More handpicked essays just for you.
Plot construction of the play Midsummer Night's Dream
Comparing and contrasting characters in shakespeare
Analysis of William Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
While reading and watching the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” we were comparing and contrasting some things we found different in both the play and the movie. First we read the play then we watched part of the movie. While watching the movie i saw that there were quite some differences. First, what i saw that was different from the play and the movie was the setting. When reading the play the setting took place in Ancient Greece and while watching the movie the setting took place in Italy. That was one thing different, another difference was that in act one scene two the mechanicals first meet in Peter Quince's house to cast their play while in the movie they meet in a public area where bottom is humiliated by a set of children, his spirit
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
Analysis of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Nights Dream is a play by William Shakespeare, and I. believe is mainly summed up by this line from the play. The course of true love never ran smooth. This is basically saying that being in love comes with many obstacles.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular and frequently performed comical plays (Berardinelli). The play transformed into a cinematic production by Michael Hoffman has not changed in its basic plot and dialogue, but the setting and some character traits have. The play setting has been gracefully moved from 16th century Greece to 19th century Tuscany (Berardinelli). The addition of bicycles to the play affects the characters in that they no longer have to chase each other around the woods, but can take chase in a more efficient fashion. As far as characters are concerned, Demetrius is no longer the smug and somewhat rude character we find in act 1, scene 1 (Shakespeare pg. 6, line 91), but rather a seemingly indifferent gentleman placed in an unfortunate circumstance set to delay his wedding to Hermia. Perhaps the most noticeable change in the character set from stage to film occurs in the characters of Puck and Nick Bottom.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens as Theseus, Hippolyta and Philostrate are together discussing the wedding between Theseus and Hippolyta. Thesus complains about how their wedding is four long days away but Hippolyta counters and says that the days are going to go quickly and they will be married very soon. At this point it is obvious to see that Theseus is very excited for the wedding and Hippolyta is not as thrilled. They continue to discuss their wedding and their life after they get married, telling Philostrate and presumably the other guests present to leave. Not even five lines are read before the two are quickly disrupted by Egeus along with Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus is distraught because his daughter is in love with Lysander
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
The Overture: A Midsummer Night’s Dream was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1826 at 17 years of age. The piece was produced after Mendelssohn was inspired by the William Shakespeare play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Mendelssohn’s compositions consisted of romantic elements, but classical forms and techniques were also included, leading to the uniqueness of Mendelssohn’s compositions compared to the previous composers before him. Mendelssohn composition consisted of a full orchestra with the addition of the Ophicleide which is not a commonly used instrument.
The play delivers a more toned back version of the story, more calm and relaxed, while the movies delivery is a hard hitting, dramatic one. Scene the play is more complex than its movie counterpart, it can be harder to get a grasp on the story and fully understand everything that is happening, and which character is doing what. The movie offers a clearer view of what is going on. Being able to recognize characters and locations, plus all of the dialogue that was present in the play, the movie is much more simplified, which does not negatively affect the story, but rather simply helps the viewer understand the plot, and what is currently happening in the story.
However, even though they depict the same content and the same idea, they are developed in rather different ways. The performance is more about the action and the flow of the events while the film is more about the memories and personal perception accomplished through the eyes of a witness and participant of the events. The movie is brighter and exposes over more means to depict the depth of the situation through the use of decorations and costumes. At the same time, the value of the play lies in the idea that the viewers are able to make own conclusions and see the characters with their own
Your eyelids are heavy and your mind is fogging, finally they close altogether with the weight of the eyelids and in a few minutes you have fallen into slumber. You wake up with a vivid image in your mind, but you have no inkling as to what it means. It was just a dream. Whether people can recall it or not, everyone dreams. A dream, some may argue is irrelevant; images assorted together creating nonsense. Others depict a dream as a message our mind is telling us about. Throughout the day, the mind subconsciously picks up pieces of our daily life, whether they are thoughts, emotions, ideas, or interactions. When we sleep, our brain organizes and analysis these thoughts and puts them together like a puzzle creating images we might have missed during our waking hours. The brain naturally resists chaos and is attuned to order and organization and therefore sees past the chaos and malfunctions, it begins to matrix things, such as images in the clouds. It is through dreaming that these images sort out all the chaos in the ordinary daily life and reveals a bizarre and unrealistic world, which is a reflection of the unstable reality that is actually lived in. Reality is considered unstable because it is constantly changing, moving and transforming into something else whether people are aging, dying or being born. It is a constantly changing factor that people refuse to accept and it is in our dreams that it is revealed. It is in this dream world where Shakespeare and Carroll use fantastical characters, such as fairies and the White Rabbit to exemplify the daily interactions one must make to seek the truth. It is in the court and woods, where everything is turned upside down and where what is right is wrong and what one knows, are no longe...
A fairy is a type of spiritual being living in the supernatural or mythical creature in European mythology. Shakespeare’s era influenced the perspective of fairies in his romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Shakespeare’s delineation of these little creatures is one of the most remarkable triumphs of his dramatic art” (Rolfe). The role of the fairies is to generate conflict as well as the resolution in the romantic comedy. They do this by twisting humans in the play while remaining distant from them. Based off their role we can look into the characters of Titania, Oberon, and Puck.
The freshman and sophomore classes did a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I attended the play on both nights. My family and my boyfriend also attended the play, my boyfriend to only the first night and my family to both nights. My favorite part was at the beginning, when Egeus, Lysander, Demetrius, Theseus, and Hermia are talking about who Hermia is to be with. I really love my Egeus monologue. The second night during that whole section was my favorite. Lysander (John) says in our scene something about how much he loves Hermia and why he should be with her instead of Demetrius. I felt so bad for Lysander. If I was really Egeus, at that moment I would have said, “Lysander you can be with Hermia! You are perfect for each other,” or something like that. Overall, the whole production was amazing.
The concept of contrast plays an important role throughout Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare provides many examples of contrast signifying it as a motif. He groups the ideas of contrast together into those of some of the most important roles in the play. Helena is portrayed as tall and Hermia is short. Titania is a beautiful fairy who falls in love with Bottom, who is portrayed as graceless. Moreover, the main sets of characters even have differences. Fairies are graceful and magical creatures, yet tradesmen are clumsy and mortal. Additionally, the tradesmen are always overjoyed while the lovers are always serious with their emotions. Contrast layers throughout the whole play, as examples are shown in nearly every scene. Contrast becomes a constant, important motif to Shakespeare’s playwrite.
In life most people have a rivalry with another person whether that just be a friendly competition or something of the opposite sort. Have you anyone in mind that could fit that descriptor? I bet you do. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the two rivals named Lysander and Demetrius fight over nearly everything that comes between the two’s interests. They may be rivals but there’s not only differences, but similarities as well. In the beginning of the play one of the first things we notice about the two are made clear to us through the quote, “Stand forth, Demetrius.--My noble lord, This man hath my consent to marry her.--Stand forth, Lysander.--Any my gracious duke, This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.”(I,i,P.2).
“Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword / And won thy love doing thee injuries /
Fools in A Midsummer Night's Dream In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream the mortal teenage characters fall in love foolishly, and the character Bottom states, "O what fools these mortals be". They are foolish because they act like children. Although Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena appear grown-up, when they are in love they act foolishly. Each of the lovers indicates that they are quite foolish: Demetrius, because he is unaware how his love changes, Helena, because she cahses Demetrius even though he does not love her, Lysander, because he persuades Hermia to run away with him, and Hermia, because she risks death for love Demetrius is a fool because he is unaware that his love changes through out the play. At the start of the play Demetrius does not love Helena.