The Supernatural in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Consider the presentation of the supernatural in "A Midsummer Night's dream". In what way does it reveal Shakespeare's moral and philosophical concerns? How does Shakespeare's stagecraft (setting, Characterisation, language, verse form etc) facilitate the consideration of his concerns? and how do we as a modern audience respond to the play as a piece of theatre? The main themes of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" are the supernatural, dreams, nature and the difficulty of love. Shakespeare's ideas are represented by his use of symbolism. If you look at the play in general at a glance it comes across as being benevolent. But if you look closely then you can see that Shakespeare engages the audience in thought about the world they live in. The audience is left to think about the difficulty of love, the magic or supernatural power of love, and what is illusion or dream. In "A Midsummer Nights Dream" love is a constant theme, there is a clear difference between genuine love and the illusion made by love, that has no meaning. Shakespeare suggests that love is an emotion that has to be balanced by reason. Nothing can stand in the way of true love. Hermia and Lysander are prepared to leave their friends, family, and home in order to get married, and Pyramus and Thisbe die for the love of each other. Titania shows the blindness of love when she falls in love with Bottom she is the highest immortal - a beautiful fairy queen, but she is in love with the lowest immortal - an ass. Puck portrays the cynical and foolish view of love "lord what fools these mortals be", he is unaff... ... middle of paper ... ... side of the supernatural. He shows that good can not exist without evil. Puck speaks of midnight and darkness. Night-time is when humans are usually asleep and when magical creatures are about. Humans don't see very well in the dark so this is a time when we are more vulnerable and feel insecure. Puck also speaks about death and hell "Now it the time of night, That the graves, all gaping wide, Everyone lets forth his sprite" humans are confused and scared about death, but Puck is aware of what happens after death. A modern day audience would be more doubtful about the existence of the Supernatural. But they suspend their disbelief so that they can see things from the character's point of view and get more into the story line. There is more props and better setting available to make the supernatural more believable.
is only in the comfort of light that the boys have vision to see it
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare makes heavy use of hyperbole, the twisting of reality into something greater than what it actually is, in both the dialogue and the ridiculous, larger-than-life nature of the situations that occur to provide a basis for the conflict between reality and illusion, blurring the line that separates the two concepts.
and be great, but they didn't tell him the price he would have to pay.
In Denise Levertov’s Eye Mask, the dark acts as a source of comfort and life. The speaker thrives off of the darkness and is not ready for what light will bring.
The main theme of love in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is explored by four young lovers, who, for the sake of their passions, quit the civilized and rational city of Athens, and its laws, and venture into the forest, there to follow the desires of their hearts - or libidos as the case may be. In this wild and unknown wilderness, with the heat and emotion commonly brought on by a midsummer night, they give chase, start duels, profess their love and hatred and otherwise become completely confused and entangled in the realities and perceptions of their own emotions. What better opportunity for Shakespeare to introduce a world of fairies then this? Shakespeare's fairies live in this wild forest were they love, fight, play and helpfully sort the poor young lovers out before sending them off, back to their own civilized world. Like many of the other elements in this play Shakespeare gives his fairies a healthy mix of illusion and reality. The Fairies use illusion in their exploits and Shakespeare uses them in the Dream in such a way that one might ask: are they even real or are they themselves an illusion?
Supernatural is often defined in as something paranormal or unable to be explained by science or laws of nature. This abnormality or paranormal behavior occurs throughout numerous scenes of Shakespeare 's The Tragedy of Macbeth. The play is set in mid 11th century Scotland, and there was a stark contrast between the way of life back then and today. The Scottish general and Thane of Glamis, Macbeth, is a powerful man, but not a virtuous man. Banquo, who is another general and co-leader of the Scottish army along Macbeth, finds out that his children will be the future king. He is easily persuaded by his devious wife Lady Macbeth of achieving a higher rank in the kingdom of Scotland and they will go on extreme lengths to make sure it happens.
Staging A Midsummer Night's Dream With an Emphasis on the Influence of the Spirit World on the Human World
“Dark View” showcases that there is a darkside to everything as it lashes at the sun but the keeps rotating, encouraging for one to keep going as the sun will be up tomorrow.
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
Throughout history literature has changed into many different forms and styles, it has also stayed the same in many different ways, literary techniques and elements are key to a good piece of writing, a perfect example that shows us just this is in, A Midsummer Nights Dream, where we will further explore the different literary elements that were used most notably the plot. The plot of a story lays out the foundation and the background for the entire play to come, we'll compare and contrast this element and look at the different sub elements which are produced. We will define similarities and difference in these elements form both the play o the film. Taking a look at things such as climax, play incidents, and the conflict will all give us a better understanding of how it affects the similarities and difference of the film versus the play.
Have we not all fall in love once before? A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Williams Shakespeare is one of the most interesting plays I have ever read. Although, I have seen many people fall in love before, this play has such an unrealistic and beautiful way to describe love that I think everybody would want to find love. I enjoyed my time reading this play not only because it’s a comedy play, but also because it includes many life ordinary events that can happen to anybody such as two people falling for the same person. Furthermore, this play also introduce to us some unrealistic book tale such as the use of magic. Also, I like comedy plays because they make me forget about my life problems for a moment and I usually
In William Shakespeare’s book, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, magic is a powerful and useful tool for the characters that have the capability to use it. Some of the characters abuse the power of magic, while others are more responsible in how they use it. Oberon is one the characters that abuses the power of magic. Oberon’s magic has an immense impact on the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. More specifically, Oberon’s magic affects his own life, the lives of other characters, and all the characters in the story experience his magic differently. We will see that even the person who has power to use the magic can become surprised by it. Magic, the ultimate supernatural power, is often unpredictable and inexplicable.
The use and misuse of magic has an important role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a reoccurring theme, Puck’s use of magic creates humor, conflict and balance in the play.
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest writers in literature. He dies in 1616 after completing many sonnets and plays. One of which is "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare’s comedies. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-with-in-a-play, which master writers only write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer. Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" is a comedy combining elements of love, fairies, magic, and dreams. This play is a comedy about five couples who suffer through love’s strange games and the evil behind the devious tricks. This play begins as Theseus, the Duke, is preparing to marry Hippolyta. He woos her with his sword. Hermia is in love with Lysander. Egeus, Hermia’s father, forbids the relationship with Lysander and orders her to marry Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia, but she does not love him. On the other hand, Helena is in love with Demetrius. To settle the confusion, Theseus decides that Hermia must marry Demetrius or become a nun. In retaliation to her father’s command, Hermia and Lysander run away together. Amidst all the problems in the human world, Titania and Oberon, the fairy queen and king, continually argue about their various relationships that they have taken part in. (Scott 336) Titania leaves Oberon as a result of the arguments. Oberon is hurt and wants revenge on Titania. So he tells Puck, Oberon’s servant, to put a magic flower juice on her eyelids while she is sleeping. This potion causes the victim to desperately in love with the first creature that they see. Oberon’s plan is carried out, but the potion is also placed on Lysander’s eyes. Lysander awakes to see Helena, who is aimlessly walking through the woods, and instantly falls in love with her. She thinks that he is making fun of her being in love with Demetrius, so she leaves and Lysander follows. This leaves Hermia to wake up alone. Puck now has journeyed to the area where several actors are rehearsing. He uses his magic to turn one of them into a donkey, in hopes that Titania will awake to see it.