William Shakespeare, one of the most famous play writers, wrote at least 27 different plays in his lifetime. One of the genres he specialized in was comedy, which in Elizabethan time, meant a play that ended happily for all characters. It is believed that one of his most popular comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was written and performed for a wedding party to which Queen Elizabeth herself attended. This only seems appropriate with the entertaining themes of love, magic, and dreams. By examining the title, dreams can be seen as the most important theme as it incorporates both love and magic. In William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dreams are a reflection of reality.
Throughout this play many characters are manipulated by the fairies to fall in love without their control. After going through these experiences, they cannot comprehend the unrealistic events of the past so they choose to refer to them as dreams. “My Oberon! What visions have I seen! Methought I was enamored by an ass” (4.1.75-76). Upon waking up with the healing potion, Titania is disgusted with the thought of what had happened. Little does she know, she actually was in love with Nick Bottom, who was an ass at the time. Characters have no choice but looking at their experiences as dreams or “visions” because there is no other explanation. Similar to humans, who choose to ignore or simply dismiss their problems since that is much easier than dealing with them. On the other hand, this is understandable since they had no control over their emotions or actions in the dream. Oberon was the king of control with the help of his fairy, Puck. “The herb I showed thee once, the juice of it, on sleeping eye-lids laid, will make or man or women madly dote upon the l...
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...ave had a dream, past the wit of man, to say, what dream it was” (4.1.208-209). Also similar to other characters, Bottom chooses to call his experience a “vision” due to the unexplainable events. However, looking back at those events, he gains inspiration.
“The eye of man hatch not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was.
I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream” (4.1.213-217).
Bottom did not have an emotional transformation through his dream like the young lovers. However, the dream enlightened his imagination and boosted his creativity to write his next ballad. over all Nick Bottom improved Bottom as an individual.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream with Related Readings. Albany: ITP International Thomson, 1998. Print.
"William Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." Norton's Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York City: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
The fragmentary nature of the dream, including how it ends with a scramble in the House of Rumour, makes the vision more relatable. As the dreamer
Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A Midsummer Night's Dream: Texts and Contexts. Ed. Gail Kern Paster, and Skiles Howard. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 1-86.
Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The Pelican Shakespeare. New York: Penguin Books Inc. 2000.
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ many aspects of love are explored. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare conveys the theme of love including illusion, confusion, escape, harmony and lust. Historically, it has been suggested that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written for a wedding, signifying the importance of love in this play, however there is no real evidence to prove this myth. Rather, the Lord Chamberlain’s men performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on the London stage.
...fecting Amir indirectly. The dream serves as a catalyst for his decisions on how to move on and redeem himself. The alteration of the scene leaves out the tragic moments of loss, which is needed to clarify death’s influence on people’s actions.
In conclusion, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare effectively uses the motifs of the seasons, the moon, and dreams to show that love, irrationality, and disobedience directly cause chaos. By calling to mind the seasons in unnatural order, describing the moon behaving strangely, and discussing the dualistic, irrational nature of dreams, Shakespeare effectively evokes a sense of chaos and disorder. Linking each of these motifs to the themes of love, irrationality, and disobedience allows Shakespeare to illustrate the disarray that is bound to result from any romance.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, there are multiple analyses that one can follow in order to reach a conclusion about the overall meaning of the play. These conclusions are reached through analyzing the play’s setting, characterization, and tone. However, when one watches the production A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Michael Hoffman, a completely different approach is taken on these aspects, leading to a vastly different analysis of the work. Though there are many similarities between the original written play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and the on-screen production of the aforementioned play which was directed by Michael Hoffman, there are differences in setting and
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the King of the Fairies is a powerful man named Oberon. Oberon is married to Titania, Queen of the Fairies, who received an Indian boy from her dear friend who passed away. Oberon desperately wants the Indian boy to be one of his followers, but the boy is one of Titania followers and she will not give him up. This is when Oberon decides to use magic, in an attempt to win the Indian boy. Oberon uses the magic of a flower, to make his wife, Titania fall in love with the next creature she sees. Oberon says, “Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once: / The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid / Will make or man or woman madly dote / Upon the next live creature that it sees” (2.1.175-178). Oberon then black mails Titania and tells her that she will love the donkey forever unless she gives over the Indian boy. Although many would consider this bad, Oberon uses his magic because he can and he feels he needs to.
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.
Considered to be the greatest playwright to ever have lived, William Shakespeare’s works continue to fascinate and entrance audiences around the world. Imbued with imagery, his comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is perhaps one of his more fantastic but none the less intricate plays. Presiding over the proceedings, the moon is the uniting feature of the play. With its multi-layered symbolism it is the thread that connects the different characters and weaves the tale together.
The forest in Midsummer Night's Dream represents imagination. Puck, a fairy servant and friend of Oberon, watches six Athenian men practice a play to be performed for Theseus' wedding in the forest. Puck turns Nick Bottom's head into that of an ass. The other players see Bottom and run away screaming. He follows them saying, "Sometime a horse I'll be, sometime a hound, a hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire, and neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn, like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn" (3.1.110-113). Puck chases the players, making them think a wild animal is chasing them. In our daily lives, people on often think in a logical and down to earth manner, but the mind wanders when a person is emotional, especially when feeling fear. Fear can cause a person mind to become unhinged. When the mind wanders, the imagination kicks in. One thing can become another--a harmless bush can become a crouching lion. Nearing the end of the play, Theseus and Hippolyta discuss how unrealistic the four lovers experience is. Theseus states, "I never may believe these antique fables, nor these fairy toys. The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact" (5.1.2-3 and 5.1.7-8). Theseus does not believe in fairy tales, that what the four lovers said is not true. In his view, the lunatic, the lover, and the poet have wild imaginations. A lover's emotions can be out of control. When a person is emotional,...