A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare
'It is the most insipid, ridiculous Play that I ever saw in my life'
(Samuel Pepys 1662)
I cannot say that I would agree with the above statement made by
Samuel Pepys in 1662. When I read the play I didn't quite understand
why Shakespeare had written it. After I done some research I realized
that Shakespeare wrote this play so that it could be performed for
weddings.
The story of A Midsummer Night's Dream was that of love. Throughout
the play, Shakespeare tried to show that love is unpredictable,
unreasonable, and at times is blind. The primary focus in this play
was love and its relation to marriage.
I think that this play would have been most entertaining for those
watching it especially in that era as they had limited entertainment
and it would have been what they were accustomed to. Even today in the
21st Century, I think that it would still be found entertaining even
though in today's times there is a variety of entertainment such as,
cinemas, Theatres, Play houses, Home video's and DVD's. Just as how I
found it enjoyable there are others like myself who would also find it
entertaining.
If we look very closely we will see that the love is a not just
between the 4 lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius. But it
is also between a fairy and a mechanical; however, the only one case
is where Titania falls in love with Bottom. This is the only time we
see the two worlds interact as one. By this I mean the fairies are not
hidden from the mechanicals they are clearly seen.
In the 17th Century we see that the way things were done was very
different to now. We know this from the fact that Egeus was allowed to
decide who Hermia would marry even if she didn't love that person. The
father's role played a very big part in those times.
'To you father should as a god,'
The penalty for not listening to her father would be that she would
Hermia , Lysander , Helena and Demetrius represent young love in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream . They are potrayed as foolish and fickle , acting like children and requiring a parental figure to guide them . The parental figures are Hermia’s father , Egeus , and figuratively Theseus , the mortal ruler , and Oberon , the mystical ruler.
Many times the love that a person is looking for is the one that a person doesn't realize.
Love comes in so many shapes and forms. Nowlan presents a good view of love being
Love and affection is an indispensable part of human life. In different culture love may appear differently. In the poem “My god my lotus” lovers responded to each other differently than in the poem “Fishhawk”. Likewise, the presentation of female sexuality, gender disparity and presentation of love were shown inversely in these two poems. Some may argue that love in the past was not as same as love in present. However, we can still find some lovers who are staying with their partners just to maintain the relationship. We may also find some lovers having relationship only because of self-interest. However, a love relationship should always be out of self-interest and must be based on mutual interest. A love usually obtains its perfectness when it develops from both partners equally and with same affection.
Shakespeare has a way of creating his characters so the audience can relate to them in a way. In his villains we see the negative characteristics that are in ourselves and others around us; things that often define the “natural man” such as greed or jealousy. With the entire terrible and treacherous thing that Shakespeare makes his villains do, he always manages to make them human in a way. As if he is meaning to display that no matter how twisted a person can be, they are still a person. In Shakespeare’s plays Othello, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the villains share the characteristics of greed, clever and conniving ways, and recklessness; however, they all bring their own features to the table.
Love in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare In midsummer night, dream love is portrait in different ways. Many of the characters fall in and out of love with each other. The term lovers is used in the play to mean the four lovers Demetrius, Hermia. Helena and Lysander.
Iago’s deceit and manipulation in Othello Iago is widely credited, in the words of Agatha Christie, as “the greatest villain of all time”. He is a manipulative character who “weaves a web of deceit” by exploiting even the tiniest faults in others. By maintaining a facade of comedy and boyishness he uses his honesty and twisted truth to play others “like a virtuoso” and “drive... them to madness”. In the play Othello, Act 2 Scene 1 is perhaps the most enlightening scene with regards to the truly manipulative character of Iago.
The fairies and the fairy realm have many responsibilities in this play. The most important of which is that they are the cause of much of the conflict and comedy within this story. They represent mischievousness and pleasantry which gives the play most of its emotion and feeling. They relate to humans because they make mistakes but differ in the fact that they do not understand the human world.
One of Shakespeare¹s better plays, ³A Midsummer¹s Night Dream² incorporates 4 plots in one. It intertwines these four plots without mixing the characters or the themes. They come out of the blue with all different themes that somehow lead to the forest every time. The forest is enchanted with a sense of lawlessness and and it all traces back to Adam and Eve.
Shakespeare wrote his acclaimed comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream more than a thousand years after Apuleius’ Roman novel, The Golden Ass. Although separated by thousands of years and different in terms of plot and setting, these works share the common theme of a confused and vulnerable man finding direction by relying on a supernatural female. One of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s many subplots is the story of Bottom, a comical figure determined to be taken seriously in his production of a Pyramus and Thisbe. As Bottom becomes caught up in a quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies, the commanders of the enchanted forest where Bottom and his players practice, the “shrewd and knavish sprite” Puck transforms his head into an ass’ s and leads him to be enthralled in a one night stand with the queen, Titania. (2.1.33) Apuleius’s protagonist Lucius endures a similar transformation, after his mistress’s slave girl accidentally bewitches him into a donkey, leaving him even without the ability to speak. Although Lucius’ transformation lasts longer and is more severe, he and Bottom both undergo similar experiences resulting from their animal forms. Lucius’ suffering ultimately leads him to salvation through devotion the cult of Isis, and Bottom’s affair with Titania grants him clarity and a glimpse into similar divine beauty. Ultimately, both asinine characters are saved through their surrender to the goddesses.
Demetrius, the more you beat me, I will fawn on you. Use me but as
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare The idea of courtly love based in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth night' involved a woman being put on a pedestal and worshipped from a distance like she was goddess who could not be attained. Only by very long devotion and lots of trials could a man get this kind of woman. The woman quite often appeared to be both cruel and fair. Courtly love was a sexless kind of love and was more idealised.
William Shakespeare’s characters act like fools very often in the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Many times they would come across an easy problem and make a big deal about it, or choose to make a decision that doesn’t even make sense for them to consider. The most foolish characters in the play are Bottom, Puck, Helena, and Egeus. Shakespeare wrote about the foolish behavior of humans to show how silly people can be in a way that makes people laugh, but is actually pretty accurate.
he exposition of the story is when Hermia and Lysander are in love and want to be married, but Hermia's father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. Egeus goes to Theseus to force Hermia and Demetrius marriage, and Theseus warns Hermia to follow his orders. Hermia and Lysander run away to be married, despite Theseus’s warning. They plan to meet in the fairy woods. Helena, Hermia’s best friends, is in love with Demetrius, and tells Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander plan to runaway and get married. Demetrius follows them, while Helena follows Demetrius to try to get his love back. Oberon the king, and Titania the queen of the fairies are in a quarrel over a boy. The rising action is when, Oberon orders Puck, another fairy, to help in get revenge on Titanias by putting a love potion in Titanias' eyes that’ll cause her to fall in love with the first thing she sees after
In lines 159-163, act IV,scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Demetrius says.“Was betrothed ere I saw Hermia. But like in sickness, I loathe this food. . . .And for evermore be true.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play which is focused on the love between four young lovers. A theme that could represent this play is that love is not always easy. Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows this theme. He shows this theme by having constant fighting for love between characters, the constant switches in love interests, and the manipulation of love.