of illusion. The fairies inhabit the moonlit forest where irrational things happen.

The words in the title 'night's dream' suggest that everything happens at night, when the moon is dominant. The moon was significant during the Elizabethan era, since it represented the world of mystery and was associated with magic. The moon affected people's behaviour turning them into 'lunatics' who cannot distinguish reality from illusion. Most of the actions in the play are performed at night by the moonlight. The moon has different images throughout the play. It has both positive and negative imagery. The moon's power is mysterious and often people become bewitched by