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Dreams of Order and a Bit of Chaos
In Shakespeare’s Midnight Summer’s Dream, Shakespeare uses this play to commentate on issues he thought were pertinent to his time. Frankly, he uses romantic views on the relationship of love and reason that were hundreds of years in the making and yet still puts on a play that has been enjoyed since its premiere. He takes the highest and lowest people in society and melds their relationships together to show how complicated love can get, with a help from a bit of chaos. Through the constant conflicting characteristics and events throughout the play, mostly orchestrated by Puck, Shakespeare shows that a manageable amount of chaos is necessary for there to be order.
When order in society is disrupted the imbalance
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The characters in the play each represent their own respective place in the world’s hiearchy. The mechanicals represent the lower part of society, the four lovers the nobility of society, and the two royal couples, the highest of the high in their respective kingdoms. As per their positions in life, they’re all to be separated, whether that be because of little to no reason for interaction or because each character has too different of a part in the play to “play” in. Yet, they all seem to meet up with each other in one way or another. One of the reasons for this is Puck, in which he led them “Up and down, up and down” (3.2.418) the ladder of society to meet each other. He, a court jester, has the power to manipulate more important characters to make mischief, with Puck laughing in the background at every mishap. He loves chaos and doesn’t care about the consequences of this actions as long as he gets a good laugh out of it. He led Queen Titania to fall in love with an ass-head named Bottom, the absolute bottom of the social ladder. “When in that moment, so it came to pass / Titania waked and straightway loved an ass,” (3.2.35-36) he says, and judging by the way it’s phrased, he’s also silently laughing along with it. Puck did this to fulfill Oberon’s wishes and still get a hardy laugh out of it. The funny thing is, the lowest of the characters socially is the …show more content…
This idea that bad things in moderation is actually a good thing is a romantic idea that was put into place hundreds of years after Shakespeare had died. This shows how progressive of a thinker Shakespeare actually was and how right he actually was. Even today, people use this ideal to explain their actions, though not as well as the Bard himself. Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that embodies some of the ideals we should hold today, even though it was written half a millennium ago.
Shakespeare uses people of low class vs. high class to show what
Even those in power can be swayed by desire.
Through the use of the differing positions the characters take in the hierarchy of society, Shakespeare shows that people on opposite sides of the spectrum can be swayed by desire, bringing out the chaos in supposed order.
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- Differences in society o The only mortal to meet a fairy is Bottom, the literal bottom of the social chain. It shows how love can transcend social boundaries o “And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.”
- Love does not go with
...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 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.
The “Concept of Order” suggests that everything in life has a specific position and plays a certain role in society, spouting utopist ideals. When something, for example, a person, breaks that pattern, the society becomes uncontrolled and causes a chain reaction of disorder leading to chaos. Until that order is once again restored, whether it is through death, heroic actions, or a mixture of both, the society will continue in a disorganized and turbulent manner. Shakespeare focuses on how a chaotic social order prevents the ability of humans to live in peace. In “Hamlet”, it is when both familial and political order is re-established, that social order is restored.
The working class, Athenian Nobles, and the fantasy world collide to create chaos. As Shakespeare broke down the tradition of social classes, he created chaos and the motif of disorder in his play. Ultimately, the sense of order is rooted in tradition and when tradition is torn away, society has nothing left to fall back on.
Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.
Order and disorder is a favorite theme of Shakespeare. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the apparently anarchic tendencies of the young lovers, of the mechanicals-as-actors, and of Puck are restrained by the "sharp Athenian law" and the law of the Palace Wood, by Theseus and Oberon, and their respective consorts. This tension within the world of the play is matched in its construction: in performance it can at times seem riotous and out of control, and yet the structure of the play shows a clear interest in symmetry and patterning.
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.
Internal and external struggles influence people to action, be it swift and daring or cunning and low. In Shakespeare's plays, the events around and within a character often combine to cause a character to act in a manner that would be considered out of character or unnatural for the person. Shakespeare uses these characters to provide the audience with a lesson or theme; to give them something they can apply to life and see learn from. In Othello, the character he uses as an example is, in fact, Othello. Shakespeare informs his readers of how doubts caused by rumors and lies can lead to the breakdown of even a once noble person.
Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.
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.
While true love is treasured when achieved, its rarity can be attributed to the multitude of obstacles lovers must face. Couples often have trouble expressing their love for one another or may face challenges within the marriages. Whether it be disagreements, affection of surroundings, friendships lost, or jealousy, the quest for true love has its consequences. This concept is expressed several times in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, in the cases of many of the lovers. However, it can be argued that although complications ensue, true love is worth a life of trouble.
Everything is a game to crafty little Puck. Yet once he realizes that he has. caused a problem he will make sure to the best of his ability and power that it is rectified. As in the scene with Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius. When Puck mistook Lysander for Demetrius (Shakespeare). had the characters look alike or ‘only slightly individualized') and dropped the love-juice into Lysander's eyes and then (with help from Oberon) realized what. he had done, he knew he had to fix it. & nbsp; Shakespeare conveniently created ‘Puck' to add some probability to the play. Since the typical audience believed in fairies and little people, Puck could be convincing in his role. It is possibly, even today, more plausible to have a little fairy running around causing problems than to have to try and believe that fate and destiny are the cause of all the joy, sadness and bad luck. & nbsp; When William Shakespeare created ‘Puck' it seems as though the play got much more out of the character than intended. This is nice however, as the audience.
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..
To emphasize, in Act III, the reader is presented with the play’s most extraordinary contrast, the relationship between Titania and Bottom. “What wakes me from my flow’ry bed?” (III.i.131). Titania is awoken by the so-called melodic singing of Bottom. In the present scene, both characters are under some particular sort of spell. Titania’s eyes were anointed with the nectar of the love flower, thus causing her to fall in love with the next living thing she encounters. In the meantime, Puck pulled a prank on Bottom, turning his head into that of an ass. Both characters of the play are interpreted as complete opposites. Titania, characterized as the beautiful, graceful fairy queen; Bottom is portrayed as overdramatic, self centered, and as of now, not keen on the eyes. However, the love nectar never fails and seems to bring the two into a state of lust. The contrast between the two is overwhelming. An important scene in the pl...
There are many themes within “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, but all of them are related to order and disorder. Those are social thinking in ancient time, natural order, appearance and reality, love, and marriage. The reason why the theme is order and disorder is because despite the order being broken by disorder; all the things are regarded as a midsummer night’s dream in the end.