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Critical analysis of midsummer night's dream
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William Shakespeare's A Midsummer NIght's Dream is relevant, for it contains metaphor, a comparison of two unlike things. “Such as time is money” is used in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream to which audiences can still relate today. In this story it compares metaphors because in movies or plays today they can give an allusion of the real play. An example such as Cupid flying around the world making lots of people fall in love, but Robin says, “I’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes. This quotation proves the topic because it is showing an allusion of a metaphor by using a true statement and a not true statement.“Haunted Grove”, the part of the woods that Lysander enters, is an allusion example of metaphor because this
In this poem called “Creatures” by the author Billy Collins there is a literary device called a metaphor when the reader is reading this poem. A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things without using the words like or as. In lines one (1) through...
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare makes heavy use of hyperbole, the twisting of reality into something greater than what it actually is, in both the dialogue and the ridiculous, larger-than-life nature of the situations that occur to provide a basis for the conflict between reality and illusion, blurring the line that separates the two concepts.
The speaker uses the literary device of allegory as a large part of his poems message. He uses allegory to compare
“Love is blind,” says the old cliche. At the very least, that cliche is 400 years old, since it appears in William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream when Helena says, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind” (Shakespeare 1.1.234-235). These lines are also an allusion, which conveniently restate that old cliche of “love is blind.” It is just one of many allusions to Greek mythology in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One could spend days explaining all the allusions in the play, but three of the most well-known are below. Many of the allusions in the play help the audience learn more about the characters or the plot by making
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
Stereotypes are commonly held beliefs that most are all individuals sharing a given trait also should or do share other attributes to be associated with aspects such as race, religion, and physical qualities. In Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, he uses stereotypes to embody the characteristics of the stereotypical female according to society’s liking. The women in both “Othello” and “A Midsummer NIght’s Dream” are loyal and faithful. Women are bound by respect and loyalty to the men they love. Shakespeare has drawn a line concerning gender roles and the consequences of violating these positions (Bevington, 2014). Women seem to be victimized by society’s influence as they yield to these stereotypes that shape the
Comedy in A Midsummer Night's Dream "why do they run away? This is a knavery of them to make me afeard. "(3.1.99) This is a quote from the Shakespearean play "A Midsummer Night's Dream. " In this quote, the speaker, Bottom, is wondering why everyone is afraid of him.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are dozens of allusions to a variety of different topics. Examples found in Act One include Cupid, Theseus, and Phoebe. All three allude to Greek mythology and were used to provide deeper understandings for the audience. “Allusion[s], in literature, an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text. Most allusions are based on the assumption that there is a body of knowledge that is shared by the author and the reader and that therefore the reader will understand the author’s referent,” (Sinha).
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare the number of hidden suggestions are countless. Shakespeare uses metaphors and foreshadowing within imagery, in monologues to discretely hint to different characters as well as suggest events that have yet to happen. Shakespeare uses imagery in monologues to hide metaphors and foreshadows events about to happen as a way to express the story in different lights. In Titania’s monologue, on page thirty, I will delve into the different metaphors and foreshadowing expressed through imagery.
A metaphor, depending on its construction, can pack a powerful punch. Metaphors use comparison, but are not the same thing as similes. Metaphors make comparisons by saying that one thing is another, and by doing so, having a different meaning than what is said. An example of this comes from the poem, from lines 85 and 86, “And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid.” The eternal footman is a metaphor for death. By saying he has seen the eternal Footman hold his coat, and snicker, he is saying that he is close to death, he knows that it is close to his time to go and he knows that death is waiting on him. By saying he is afraid, he means he is afraid to die. Another example of a metaphor from lines 124 and 125 is, “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.” By saying this, the speaker is saying that he has heard the mermaids singing, heard them singing to each other, calling each other home. By saying that he does not think they will sing to him, does not think that they will call him home, tell him it is his time to die. Another example of metaphor,coming from lines 129, 130, and 131 is,“We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Til human voices wake us, and we drown.” He is saying that he has spent too much time lingering on death, he had lost all track of time. He does not know what is going on, he is confused, he has let his fear of death take over his life. By the time he realizes he has let his life pass him by, by the time he wakes up, it is too late. He drowns in his sorrow, and dies. This could be the meaning. It could be because it sounds like there is supposed to be more, like the poem is supposed to continue, but it doesn’t. It just stops. “Til human voices wake us, and we drown.” is
An example of a metaphor is when Heaney describes the berries as a “glossy purple clot”. This smart use of an imagery and a metaphor at the same time gives an image of a ripe berry. There is also a smart use of a simile, “hard as a knot”, for the unripe berries. When Heaney says “hard as a knot”, it sounds rather short, sugge...
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.
William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest writers in literature. He dies in 1616 after completing many sonnets and plays. One of which is "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare’s comedies. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-with-in-a-play, which master writers only write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer. Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" is a comedy combining elements of love, fairies, magic, and dreams. This play is a comedy about five couples who suffer through love’s strange games and the evil behind the devious tricks. This play begins as Theseus, the Duke, is preparing to marry Hippolyta. He woos her with his sword. Hermia is in love with Lysander. Egeus, Hermia’s father, forbids the relationship with Lysander and orders her to marry Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia, but she does not love him. On the other hand, Helena is in love with Demetrius. To settle the confusion, Theseus decides that Hermia must marry Demetrius or become a nun. In retaliation to her father’s command, Hermia and Lysander run away together. Amidst all the problems in the human world, Titania and Oberon, the fairy queen and king, continually argue about their various relationships that they have taken part in. (Scott 336) Titania leaves Oberon as a result of the arguments. Oberon is hurt and wants revenge on Titania. So he tells Puck, Oberon’s servant, to put a magic flower juice on her eyelids while she is sleeping. This potion causes the victim to desperately in love with the first creature that they see. Oberon’s plan is carried out, but the potion is also placed on Lysander’s eyes. Lysander awakes to see Helena, who is aimlessly walking through the woods, and instantly falls in love with her. She thinks that he is making fun of her being in love with Demetrius, so she leaves and Lysander follows. This leaves Hermia to wake up alone. Puck now has journeyed to the area where several actors are rehearsing. He uses his magic to turn one of them into a donkey, in hopes that Titania will awake to see it.
The title of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream can have many interpretations. I will give you my thoughts on the relationship of the title to the different situations that take place in the play. These interpretations give insight and overall meaning to the thematic nature of Shakespeare's work. Although I am only going to describe three interpretations of the title, there are many other meanings to the title.