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Critical analysis on a midsummer night's dream
William Shakespeare in the present
William Shakespeare in the present
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William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 with a middle class family. In 1590, William left his family to travel into London to work towards his acting career and playwriting. William Shakespeare became the most well-known playwright in England and he had part ownership of the Globe Theatre. His playwriting career was around the time that Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603), within this time period, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written but nobody knows the exact date of when it was published. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an unusual, supernatural play and differs from others that he has written – e.g. “Romeo and Juliet” might be perceived as the opposite of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” because of the very different endings – Within “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the “lovers” are left peacefully in their anticipated couples to live happily ever after whereas in, “Romeo and Juliet” the two lovers tragically die at the end of the play by killing themselves. The language used within “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” alternates to fit in with the temperament of the scene or what characters are within the scene. For example, William Shakespeare uses prose throughout the play for the ‘mechanicals’ for the audience to distinguish them as lower class. This language is used because there is no special rhythm in the ‘mechanicals’ dialogue. This fits with the scene as it’s a casual but practical speech which links to their character group, “mechanicals” because of each character’s name and profession. This could also link to the Elizabethan Era as the Royal Exchange was in establishment so England and the rest of the world started to change in growth. In most English villages the men did the heavy work (ploughing, weeding, s... ... middle of paper ... ...Anybody can relate somebody to Bottom as there is a tendency for some people to have his characteristics such as, overconfidence. On the other hand both characters have important roles within the play as Bottom’s profession is a weaver and how he comfortably merges both human and fairy world together and is the only character able to do so. Bottom shows the readers that he shouldn’t play by the rules all of the time and he takes advantage of any opportunity he gets –this blurs out the sectors between each social class in reality. Puck makes sure that the viewers have good time whilst creating chaos with various characters, especially the lovers. Puck is the one to end the play which he states it is unreal and is like a “dream” which is amusing because he is a supernatural character as if we are being hypnotised or brainwashed into forgetting about what had happened.
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream he entices the reader using character development, imagery, and symbolism. These tools help make it a wonderful play for teens, teaching them what a well-written comedy looks like. As well as taking them into a story they won’t soon forget.
In conclusion, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare effectively uses the motifs of the seasons, the moon, and dreams to show that love, irrationality, and disobedience directly cause chaos. By calling to mind the seasons in unnatural order, describing the moon behaving strangely, and discussing the dualistic, irrational nature of dreams, Shakespeare effectively evokes a sense of chaos and disorder. Linking each of these motifs to the themes of love, irrationality, and disobedience allows Shakespeare to illustrate the disarray that is bound to result from any romance.
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.
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a romantic play about love-struck relationships that deal with lust, jealousy, and revenge. Key characters are Theseus, Hippolyta, Lysander, Hermia, Egeus, Demetrius, Helena, Oberon, Titantia, Puck, and Nick Bottom. Theseus is the king of Athens, who is engaged with his fiancé, Hippolyta, the queen of Amazon. Lysander is an Athenian man who is in love with Hermia, the daughter of Egeus. Hermia is also in love with Lysander. Demetrius is an Athenian man who also loves Hermia, and wishes to wed with her. Helena is Demetrius’s old lover, and a close friend of Hermia. Oberon is the king of fairies, and Titantia is the queen of fairies. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is a fairy who makes love potions for Oberon. Lastly, Nick Bottom is a weaver whose head is turned into an ass for his ridiculous mistakes and foolishness. The setting takes place in Athens and in the forest. The time period is approximately around ancient Greece.
The play Midsummer Nights Dream is written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan times comedies were popular and this play is also written as a comedy. Comedies during the Elizabethan times consisted of a specific story of lovers and ends with everyone marrying and living happily ever after again, some of these plays were also very funny e.g. Pyramas and Thisbe. This is very different to what we think is a comedy nowadays. In our minds a comedy would be something that makes the audience laugh and consists of many jokes. The play would have been played in the Globe arena where the audience would have consisted of both rich and poor or what they would say ‘peasants’. In the Elizabethan Era the rich and the poor were divided into two different classes. The rich were counted as first class and were given the seats in the stands to sit on. Whereas on the other hand the Peasants were forced to stand on the floor where it...
The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ many aspects of love are explored. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare conveys the theme of love including illusion, confusion, escape, harmony and lust. Historically, it has been suggested that ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written for a wedding, signifying the importance of love in this play, however there is no real evidence to prove this myth. Rather, the Lord Chamberlain’s men performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on the London stage.
Love and tragedy have a common place in most of Shakespeare's plays but would one expect fairies and love potions? A midsummer night’s dream has just that. The play centers around three Athenian couples that are currently having problems. At the beginning of the play, Lysander says that, “the course of true love never did run smooth.” This acts as a theme for the entire play. This is especially true for one of the Athenian couples, Helena and Demetrius. The theme proves itself at three certain points during the play at the beginning middle and end of the play.
Considered to be the greatest playwright to ever have lived, William Shakespeare’s works continue to fascinate and entrance audiences around the world. Imbued with imagery, his comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is perhaps one of his more fantastic but none the less intricate plays. Presiding over the proceedings, the moon is the uniting feature of the play. With its multi-layered symbolism it is the thread that connects the different characters and weaves the tale together.
Burke, Kenneth. “Why A Midsummer Night's Dream?”. Shakespeare Quarterly 57. 3 (2006): 297-308. Web. 25 Apr 2014.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream with Related Readings. Albany: ITP International Thomson, 1998. Print.
What is the meaning of A Midsummer’s Night Dream? Well that depends, the works of William Shakespeare are very subjective and Shakespeare acknowledges that and lets us see that very clearly in the play. In A Mid Summers Night Dream he shows us very clearly that different people see the same thing differently.Throughout the play he makes numerous references to eyes and how people see themselves and others. That carries over to how we see the play and how two people can interrupt it very differently.
The overriding theme of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare deals with the nature of love. Though true love seems to be held up as an ideal, false love is mostly what we are shown. Underneath his frantic comedy, Shakespeare seems to be asking the questions all lovers ask in the midst of their confusion: How do we know when love is real? How can we trust ourselves that love is real when we are so easily swayed by passion and romantic conventions? Some readers may sense bitterness behind the comedy, but will probably also recognize the truth behind Shakespeare's satire. Often, love leads us down blind alleys and makes us do things we regret later. The lovers within the scene, especially the men, are made to seem rather shallow. They change the objects of their affections, all the time swearing eternal love to one or the other. In this scene Shakespeare presents the idea that both false love and true love can prevail..
Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1997. 814-861.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s few comedies that really gets the comedic interest of is readers. A fairytale story of four teenagers, who found themselves in a magical forest, two of whom plan to run off and start a new life together, the other two on a search for love. At the same time a fairy king and queen are battling each other. A mischievous fairy named Puck is charged with turning the queens lover against her using a magic potion, and this leads to a series of events for our young lovers, as well as anyone else stuck in the forest.
The play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by Shakespeare is a comedy filled with love, magic and dreams. Shakespeare has created four groups of characters for the reader to learn about, the lovers, the royals, the fairies and the mechanicals. All groups have a major impact on the play but one of the main groups is The Lovers who consist of Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and Hermia. Shakespeare uses Diction and Syntax to help the reader understand the characters better.