Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Hoffman midsummer night dream compare
Shakespeare's representation of women
Gender roles in shakespearean comedies
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Hoffman midsummer night dream compare
Fuzzy Pathetic Loving “Ass”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, is a classic play that has been retold in many ways. The most recent version of this romantic comedy was done by Michael Hoffman in 1999. This portrayal follows very closely to the original play. Very few lines are taken out, and the characters stay very true to the assumed original idea. The one main difference in the original play and this movie is the depiction of the character Nick Bottom the weaver. The original play shows Bottom as the “…overconfident weaver…hilariously overt…has extraordinary belief in his own ability…totally unaware of his ridiculousness…” (Sparknotes.com). These types of characteristics would normally make readers see Bottom as a cocky, egotistical, center of attention, “ass”. In the play, this is the case. However, in the 1999 movie version, with Kevin Kline as Bottom, the audience gets a different idea of Bottom without changing his basic character traits. Hoffman achieved changing the overall perception of the character of Bottom from to a “…warm fuzzy man, a dreamer for whom we can root”, and pathetic lover, while still keeping the “ass” quality, by only changing a few small, very subtle things (Jones, 127).
In what would be Act I Scene II of the original play, Bottom is shown sitting alone at a café. As he is making his way to leave, a rough looking woman walking around in a very hurried and determined manner become the focus of the screen. The audience soon realizes this is Bottoms wife. Bottom seems to become frightened of her on sight, so he hides behind a wall. You also learn that his wife thinks his dreams of being an actor are simply unrealistic and stupid. The original Shakespearian play does not include a wife for Nick Bottom. The adding of a wife to a movie is not normally of great importance; however, the type of wife she is makes all the difference.
Later in the scene, when Bottom goes home, the audience sees more of what type of a wife this is. As Bottom enters his house he is shown looking around to see where she might be; he is very quite and slips into a room quickly. Almost instantly, his wife realizes he is home, and she rushes into the room with a very ugly, stern expression on her face. There is no speaking in this scene (Hoffman).
Sometimes, when a person becomes controlling, he can lead others down a path to destruction and failure. Control is a huge theme in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. Inside the play, certain characters try to make other characters do what he or she wants, and it often ends poorly. One example of this is Nick Bottom, a weaver who is a part of the players performing the play “Pyramus and Thisbe”. He often tries to be controlling by stepping into play other’s parts, and, the results don’t turn out the way he and the others quite expected.
Although love is evident throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom embraces it in a different form. Instead of loving another character, Bottom loves himself. He is constantly interrupting the other mechanicals, he recites lines that do not relate to the current conversation whatsoever, and insists he can play every role in the play. It is clear that Bottom loves to hear himself speak. After he awakes from his encounter with Titania, he goes on to state that he wants Peter Quince to write a prologue about his “deep” vision, with the title “Bottom’s Dream” (4.1.186). Bottom is so in love with himself that he wants an entire section of the play—in which he is already the lead of—dedicated to himself. Bottom’s arrogance relates to A Midsummer Night Dream’s themes of mayhem and disorder because after Puck transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass, his appearance strikes fear into his cast members and interrupts their play rehearsal. The players run away from Bottom, with Quince shouting of being haunted (3.1.46-47); but it is apparent that even after Puck alters him, Bottom’s arrogance is still present. When Snout asks him how he changed, Bottom responds with: “What do you see? You see an ass head of your own, do you?” (3.1.56). Even when Bottom is the one who is clearly have problems, he puts the blame on Snout, claiming that he is fine and Snout is the one with problems. Bottom believes himself to be perfect, and therefore if anything goes wrong in his life, it must be someone else’s fault. Ironically, Puck changes him into an animal that reflects both his headstrong and clueless personality. Lastly, Bottom’s ego also relates to the theme of foolishness, because it blinds him from how dreadful and unprofessional his acting skills truly are. For example, during their official performance, Bottom purposely breaks character to respond to something an audience member said (5.1.177). Bottom assumes
Paul as well as those of Erasmus that bring to focus various dimensions that are aligned around Shakespeare’s perception of comic faith in the play. The characters of Bottom, Theseus and lovers give out an insight to epistle paradoxes on religious faith coupled with a slight touch of romantic faith which is set out in thee wholesome imaginative experience. Celebration of limitations sits as the precursor for comic happiness in the play; there is an epistemological appeal that focuses on the mannerisms of characters. Most obvious of all allusions of comic faith in the play is Pauline and sets out the central attention that is meant to be captures. Upon waking up from his dream, Bottom has a delightful monologue that sets out a clear difference between ridicule and the sublime of the play, “I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass of he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was – there is no man can tell what. Methought …I had – But man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was (Shakespeare and Foakes 203).” Herein we see Bottom considering himself as an ass and he fails to expound further on the meaning of his dream whole his hands
The director and screenwriter, Michael Hoffman, took liberties with Shakespeare’s text to help establish Bottom as the protagonist. Before we even meet Bottom in the film, we meet his wife, a character not seen or mentioned in the text, searching the streets for her “worthless dreamer” of a husband. No other mechanical characters have established back-stories, so Bottom already stands out among his scene partners. Later in the film, there is a dialogue-free scene in which Bottom comes home to his wife, who shows her status over him by silently berates him for his afternoon dalliances. ...
Through hypnoaedic teachings, reservation contrasts to the “Civilized” world, and John’s critique of the society, the reader sees Huxley’s point of view of the importance of an individual. With hypnoaedic teachings, Huxley creates the society and the values. Inside the reservation, Huxley contrasts the society of the reservation to that of Lenina’s society. Finally Huxley’s main evaluation and critique of lack of identity is seen in John’s character. John’s horrid descriptions in his point of view on society demonstrate to the reader the importance of an individual. Since there were absolutely no conscious men or women throughout society, ideas of ignoring death, God, and beauty creates a world where men and women sacrifice true happiness (Where pain and hard work are involved for a greater happiness) for a “smooth running society.” The picture of the society to the reader is horrifying and quite terrifying. Overall, within our society, the importance of the individual is not a problem. People, even teenagers, are encouraged to show who they are inside. One can truly see the idea of the importance on individual through the new openness to different sexualities. Overall, within the book, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, Huxley demonstrates the need for conscious individuals through a horrifying
In the original written play, there was no mention of a wife for Nick Bottom; the on-screen rendition, however, portrayed a wife who, though having no lines, was intolerant of her husband’s idiocy. To build on this, the characters that were part of Peter Quince and his cast were much more tolerable and less aware of Bottom’s idiocy in the play than in the movie. Hoffman’s portrayal depicted Bottom as a laughingstock among laughingstocks, going so far as to add a scene in which wine is poured over Bottom’s head to reveal the intolerance of his idiocy. Regarding the characters in the main portion of the play, Helena was much less irritating, whiny, and desperate in the original work than in Hoffman’s movie. The “Hollywood” aspect of the movie made Helena seem to be a rather unlikeable character (this also was affected by the setting, as mentioned above), whereas in the play she was seen to be mostly an unfortunate soul who whined only sometimes.
...age. Instead of laughing at Bottom, the film generates a feeling of sorrow for his character. When the wine is poured on him when the craftsmen first meet, Bottom takes an obvious emotional blow, so one can see how he would artificially inflate himself with the false perception of being a wonderful actor. When chosen to perform for Thesseus’s wedding, the players are very nervous and turn to Bottom for comfort. They look up to and respect Bottom for his confidence and acting ability, but Bottom later makes a fool of himself in the play by over dramatizing the part of Pyramus, especially when he performs the death of Pyramus. Michael Hoffman’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings a classical play to a modern audience and makes it an exciting and humorous experience. This is accomplished most notably with the direction he gives to the two characters discussed. The animated humor of Bottom and the slightly more subtle badgering of other characters brought forth by Puck creates a certain amount of attachment to the movie by the viewer. The cinematic version of Shakespeare’s play is well adapted to a modern audience, especially through the characters of Puck and Nick Bottom.
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.
Hamlet does not take the opportunity to slay Claudius as he prays because he believes it will save his soul. His contemplative nature takes over regarding the ghost’s revelation and he decides to devise a play to pique Claudius’ conscience and make sure he is really guilty.
Within one of his most controversial yet compelling literary works, Aldous Huxley never fails to create a masterpiece of interwoven plots, characters, philosophies, and dilemmas faced by the citizens of the supposed Utopia. Upon first glance, the reader is entirely mesmerized by Huxley’s extraordinary ability to construct a world unlike any other; a world complete with fully complacent citizens, political stability, and even an organized system of social class. However, as the reader progresses further into the book, they are at once shocked by the misconception that the citizens live in a perfect world. Shortly, one realizes that while though there are many aspects of the citizens’ lives which make it seem as though it were an unblemished paradise, many consequences lie deep and hidden beneath this surreal layer of an idealistic lifestyle. Despite the supposed success achieved by the government in actively controlling and regulating the lives of its citizens, overtime the reader detects the presence of the fear of certain ideologies by the government. Not surprisingly, it is mainly the totalitarian system of government which leads eventually to its fear of two major intellectual concepts; human love and family life. The fear of these common values within our modern lives stems from the concern that a political upheaval or fluctuation in the society’s political stability may occur.
Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.
Initially he views his wife as a mere possession, a toy doll. which he is able to show off at party’s to the admiration of fellow. members of powerful society, ‘curtsy here, curtsy there – and the vision of loveliness was gone as they say in fairy tales.’ However.
The concepts of the Utopian society placed in Aldous Huxley’s novel, A Brave New World, reflect the fearful thoughts of the future of our society and mirror certain components of the present. Certain concepts of the great society in the novel are severe and do not apply to our society, but components of these ideas are increasingly being dispersively observed throughout our present society. The warnings developed by Huxley are reflected in the present through the intellectual castes of the workforce, the concept of sex being less based on marriage, and the mind being enslaved by conditioning.
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.
...om that point on the play began to slow down and unravel the conflicts. This was a play I which everything happened very quickly. The problem was presented right at the beginning, the conflict was established along with subsidiary conflicts resulting from our central conflict itself, and the was then resolved rather quickly. The theme of conflict was apparent throughout the play as well, and is the cause of the problems that befall the characters. Overall there was never really a difference or a change in the main idea or conflict or setting of the play to the film, besides a few content difference and alterations with he context and words of the play to the film, I believe that the film was a very good portrayal of the play, the plot and other literary elements used in drama. All were established and addressed the final resolve at the end in A Midsummer Night Dream.