A Midsummer Night's Dream as an Elizabethan Comedy
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" could have turned out as a tragedy; it can
be compared to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Lysander and Hermia
love each other but Egeus, Hermia's father, wants her to marry
Demetrius. This means they have to disobey Egeus and escape Athenian
law to be able to marry. These are comparable characteristics of
"Romeo and Juliet", an Elizabethan tragedy. In "Romeo and Juliet",
Romeo, a Montague, falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet, but there
families do not allow them to marry. The conditions are very similar
in both plays but "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy whereas "A Midsummer
Night's Dream" unfolds into a comedy. This is shown by the structure
of the play; at the beginning there is order in the city, then the
lovers leave for the wood where the fairies, Puck, in particular,
meddle with the mortals. Towards the end order is returned, a common
structure to an Elizabethan comedy.
In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" there are three groups of characters:
the nobles, the working men and the fairies. Nick Bottom the weaver,
one of the workers, is a main contribution to the play's comedy. His
name, Bottom, is a play on words. When he is in the woods he gets
transformed into a donkey, another name for a donkey is an ass and
another name for a bottom is an ass. Also, a bottom was something used
by a weaver. When the working men are preparing the play they are to
perform he tries to play every role 'let me play Thisbe', 'let me play
the lion too'. Bottom thinks he is the best actor and can fill every
role. He is given the part of Pyramus, the romantic hero. He takes his
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...od. He could have made the
error of putting the love juice into Lysander's eyes just to cause
trouble. The fairies in the play are very mischievous and these acts
would not be beyond them.
In the end of the play everything is put back to normal as the Duke of
Athens, out on a hunting trip, finds and takes the lovers back to the
city. Puck reverses the effects of the love juice for Lysander, so he
once again loves Hermia. The effects of the love juice remain on
Demetrius so he still loves Hermia. The events of the wood are passed
off as a dream, in which there is plenty to find funny, and nobody
comes to any harm, only made fun of. There is anxiety, mockery,
frustration and some humiliation, but nobody is harmed. The
aristocratic wedding represents the restoring of order, a typical
ending to an Elizabethan comedy.
Do you like magical and fictional characters? One of the most Magical stories is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This play is a contrast of the real world and a world inhabited by fairies and other magical sources and elements. This play takes place during Elizabethan time period. The Play was performed at The Globe Theatre. The play was written in 1590.
Hermia , Lysander , Helena and Demetrius represent young love in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream . They are potrayed as foolish and fickle , acting like children and requiring a parental figure to guide them . The parental figures are Hermia’s father , Egeus , and figuratively Theseus , the mortal ruler , and Oberon , the mystical ruler.
Shakespeare’s literature exemplifies creativeness and powerful word use to create bodies of work with strong attributes that grab the reader’s attention. Midsummer’s night dream is an example of some of Shakespeare’s best work. The thesis of this essay is Hermia’s father, Esues wants his daughter to marry someone that he approves of and more importantly he wants someone for her that is respected by the rest of society to admire. This play has love, drama and characters that follow their hearts. Hermia is told she is not allowed to love or marry Lysander by her father. Her father Esues wants her to marry Demetrius. The setting of the play is taken in Athens. Athens is a place of order and royalty and a place where people are supposed to marry
Analysis of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Nights Dream is a play by William Shakespeare, and I. believe is mainly summed up by this line from the play. The course of true love never ran smooth. This is basically saying that being in love comes with many obstacles.
Author of thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets, William Shakespeare has been known to us as one of the most influential writers of English literature. Written in the mid-1590s, Shakespeare gave birth to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is still considered to have been his most strangest and delightful creation yet. The play reveals to us the magnitude of his imagination and originality. Contrary to many of his other plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream doesn’t seem to have been stemmed from any particular source, though some believe it was written for and performed at a private aristocratic wedding with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance. Some critics have even speculated that it was Shakespeare’s light hearted and silly version of Romeo and Juliet. However, no evidence has ever been found to prove either theory.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of the masterpieces of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare explores various aspects of love and friendship. With the help of the main characters such as Lysander, Demetrious Helena and Hermia, he endeavors that the path of love is full of obstacles, however, if one is committed and faithful, he/she can defy those obstacles leading him/her to success. As Lysander says “The course of true love never did run smooth”, the love stories presented in the play undergo difficult situations but eventually the genuine love is recognized by the triumph of the true loves.
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.
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.
The fairies and the fairy realm have many responsibilities in this play. The most important of which is that they are the cause of much of the conflict and comedy within this story. They represent mischievousness and pleasantry which gives the play most of its emotion and feeling. They relate to humans because they make mistakes but differ in the fact that they do not understand the human world.
Throughout history literature has changed into many different forms and styles, it has also stayed the same in many different ways, literary techniques and elements are key to a good piece of writing, a perfect example that shows us just this is in, A Midsummer Nights Dream, where we will further explore the different literary elements that were used most notably the plot. The plot of a story lays out the foundation and the background for the entire play to come, we'll compare and contrast this element and look at the different sub elements which are produced. We will define similarities and difference in these elements form both the play o the film. Taking a look at things such as climax, play incidents, and the conflict will all give us a better understanding of how it affects the similarities and difference of the film versus the play.
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.
Shakespeare wrote his acclaimed comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream more than a thousand years after Apuleius’ Roman novel, The Golden Ass. Although separated by thousands of years and different in terms of plot and setting, these works share the common theme of a confused and vulnerable man finding direction by relying on a supernatural female. One of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s many subplots is the story of Bottom, a comical figure determined to be taken seriously in his production of a Pyramus and Thisbe. As Bottom becomes caught up in a quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies, the commanders of the enchanted forest where Bottom and his players practice, the “shrewd and knavish sprite” Puck transforms his head into an ass’ s and leads him to be enthralled in a one night stand with the queen, Titania. (2.1.33) Apuleius’s protagonist Lucius endures a similar transformation, after his mistress’s slave girl accidentally bewitches him into a donkey, leaving him even without the ability to speak. Although Lucius’ transformation lasts longer and is more severe, he and Bottom both undergo similar experiences resulting from their animal forms. Lucius’ suffering ultimately leads him to salvation through devotion the cult of Isis, and Bottom’s affair with Titania grants him clarity and a glimpse into similar divine beauty. Ultimately, both asinine characters are saved through their surrender to the goddesses.
Some of the characters are fairies, kings, queens, and even lower class people. It is
toward his tasks is sort of a light and airy one. He does not take life
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.