Michael Hoffman does an incredible job at capturing the feel and emotions of the Shakespearian comedy “Midsummer Night’s Dream”. With a contemporary and fresh look, Hoffman gives the 16th century play a modern flavor while staying true to the original script. This Shakespearian comedy has undergone numerous transformations, being variously re-invented as a musical, a ballet, and in more than a dozen films; and every time it has been subjected to various interpretations. Michael Hoffman also had his own interpretation and adaptation of different characters and settings. One thing that might intrigue the viewer is Hoffman’s adaptation of fairies and the fairy world. In the original play the fairies are portrayed as mischievous and mystical creatures that are invisible to the human eye. Their fondness for dancing, their love of cleanliness, and their child-abstracting propensities is what makes them so fascinating. They also have a strange liking for the real world objects; which they occasionally steal. They form a community, ruled over by the fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania. The fairy realm is hidden from the humans, within the mystical forest. It is an enchanted place where the man-made rules are suspended and where fairy magic is supreme. In the movie Hoffman does a great job in capturing all of these characteristics of the fairy world. Just like the play, Hoffman portrays the fairy world as a gorgeous and lush natural world, which is ruled by the fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania. Some might say Hoffman “sees the fairy world simply as a kingdom in exile, driven into the woods by the triumph of Christianity” (Alleva), but not as a languorous world which Shakespeare had originally portrayed. In the movie, the fairies are portrayed as mischievous creatures who like to interfere in the human world, which is similar to the portrayal in the play. In the first scene of the movie, fairies are shown stealing random objects from the real world to take along to the fairy world as trophies and souvenirs. In a later scene, a group of fairies are shown dancing, singing and getting intoxicated in the enchanted forest. The fairy king, Oberon and the fairy queen, Titania are depicted as godly creatures, which are all seeing and all knowing. They saw their self as the parents of the humans and felt that it was their responsibility and duty to take care of them.
In the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare the contrast between both setting and character are well explained throughout the play. This play is mostly about four young Athenians whose lives become a total disaster because of the fairies in the forest, strange situations in the city of Athens, Greece and mixtures of love potions. The main setting of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is in Athens, Greece. In Athens, the Duke Theseus plans his marriage with Hippolyta. In contrast, the forest is where all the drama happens between all the characters. The four main characters of this play are Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander.
There are several events in the play which at one point or the other take a tragic turn which constantly undercut back into the play by speeches. What is set out in the play is a festive mood where people were engaged in activities of ‘Maying’ where people get together to sing and dance in the woods, activities that led to the maids’ belief that the pursuit if true love can be scored only through divination dreams (Barber 18). The fairy’s existence is conceptualized from the act of fusing pageantry together with popular games in a menacing way bring out their actual image of a relaxed
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
The fairy world then comes into contact with the world of the young lovers. Mischievous Puck causes further complications when he uses magic to anoint a young Athenian male’s eyes, who is in fact the wrong Athenian that Oberon assigned Puck. Puck misuses magic when he plays a silly prank on Bottom who is one of the Mechanicals, by giving Bottom a head of an ass. Strangely Titania falls in love with the creature that Puck has created. This results in Oberon becoming extreamly fu...
Nature is obviously a very big part in the play too because of the continual reference and almost constant presence of the fairy King Oberon and his Queen Titania.
A main portion of Shakespeare’s play takes place in a magical Forrest. Although is seems a bit far fetched, true magic arises from it's deepest parts. The Fairy King, Oberon, alters love, the strongest kind of magic. With his mischievous doings, Lys...
It tells the story of Princess Aurora, King Florestan's daughter. The fairies have been invited to Aurora's christening, and each one in turn dances and gives a magic present. However, the wicked fairy, Carabosse, interrupts the ceremony and is furious that she wasn't invited. She announces that one day Aurora will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Everyone is horrified, but the Lilac fairy still has her present to give. She modifies the spell so Aurora will not die, but will fall asleep and be woken only by a prince's kiss. At her 16th birthday party, princess Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle brought by Carabosse in disguise and, with the whole court, falls asleep for 100 years. Prince Florimund, with the help of the Lilac fairy. Makes his way through the enchanted forest to awaken Aurora with a kiss. At Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund's wedding, the fairies dance and celebrate with Puss in Boots and Red Riding Hood.
Miller, Ronald F. “A Midsummer Night's Dream: The fairies, Bottom, and the mystery of things”. Shakespeare Quarterly 26.3 (1975): 254-68. Web. 25 Apr 2014.
Fairy Tales have been around for generations and generations. Our parents have told us these stories and we will eventually pass them down to ours. In this time of age the most common fairytales are Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and The Beast and many more. Children idolize their favorite character and pretend to be them by mimicking everything they do in the stories. The character’s behavior is what is viewed as appropriate in society. These fairy tales show a girl and a boy fall in love and live “happily ever after”. The tales in many people’s eyes resemble a dream life that they would want to have of their own. However, have you ever really looked at what makes up a fairy tale? Many things are unrealistic but the most unflattering aspect of these tales is how women are depicted in them. Fairy tales give an unrealistic view to how women should look and behave in real life.
Magic is introduced to the play through the fairies which are ruled by Titania an...
There are many fairy tales that have been discussed in this class. The most interesting stories to me are Snow White by Brother Grimm and Ever After: A Cinderella Story directed by Andy Tennant based on Cinderella by Charles Perrault. There are many different versions of Snow White and Cinderella from numerous cultures. In every version, both stories are known as children bedtime stories. In addition, the purpose of both stories is to give a life lesson to the children about overcoming evil to attain happiness. At first, every fairy tale has to deal with evil that threatens the protagonist, but in the end, good must always win. In the same way, both of the fairy tales have a similar scenario of a character
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.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays magic through many places in the text. Magic is a key component to the plot of the story. Magic can make a problem disappear, or it can intensify the problem. There are many reasons magic is powerful, but one of the main ones is because not everyone understands it. Magic in one way or another affects everyone in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the perspective with which each character views magic is different. The power of magic is something that is hard to understand, even those who use magic often cannot fully understand magic because in many ways it is irrational and inexplicable.
that are ever read make fairies out to be nice things that grant wishes and such. Who
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,...