Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is a play which many directors have once took interest in. In Michael Hoffman's 1999 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, . Nick Bottom, a relevant character who upholds a majority of the plays plot, is someone Hoffman put his attention on during the movie. With the use of exaggerations, and events placing Bottom in the center of attention, Hoffman turns him into a character which the viewer can share similar behaviors with. Nick Bottom, known as a selfish, comedic clown plays a major role in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He acts as the center on attention and does not seem to care about others or their opinions. Bottom is assigned the role of Pyramus for the play they are putting on for the duke …show more content…
and duchess. “An I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too. / I’ll speak in a monstrous little voice…” (MSND 1.2.45-6). After receiving an important role, Bottom feels like he is not getting enough and makes a fool of himself as he argues to play multiple roles. Shakespeare portrayed Bottom as a comedic and almost narcissistic man.
Not a sign of sensitivity would have resided in him. Despite critics which only view Bottom as “an ass and nothing but as ass” (Weiss), there were some who believed different. The way Hoffman portrays Bottom’s reaction to certain events, such as bottles of wine being dumped on him, the viewers can clearly see his embarrassed, and terrified look. “In the film, Hoffman abandons the caricature and clown in order to present Bottom...as a human being who is sympathetic to a realm of experience…” (Riga). Nick Bottom, portrayed by Kevin Kline in Hoffmans 1999 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is almost the complete opposite to what Shakespeare had made of …show more content…
him. Hoffman’s film also builds up Bottom character in a loving way. As Bottom is in the city he stumbleupon his wife in the distance. To take cover he places himself in the doorway of a shop to become out of her sight. His wife, never mention in Shakespeare’s play, demands from a man to tell her where her husband is. The way his wife displays her actions and words show that love is not a dominant aspect in Bottom’s life. This, however, changes when Nick enters the “dreaming world”, where he and Titania fall in love. “..he wished to restore the beauty, the sensuality, and ,above all, the humanity to Bottom in what is portrayed as an elevating moment…” (Riga). Even though Bottom is portrayed as an ass when he is in love with Titania, it gives Bottom his sensitivity and feelings back, which Shakespeare had not given him when portrayed as a clown. As Bottom reentered the wakening world, he wakes up in a meadow on the outskirts of town.
With him, he finds a small golden ring, and what seems to be a tiny birds nest. This is something that occurs in Hoffman’s film, but not Shakespeare’s play. The ring is a smaller version of the crown he wore as he was in love with Titania as an ass. The tiny birds nest resembles the alarge nest he slept in with Titania in the dream world. These small things he now had possession over, resemble what had happened in this “dream.” As Hoffman’s movie came to an end, Bottom sees fairies and Titania flying outside his window, another thing that did not occur in the play. This gave him a spark of love and remembrance for Titania. “He also makes the love story between Bottom and Titania more poignant by showing Bottom actually falling in love with the Queen of the Fairies” (Tucker). Shakespeare would not have put Bottom in a situation of love, for Bottom was on considered a narcissistic and comedic man, not one with
feelings. As much as Hoffman tried to bring the best out of Nick Bottom’s character, Bottom always seemed to find a way to make some sort of a fool of himself. Unlike Shakespeare, Hoffman in a sense upgraded Bottom to a more universal, humane person. Bottom became a character with love, insecurities, and plenty of emotions. Hoffman presented Bottom in more relatable way, making it easier for the audience to enjoy and sympathize for a character who was once not one to feel bad for.
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.
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.
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
...nces like to have a clear hero of their stories. The combination of the director’s artistic vision, cinematic choices, and Kline’s performance singles out Bottom as the main-character. The film’s time is not spent mostly on Bottom’s story; actually, the Athenian lovers take up the most actual screen time. Bottom represents the bridge between the real world of the merchants and lovers and the fantastical fairy kingdom. He comes from the lowest class of society and rises to be something the queen of the fairies loves and values. In a world in which no one breaks from the Chain of Being, Bottom is able to venture into a world grander than his own for a short time. When he returns, he holds the nobility he gained from his experience within, transcending all classes to become the perfect hero for our modern conception of the play, hilariously valiant and imperfect.
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. These differences in character, though seemingly small, lead the audience to draw two very different conclusions about the characters’ situations and why they are placed in them. The analyzation of the characters changes from Shakespeare’s written play to Hoffman’s rendering of A Midsummer Night’s
...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.
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.
...kens from her silent slumber, she falls in love with Nick Bottom, a man whose head was transformed into a donkey. Love and nature also play a huge part in the bizarre events that surround dreams and the concept of dreaming. While each of the four lovers dream of being with a particular significant other, bizarre circumstances, brought upon by Puck allow for chaos and obvious confusion. But, probably one of the most bizarre situations within this production is the lines uttered by Puck at the completion of the production. These lines really relate to the concept of dreams because they make the audience question the outlandish events that had previously occurred or indeed, whether they had even occurred at all.
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.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
Throughout the events which unfold in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare delivers several messages on love. Through this play, one of the significant ideas he suggests is that love is blind, often defying logic and overriding other emotions and priorities. Helena loves Demetrius unconditionally and pursues him despite knowing that he loathes her; conflict arises between Helena and Hermia, childhood best friends, over Demetrius and Lysander; and because she is in love, Queen Titania is able to see beauty and virtue in the ass-headed Nick Bottom.
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.
Not only does this epitomize A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s theme, it also serves a comedic role, as one would not normally destroy oneself in grief.
The second interpretation could be of the dream Bottom thought he had when Titania, the queen of the fairies, had fallen in love with him when he looked like an ass. He wasn't sure whether it was a dream or real because "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 [his] dream was" (page 135). The thematic nature of this is that there is no real explanation for love. Even Bottom himself said, "Reason and love keep little company together nowadays" (page 79). The third interpretation could have been that the entire play had been a dream.