The Use Of Metaphors In A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play written by one of the greatest playwrights, William Shakespeare. Like almost all writers, Shakespeare uses a wide variety of literary elements to create the story’s components. A major literary element within A Midsummer Night’s Dream is metaphor. Merriam-Webster defines metaphor as “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them” (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated). In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses metaphor to refer to topics such as historical events, love, and the weather.

Shakespeare stays true to the meaning of a metaphor and does not use “like” or “as”. For example,

in Act 2, Scene 1, lines 124-127, Shakespeare states “And in the spicèd Indian air, by night, Full often hath she gossiped by my side. And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands, Marking th’ embarkèd traders on the flood” (Shakespeare 1278-1279). William Shakespeare was born in Stratford, England on April 23, 1564 (Biography.com). Over half a century before his birth, England was involved in the notorious Spice Trade. This trade route was a key part in the British economy. British merchants established a trade route with India, in which they would trade spices for gold and vice versa. Many people became very wealthy in a relatively short amount of time, leading others to test the waters in this market. As the British economy began to rapidly increase, people had fantasies of growing rich and living a prosperous life. In the play, Queen Titania uses the metaphor “spicèd Indian air” to describe her time in India. India had become a land of hope and dreams for people due to the vast amount of economic success with the Spice Trade, making it seem fairytale-like. Gitanjali Shahani asserts, “Written and performed in a historical moment when "India" was a shifting signifier, the play interweaves residual and emergent understandings of the term. On the one hand, it invokes India in conjunction with the imaginative spaces of fairyland” (Shahani and Rushdie 122). Shakespeare cleverly makes the Queen of the Fairies uses this metaphor so that he can portray the feeling of how India was. “Neptune's yellow sands” represents the beaches of India. The sand is created as a yellow color, as if to resemble the plentiful amount of gold in the Spice Trade. Shakespeare also created the metaphor “th’ embarkèd traders on the flood” (Shakespeare 1279). Continuing in her speech about her time in India, Titania is on the beach with a friend. As they are lying on the sand, both of the women are admiring the ships that sail by. These “traders” are the merchant ships that are carrying the spices and other valuable good too a from India. Through lines 124-127, Shakespeare is able to use metaphor to relate back to the India Spice Trade, which was very common knowledge during his life.
One of the most discussed topics in life, is love.

Humans wish to be loved by each other and to feel love and attraction from a significant other. In William Shakespeare’s plays, primarily A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love is one of the major themes. Due to the theme of love in the plays, most literary elements such as metaphor are also centered around love. In Act 1, Scene 1, lines 76-78, Theseus says to Hermia, “But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness” (Shakespeare 1269). Through this metaphor, Theseus recognizes Hermia’s purity by his description of the distilled, or pure, rose. Theseus expresses to Hermia that he believes she should marry Demetrius. If she does this, then she would not have to either be executed or become a nun. Hermia’s father also believes that she should marry Demetrius, yet she is in love with Lysander. By disobeying her father, Hermia would be subjected to the consequences of execution or joining the sisterhood of the nuns. Theseus uses the metaphor of the virgin thorn to portray what Hermia’s life could look like due to her choices. If Hermia were to choose to not marry Demetrius, she would live a life of bleak and uneventfulness as a nun or die a meaningless life. Still, Theseus gives her the advice to choose between being happy or to live on in sorrow and unhappiness. In Act 1, Scene 1, lines 128-131, Lysander says to Hermia, “How now my love? Why is

your cheek so pale? How chance the roses there do fade so fast?” (Shakespeare 1270). Hermia responds to him by saying, “Belike for want of rain, which I could well Betweem them from the tempest of my eyes” (Shakespeare 1270). In Lysander’s observation of Hermia, William Shakespeare uses metaphor. Shakespeare compares Hermia’s cheeks to roses that are pale and wilting. He does this to create the image that something appears wrong with Hermia. She responds to Lysander by continuing the metaphor that her cheeks are roses. Hermia says that the roses are in need of rain, and the tears from her eyes could provide the water they require. Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show how somber Hermia has become because she is not permitted to marry Lysander. In Act 1, Scene 1, lines 183 and 184, Helena proclaims to Hermia, “Your eyes are lodestars, and your tongue’s sweet air More tuneable than lark to shepard’s ear” (Shakespeare 1272). Shakespeare is using metaphor to make the features of Hermia seem majestic and tantalizing. It is not possible that Hermia’s eyes are lodestars. Lodestars are guiding stars, like those that guide the eyes and hearts to love Hermia. Shakespeare also compares Hermia’s sweet tongue and music to a lark, which is a song bird, singing to a shepherd.
Although William Shakespeare’s metaphors focus a lot of love, he also makes references to the weather.

In Act 2, Scene 1, lines 103-105, Queen Titania states, “Therefore the moon, the governess of floods, Pale in her anger, washes all the air, That rheumatic diseases do abound” (Shakespeare 1278). Shakespeare personifies the moon in these lines, but his metaphor is the governess of floods. The moon is in control of the tides, and at this point in the season she has begun to flood the rivers. Due to the flooding, people have to leave their homes and livestock that are in flood plains. Crops are destroyed and cattle are killed, leaving the landscape filled with disease from the rotting refuse. Lines 107-111 state, “The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose, And on old Hiems’ thin and icy crown, An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds Is, as in mockery, set” (Shakespeare 1278). Shakespeare uses the metaphor of frost of falling onto roses and ice covering the summer flowers. Normally, the Sun is emitting enough heat during the summer time so that ice does not form, but Shakespeare creates this metaphor to show that the seasons are changing places. Instead of a warm and blooming time, summer has now become winter. Continuing his metaphoric practice in lines 111-114, Shakespeare states, “The spring, the summer, the childing autumn, angry winter change Their wonted liveries: and the mazèd world, by their increase, now knows not which is

which” (Shakespeare 1278). The seasons are miraculously switching places, causing destruction to the properties of people. The populous has no clue as to what has caused this sudden change, they are just subjected to deal with it. Edgecombe and Rodney Stenning write, “Only later does Titania imply unseasonable shifts of temperature with the frosted rose and the chaplet on the brow of Hiems, both of which are compatible with actual details of the weather recorded by Stowe and Forman” (Edgecombe and Stenning 5). In the play, Titania, Queen of the fairies, and King Oberon have been arguing for a fair amount of time. King Oberon began to distract Queen Titania and her fairies, keeping them from dancing for the winds. Due to these interruptions, the winds created fog that was set upon the rivers, causing them to overflow and flood the populous. Consequently, the flooding caused the farmer’s cattle and crops to be decimated, leaving them with nothing. Due to the death and destruction caused by the moon’s tides in the early summer months, the season began to feel like winter because of the bad weather. As a result of King Oberon’s annoyance and constant pesters, the seasons switched places, leaving the population confused if it was winter or summer.
Shakespeare is regarded as one of the greatest poets and playwrights of all time. Although his world style is complicated to regular English students, his literary elements are one of his most powerful tools he uses to create a play or poem. Out of all of the literary elements, his use of metaphor stands out the most. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare is able to create an image with his metaphors that make the characters and plot seem more alive and eccentric. Although he creates these images, Shakespeare’s main purpose for using metaphors in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is to highlight historical events from his era, the theme of love, and the abnormal weather patterns.