This is just part of the complicated love triangle that the reader faces when reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream written by William Shakespeare.
The actual tale of the story is simplicity itself but it’s the ideas and emotions that Shakespeare uses to capture the reader’s imagination and draw them into deep depths of the story. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is all about twists and turning imagination and things that seem impossible into reality, for example:
- Theseus woos Hippoyta "with his sword". On opposite sides in battle, they fall in love.
- Helena's affection for Demetrius seems to make him hate her. Hermia's hatred seems to make him love her.
As you can see from the rough outline and examples above the story is very much engaging the reader, taking them into an epic journey into the lives of some love sick humans.
It’s important to remember that this is not just a written story, it’s also a scripted play but how might this epic play be staged to a modern day audience. People could get away with things on stage that seems crazy today. You have to bare in mind that modern theatre and audience expectations are very different to the expectations of Shakespeare's time. The theatre was very different in itself. There was no roof, no cushioned seats, and most of the audience would be standing in a circular space on the floor, whilst cheering on the actors, like fans at a football match. Modern theatre audiences watch the play silently in respect to others and sit comfortably, admiring the stage with professional actors dressed up as realistic as possible and props which take the audience into another world, whereas, at The Globe theatre expectations were very different. The audience depended upon good weather and sunlight to improve the enjoyment of watching the play. Only the affordable would sit in the seats surrounding the edge of The Globe, on looking the stage with very few props basic costumes and no background. However, the audience were still taken away.
From research I understand that Shakespeare would have painted back drops etc, with the word invisible to show that it’s not supposed to be there, these days’ people expect much more than just painted words. Other details such as stage directions also affect the audience expectations of today. A modern play brings much more detail compared to Shakespeare's stage directions.
Due to the lack of stage directions telling people today exactly how Shakespeare imagined his play, modern play writers must think up their own interpretations of the play. This can be done through their own choice of actors, lighting, music, effects and direction. As a result the lack of detail can fade and unexpected interpretations can be made.
To round this essay up I would say that this play is a play that has been interpreted in many different ways during the years. The play that you see today may not be how it was done years ago; this is what makes A Midsummer Night’s Dream such an engaging play.
