A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

When we hear the word “dream,” we often think about the world we escape to in our sleep; however when we awake, the dream is nothing more than a distant memory. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, dreams are more than just a memory. They continue to impact the characters, affecting their decisions and perspective long after they wake up. Dreams are used throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream to strengthen points and reveal important aspects of both the play and the characters within that often link different time periods throughout the play. Dreams are an important aspect of the play that often reveal important plot points and events. Shakespeare shows his readers the thin line between dreams and reality. He does this by

Each character lives in their own reality, influenced and skewed by unique life experiences and challenges. The four Athenian lovers can choose to believe in their dreams, or can choose to live in a reality where dreams are nothing more than a muse. Theseus realizes through his speech about the lover, the poet and the madman that everyone lives in their own reality. He claims that “One sees more devils than vast hell can hold; that is the madman … the lover, … sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt… the poet’s eye… doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven.” (Act III Scene II; 1564). Theseus’ lack of imagination and strong grasp on his own reality allows him to recognize people living in their own realities versus

In literature, future events are often shown throughout dreams, and dreams often provide a mirror image of what is occurring in real life. Dreams transition characters emotions and periods in the story. Reality also reflects perspective and circumstance and it is important to keep the character’s background in mind when reading and analyzing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dreams and reality are parallel universes that, with some magic, interconnect making the thin line between the two often hard to