Examples Of Fools In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Fool’s Essay First Draft

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that is chock full of comical fools. In this comedic play by William Shakespeare, there are three main groups of characters. These are the nobles, the fairies, and the mechanicals. The Nobles are powerful people from Athens. The Fairies are magical beings that roam the forest. And finally, the Mechanicals are low in power, foolish people that are also from Athens. Among these groups of characters there are many different types of fools. For the purposes of this essay, the word fool can be described as someone who does silly things to get people to laugh with him. Robin Goodfellow is extremely foolish in this play because he is the main jester to Oberon, and he performs pranks on people.
The first reason as to why Robin is a fool

in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that he is a jester, or clown who works for Oberon. Robin admits he does this when he converses with a fairy in the magic forest. “I jest to Oberon and make him smile” (2.1.46). Here, Robin fully admits that he identifies as a jester and comedian to Oberon. Later in the story, Robin shows that he is not only a jester to Oberon, but also a servant.
One example of Robin serving Oberon is when Oberon instructs Robin to fetch him the magical love flower. “Fetch me this herb” (2.1.179). Robin then replies that he could “Put a girdle round about the Earth/In forty minutes” (2.1.181), implying that he could run around the Earth to get the herb in no time. This is the first example of Oberon asking Robin to complete a task for him. Robin agrees with no hesitation saying that he would get the herb as fast as possible. Another example of Robin following Oberon’s instructions is when he is told by Oberon to anoint the eyes of an Athenian to help solve that man’s love conundrum. “Anoint [the Athenian’s] eyes” (2.1.269), Oberon says to Robin. Robin then follows this order. “He anoints Lysander’s eyelids with the nectar” (2.2.86-87 SD). Robin tries Oberon’s instructions here, but due to Oberon’s unclear instructions, Robin ends up anointing the eyelids of the wrong Athenian man. This causes a great deal of pandemonium to occur with the four lovers and also makes Robin look like even more of a fool. Robin’s jesting and serving to Oberon is one of the main reasons why Robin is classified as a fool in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Another way Robin is foolish in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is when he pulls pranks on different people. Robin describes one of his pranks where he disguises as an apple in a drink. “And sometimes lurk I in a gossip's bowl.../And when she drinks, against her lips I bob/And on her withered dewlap pour the ale” (2.1.49-52). This is one of Robin’s many pranks in which Robin performs to both entertain himself and presumably Oberon. Robin describes another prank in where he pretends to be a stool. “Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;/Then slip I from her bum, down topples she” (2.1.54-55). This is another playful prank that Robin pulls in order to gain laughs and attention from Oberon and others. Robin’s biggest prank he performs over the entire story is when he transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey’s. “Enter Robin, and Bottom as pyramus with the ass head” (3.1.103-104 SD). This is a trick that Robin does on Bottom, who he spots when he is walking around the forest. Bottom’s head being transformed causes all of Bottom’s friends to run away in fear of him. The viewing of this event probably gave Robin good pleasure. Robin performing these pranks on Bottom and other townspeople cements the claim that Robin is a fool.
Robin is the biggest fool in A Midsummer Night’s Dream due to the fact that he is the main jester to Oberon and he pulls various pranks on different people.

Throughout the play Robin clearly demonstrates that he is a fool. Some examples of this is when he pretends to be a stool, turns Bottom’s head into a donkey or when he jests to Oberon. Also, Robin contributes two main points to the plot of the play. One of these is one of the large comedic aspects of the play when he turns Bottom’s head into a donkey. This, in turn, causes Bottom to fall in love with Titania which is a very funny part of the play. Robin also causes one of the main conflicts in the play. This is when he accidentally anoints the eyes of the wrong athenian man. This cause absolute craziness to occur in the forest where Demetrius and Lysander are in love with Helena. Both of these incidents are major plot points and are both caused by Robin. In conclusion, Robin is one of, if not the biggest fools in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and he is a major contributor to the plot of the play. Robin also teaches people that not all fools are people that nobody likes, but can infact be someone who people laugh with, and not

at.