A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" Essay "A Midsummer Night's Dream", one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, is generally thought of as a comical romance. A very important factor that makes the whole play a comedy, is magic, which is used to affect the lives of four Athenians: Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius. Bottom, also a simple human, falls victim of the fairies' mischievous magic. The magic reaches these characters by Puck, a naughty fairy, and Oberon, the king of fairies. Puck decides to cast a spell on Bottom, making him grow a donkey head, and Oberon decides to cast a spell on Titania, making her fall in love with Bottom. From a simple mistaken spell, a rollercoaster of emotions, conflicts and laughter emerge. Magic is a vital element in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" because it gives the four Athenians a new life after the two men get cast a spell on, and Titania, falling in love with an ass head. Magic also causes the lovers to find that love is no smooth enterprise as stated by Lysander; "The course of true love never did run smooth." (1-1 ll. 134). Their pursuit of love may not run smooth but most, although not all, of the lovers end up happy. Hermia and Lysander find that they cannot be together so they elope to the woods where they then become victims of Puck and Helena cannot seem to make Demetrius love her until Puck's interference, and then she does not
Role of the Craftsmen
Describe the function of Bottom and his fellow craftsmen in the play. Bottom and his fellow craftsmen are bubbly, animated and optimistic to a fault. With their amiable exuberance and whole-hearted cheerfulness, they are often seen as the most likeable characters in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. In terms of function, their presence serves to create humour and act as a foil to the upper echelons of Athenian society. With their play-within a play, Shakespeare also creates a parody of youthful impassioned love and a sturdy reminder of reality amidst all the magic and chaos in the forest. Bottom and his fellow craftsmen with their good-humoured disposition create humour through their amusing malapropisms and unsophisticated poetry. For instance the craftsmen often use words out of context to hilarious results, like when Flute as Thisbe calls Pyramus 'Jew' when he probably meant jewel. To fully understand the humour here, one must realize that in Shakespearean times, Jews were widely loathed and thus would be the opposite of 'jewel, thereby thoroughly tickling an Elizabethan audience. Another example of this is when Bottom as Pyramus mistakenly asks Thisbe to meet him at 'Ninny's' instead of 'Ninus' Tomb'. Here, a ninny refers to an imbecile, whereas Ninus' refers to the legendary founder of Nineveh. Shakespeare's audience would very likely have been able to pick this up and see
Midsummers' Night dream
Discuss the importance of magic in A Midsummer Night's Dream. A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's well known romantic comedies written sometime in the sixteenth century. The play is an adventure of four young Athenian lovers and a group of laborious and graceful actors in a forest. These amateur actors are attempting to stage their play at the wedding of The Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of Amazon, Hippolyta. The play is set in a moonlit forest where the world of the 'fairies' collide with the lover's world. These fairies cause all the magic in the play and the consequences of it are chaos, comedy and resolution. Why did Shakespeare write this supernatural comedy? This play was first played at a wedding during the Elizabethan when comedies were very popular. All comedies contained five elements which were essential. These are wit, verbal jokes, mistaken identity, music and poetry. Wit was seen as a silly argument and the first example of it is when the two men fight over Hermia. For example Lysander describes Demetrius as a 'spotted and inconstant man'. This is also an example of a verbal joke which is seen throughout the play. An example of mistaken identity can be seen when Bottom has been transformed into an ass by Puck's magic. When snout says to Bottom 'Thou are changed' we see this. Poetry is used by all characters apart from the mechanicals who
A Midsummer Night's Dream Plot Outline
A Midsummer Night's Dream Christen N. Barnette Shorter University English 1120 Drama Essay Stephen Barnes July 13, 2010 A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about three couples in love in Athens. The first couple is Theseus and Hippolyta. The second is Lysander and Hermia then Demetrius and Helena who are not yet a couple. There are fairies that mix up things and cause two men to fall in love with the same woman and fight over her. Some local men gather to work on a play for the upcoming marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. In the end everyone has found happiness. Act 1 The first act starts at Theseus' court in Athens. Theseus is with his soon to be wife Hippolyta talking about their marriage in four days and how they cannot wait until then. They are then approached by a man named Egeus with concerns of his daughter Hermia who is in love with a man he does not approve of. She is in love with Lysander and he is in love with her but Demetrius is also in love with Hermia and her father approves of him and wants her to marry Demetrius and not Lysander. Theseus then gives Hermia until the next new moon to decide if she will marry Demetrius and make her father happy, or be killed for loving a man her father does not approve of or become a nun and have no man at all. She continues to tell of her love for Lysander and
A Midsummer Night's Dream- Play within a play
Discuss the role of the play- within- a- play in Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Does the Pyramus and Thisbe story have any relevance to the main story, or is it simply a comical interlude? What effect does the mechanicals production of their play have on the tone of the play as a whole? The Pymamus and Thisbe story in Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream plays an important role to the main story. Not only does the play- within- a- play echoes with the story of the four lovers- Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius, it also serves as a reinforcement of the theme: love. Though the mechanicals' production seems to be a comic interlude, it is a warning to both the pairs of lovers and to the audience about the potential danger brought by love's blindness. Despite the tragic content of the play- within- a- play, the mechanicals' comic illustration and performance makes the play a lot more lighthearted. On top of that, the play- within- a- play brings in the major message of the story- that "the best in this kind [of play] are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend[s] them." The echo between the two plays starts at the very beginning of the Pymamus and Thisbe story. Objections from the father of Thisby act as a "wall" "stand[ing] between" Thisbe and Pyramus. Despite the objection from the great father authority, the "fearful lovers" risk everything just
Puck. From my interpretation of the character, Puck, I have concluded that he is mischievous, but not malevolent. In an earlier scene, he states that he is a mischief-maker,
Puck. From my interpretation of the character, Puck, I have concluded that he is mischievous, but not malevolent. In an earlier scene, he states that he is a mischief-maker, and his love for mischief is evident from many things he says in 3:2. For example; "Then will two at once woo one; That must needs be sport alone; And those things do best please me That befall preposterously." He is saying that when two men love one girl, it will put things in a whirl, and the things that please him happen in a ridiculous way. So he will find the Lysander-Demetrius-Helena love triangle highly amusing. I would not play Puck in a malevolent way, because as jester to Oberon, and a "mad spirit" as Oberon calls him, he is likely to find the entire situation of 3:2 extremely funny and entertaining, because he loves mischief and ridiculous situations so I as Puck, I would chuckle to myself, like a child would at some parts of the scene. As a costume for Puck, I would use earthy colours; browns and greens, because he is very at home in the forest and blends in very well. I would use different colours for Puck then to the rest of the fairies, who would be dressed in generally lighter colours, for example, white. I would have Puck to be very hairy, because he is so earthy and natural, and perhaps give the character a small pair of horns, to represent his cheeky devilish streak An
A middsummer nights dream
How does Shakespeare use the two settings of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to explore the two sides of human conciousness This essay will be discussing the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', written by the popular playwright William Shakespeare. The play is a romantic comedy, it addresses many issues that were around in the period it was written. These issues include such things as women's rights and the dominance of male society and quite severe class divides. The play is set in two different places, the domestic and public sphere, represented by the city of Athens and the home, this is the waking concious world where there are rules and regulations and everyone has a set place, the other setting is the woods, this is the subconscious world ruled by fairies and full of magic, in this world anything can happen, people change roles in society and spells are cast. This essay will be discussing the importance of these factors and also discussing aspects of control and other topics that are visible throughout the essay. We see the first aspect of control in the play in the first act of scene one, when Theseus is talking to Hippolyta in his palace the day before the wedding: "Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, And won thy love, doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph and with revelling." This shows that Duke Theseus sees Hippolyta
Puck's Mischief
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. 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.
In What Ways Does Shakespeare Create Disorder And Confusion in Act 3 Scene 2?
Richard Taylor In What Ways Does Shakespeare Create Disorder And Confusion in Act 3 Scene 2? Here are many ways in which Shakespeare creates disorder and confusion in act 3 scene 2. One of the ways in which he does this is to bring in the supernatural aspect of the play into the scene. Such as the fact that an "outside force", which are Oberon and Puck, interfere with and control the affairs of the players (Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander). He brings the supernatural in with the fairies. While asleep, Puck squeezes the juice of a flower into the eyes of Lysander, thus making him fall in love with the first person he sees. He is woken by Helena who he then falls in love with and this begins the havoc. Every time the couples encounter there is always more confusion with their arguing. Soon the fairies realise their mistake, so Puck squeezes the juice into Demetrius eyes which also makes him fall in love with Helena. This confusion continues to spiral out of control due to the fairies intervention and Puck's mistake. Because Helena's love for Demetrius has previously been in vain and he now loves her also as Lysander, she believes that they are both mocking her as they are both suddenly mysteriously and madly in love with her. I can tell that she believes they are all mocking her because in act 3 scene 2 - line 168, Helena says "Never did mockers waste more idle
Explore the social and historical context through Shakespeares stagecraft in A Midsummer Nights Dream
Nathan Griffiths Explore the social and historical context through Shakespeare's stagecraft in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. To explore the social and historical context in William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' the features of the play will be analysed, such a: the different characters dialogue compared to their social class, the connections to Greek and Roman mythology, Elizabethan beliefs and the many references to the moon. The play opens with characters from classic Greek mythology, Theseus who slain the Minotaur and Hippolyta Queen of the Amazons, who an Elizabethan audience would be familiar with as it was extensively studied in that era and the legends would be common knowledge among people so when the play begins the audience would instantly have had an understanding. But the opening would be questioned by the viewers because they would be wondering why they are marrying since they would be aware the couple are from different cultures. It is ironic that the queen of a race of woman who refuse to marry because they despises men is marrying; this is how Shakespeare immediately sets the genre of this performance as a humorous love story. Shakespeare would have been aware that many of the audience in a public performance would have only received a basic education and would be technically illiterate, so verbal communication was of greater significance and so