When one reads Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it becomes obvious to him/her that two of the play’s strongest and most important characters are Bottom, the weaver-turned-aspiring actor who is eventually transformed into a donkey, and Puck, a whimsical, and often mischievous, fairy who takes a central role in the story’s events. Because of Puck’s involvement in major turning points of the play, it can easily be argued that he is the protagonist. Puck’s spirit dominates every facet of Midsummer’s personality, demonstrating the comedic nature of Shakespeare’s writing and handling, lightheartedly, the otherwise serious ideas of love and marriage. In addition to this, a comparison of Puck and Bottom reveals the differences in how they contribute to the play as a comedy, with the fairy causing many of the amusing events of the story, and the weaver reacting to many events of the play in ways that are often outlandish or ridiculous.
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Bottom, on the other hand, makes for a weaker choice for the protagonist because his path in life is shaped by others’ actions (rather than his own), such as when Puck turns Bottom into a donkey and the weaver simply decides that he is fine living with Titania for the rest of his life. It is this passiveness, which is not seen in Puck, that makes Bottom (despite often stealing the show) the less important character. Additionally, Puck exemplifies the qualities of a powerful protagonist by guiding the audience through the play (and eventually ending it) through a few wall-breaking moments, which,
The initial aspect one notices about Nick Bottom's personality is his enthusiasm for acting. From the introduction of the Mechanicals (1.2) when Peter Quince is assigning the roles of the play (The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe) to each of the characters, Bottom enthusiastically volunteers to play every role as they are being assigned to the other characters. This eagerness is clearly demonstrated when the second and third characters of their play (Thisbe and the Lion) are assigned. Bottom jumps in to each conversation, saying, "An I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too." (1.2. 45), and "Let me play the Lion too.
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’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream utilizes the technique of multiple characters playing leading roles. The fairy character Puck stands out as a dominant and leading role in the play. Puck is the best fit for the role of the protagonist because he is mischievous and therefore, has the ability to change the outcome of the play through his schemes and actions. As the protagonist, Puck is responsible for creating the major conflict that occurs between the four lovers throughout the play. This is important because the play focuses on the lives and relationships of the lovers. In addition, because of Puck’s interaction with these characters, his actions throughout the play, alters the final outcome. Finally, Puck’s relationship with all the mortals in the play, his connection to his fellow fairies, and the bond he has with his boss, King Oberon make him the best choice for a protagonist.
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Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is established in the play as the jester to the King of Fairies, Oberon. He first appears in Act 2, Scene 1 when he and another fairy discuss the disagreement between Oberon and Titania are having. The fairy gives us some indication of Puck's character as she describes how Puck “frights the maidens of the villagery” and “Misleading the night wanderers” (Act 2.1, line 35). When Titania refuses to give up the boy servant that Oberon wants, he comes up with a plan to steal the child, and enlists Puck's help to do so. Oberon is fully aware of Puck’s desire to have a good time at the expense of others, but trusts him with the task of retrieving the flower to make Titania fall in love with “Lion, Bear, Wolf, or Bull.” (Act 2.1, line 180) The idea here is to convince Titania to hand over the changeling boy while she is infatuated with a beast. Being attracted to mischief, Puck seems excited to be tasked to this adventure, and claims to return “Within forty minutes” (Act 2.1, line 176) so that they can get started on their plan.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, playwright William Shakespeare creates in Bottom, Oberon, and Puck unique characters that represent different aspects of him. Like Bottom, Shakespeare aspires to rise socially; Bottom has high aims and, however slightly, interacts with a queen. Through Bottom, Shakespeare mocks these pretensions within himself. Shakespeare also resembles King Oberon, controlling the magic we see on the stage. Unseen, he and Oberon pull the strings that control what the characters act and say. Finally, Shakespeare is like Puck, standing back from the other characters, acutely aware of their weaknesses and mocks them, relishing in mischief at their expense. With these three characters and some play-within-a-play enchantment, Shakespeare mocks himself and his plays as much as he does the young lovers and the mechanicals onstage. This genius playwright who is capable of writing serious dramas such as Hamlet and Julius Caesar is still able to laugh at himself just as he does at his characters. With the help of Bottom, Oberon, and Puck, Shakespeare shows us that theatre, and even life itself, are illusions that one should remember to laugh at.
The use and misuse of magic has an important role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a recurring theme, Puck’s use of magic creates humor, conflict and balance in the play. The magic of Puck changes the head of Bottom into that of a donkey. Puck’s own use of magic adds more humor to the already comical and over-confident character of Bottom. Puck’s magic also creates a great deal of humor in the dealings of Bottom and Titania.
Have you ever had someone that you looked up to or was your favorite person in the whole wide world? Many people have one and most of the time it is a parent or famous person. Someones favorite person should be someone who has good quality traits whether that is being funny or hardworking or even smart. Have you ever heard of or read one of William Shakespeare’s plays? They are really powerful and have good moral lessons in them. They talk about quick love and suicide and show how those are both bad. He also adds comedy into them to keep the audience entertained. These are good traits for a play writer which is why William Shakespeare is still famous today. In the play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, Bottom is my favorite character because he is funny, outgoing, and Bottom is sensitive.
The character of Bottom in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is frequently foolish, but he is not a fool. His exuberance and energy are allied to practicality and resourcefulness, with an alarming lack of self-consciousness. He, at any rate, is not at all tongue-tied before the duke, as Theseus has known others to be. We do laugh at Bottom in many situations, but should note that these are situations in which any man might seem ridiculous: amateur theatricals are almost a byword for unintended comedy, whether in planning (1.2) rehearsal (3.1) or performance (5.1); any artisan afflicted with an ass's head and appetites, and beloved of the fairy queen would have difficulty retaining his dignity.
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is often read as a dramatization of the incompatibility of “reason and love” (III.i. 127), yet many critics pay little attention to how Shakespeare manages to draw his audience into meditating on these notions independently (Burke 116). The play is as much about the conflict between passion and reason concerning love, as it is a warning against attempting to understand love rationally. Similarly, trying to understand the play by reason alone results in an impoverished reading of the play as a whole – it is much better suited to the kind of emotive, arbitrary understanding that is characteristic of dreams. Puck apologises directly to us, the audience, in case the play “offend[s]” us, but the primary offence we can take from it is to our rational capacity to understand the narrative, which takes place in a world of inverses and contrasts. The fantastical woods is contrasted to the order of the Athenian law, and Elizabethan values of the time are polarised throughout the narrative, such as Helena’s feeling ugly even though she is tall and fair. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is thus not solely a comedic meditation on the nature of the origin or meaning of love, it also cautions against trying to rationalise the message of the play. Puck, who by his very nature cannot exist in rational society, propels the action of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He is a manifestation of mischief and the unpredictability of nature, which governs not only the fantastical woods outside of Athens, but also the Athenians themselves when it comes to love. Yet, it is Puck, and thus nature, which rectifies the imbalance of the lovers in the beginning of the play. Rationalising, o...
Bottom is the first fool or idiot to appear in the play. His first appearance is in Act I, scene ii, when the mechanicals got together. He is part of the groups called mechanicals, who are basically tradesmen who planned to put on a play for the wedding of Duke Theseus. Bottom is already acting like a fool right when we meet him. He tells Quince that he could be all the characters in the play at once. Quince gives him the role of Pyramus, and as he starts giving the other roles out, Bottom starts to tell him that he could do it all. Quince easily solves this problem by reassuring that no one else could do Bottom’s part and he has to do his best at it since he’s the only one who could do it. This demonstrates an important aspect of Bottom's character: he is often full of good advice, but he has no idea how to use it. Bottom is also convinced (self-proclaimed) that he is a superb actor and can act any part. In fact, he becomes so excited about his acting prowess that he volunteers to take on every part in the play. By the end of the scene, it is clear that the mechanicals are hopelessly incapable of putting on a good play, and Bottom only complicates the situation further.
Everything is a game to crafty little Puck. Yet once he realizes that he has. caused a problem he will make sure to the best of his ability and power that it is rectified. As in the scene with Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius. When Puck mistook Lysander for Demetrius (Shakespeare). had the characters look alike or ‘only slightly individualized') and dropped the love-juice into Lysander's eyes and then (with help from Oberon) realized what. he had done, he knew he had to fix it. & nbsp; Shakespeare conveniently created ‘Puck' to add some probability to the play. Since the typical audience believed in fairies and little people, Puck could be convincing in his role. It is possibly, even today, more plausible to have a little fairy running around causing problems than to have to try and believe that fate and destiny are the cause of all the joy, sadness and bad luck. & nbsp; When William Shakespeare created ‘Puck' it seems as though the play got much more out of the character than intended. This is nice however, as the audience.
To emphasize, in Act III, the reader is presented with the play’s most extraordinary contrast, the relationship between Titania and Bottom. “What wakes me from my flow’ry bed?” (III.i.131). Titania is awoken by the so-called melodic singing of Bottom. In the present scene, both characters are under some particular sort of spell. Titania’s eyes were anointed with the nectar of the love flower, thus causing her to fall in love with the next living thing she encounters. In the meantime, Puck pulled a prank on Bottom, turning his head into that of an ass. Both characters of the play are interpreted as complete opposites. Titania, characterized as the beautiful, graceful fairy queen; Bottom is portrayed as overdramatic, self centered, and as of now, not keen on the eyes. However, the love nectar never fails and seems to bring the two into a state of lust. The contrast between the two is overwhelming. An important scene in the pl...