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The use of magic as a dominant theme in midsummer night's dream
Interpreting the play a midsummer night's dream
The use of magic as a dominant theme in midsummer night's dream
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Explication from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare In the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1 we are introduced to one of the main characters and quite possibly the most important. It is through Puck’s action that the plot of this play develops. Puck’s character begins to develop through a conversation between him and the fairy who is wondering if this is truly the Puck she has heard so much about. The Fairy asks Puck if he is otherwise known as Robin Goodfellow. The Fairy asks if he the same Puck who is known for playing pranks on the local villagers such as frightening the maidens, skimming the milk in the dairies, misleading night wanderers etc. Puck’s answer to this query helps to establish his character as a devious trickster. After Puck’s answer to the Fairy: “Thou speakest aright; I am that merry wanderer of the night” (2,1,43) He continues to brag about some of his practical jokes he has played. For example Puck tells the Fairy: “Sometimes lurk I in a gossips bowl, In the very likeness of a roasted crab, And when she drinks, against her lips I bob, And on her withered dewlap pour the ale. The wisest, aunt telling the saddest tale, Sometimes for a three foot stool mistaketh me, Then slip I from her bum, down topples she” (2,1,47) Here Puck is describing two different instances where he caused turmoil. The first is when Puck took the form of a roasted crab in a gossiper’s bowl of ale and when someone would went to drink from it he would bob against their lips spilling the ale all over. The second tale is when Puck would take the form of a stool and wait for an old women to sit. Just when she was about to sit he would remove the stool out from under her so the poor women would fall and everyone would laugh at her. Not only does this conversation in Act 1 helps to develop Puck’s character but it also introduces the main plot for the play. Here we find out that Oberon is jealous of Titania’s attention and affection for her new page, the changeling boy. Because of his jealousy, Oberon devises a scheme to place Titania under a spell causing her to act like a fool.
Although love is evident throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom embraces it in a different form. Instead of loving another character, Bottom loves himself. He is constantly interrupting the other mechanicals, he recites lines that do not relate to the current conversation whatsoever, and insists he can play every role in the play. It is clear that Bottom loves to hear himself speak. After he awakes from his encounter with Titania, he goes on to state that he wants Peter Quince to write a prologue about his “deep” vision, with the title “Bottom’s Dream” (4.1.186). Bottom is so in love with himself that he wants an entire section of the play—in which he is already the lead of—dedicated to himself. Bottom’s arrogance relates to A Midsummer Night Dream’s themes of mayhem and disorder because after Puck transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass, his appearance strikes fear into his cast members and interrupts their play rehearsal. The players run away from Bottom, with Quince shouting of being haunted (3.1.46-47); but it is apparent that even after Puck alters him, Bottom’s arrogance is still present. When Snout asks him how he changed, Bottom responds with: “What do you see? You see an ass head of your own, do you?” (3.1.56). Even when Bottom is the one who is clearly have problems, he puts the blame on Snout, claiming that he is fine and Snout is the one with problems. Bottom believes himself to be perfect, and therefore if anything goes wrong in his life, it must be someone else’s fault. Ironically, Puck changes him into an animal that reflects both his headstrong and clueless personality. Lastly, Bottom’s ego also relates to the theme of foolishness, because it blinds him from how dreadful and unprofessional his acting skills truly are. For example, during their official performance, Bottom purposely breaks character to respond to something an audience member said (5.1.177). Bottom assumes
Exerting the type of power that is influenced by malicious intentions can cause one to make decisions that are not beneficial to others. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is written within a time period and setting that favors men instead of woman. In other words, men have all the authority to control the events that occur in their own lives as well as the lives of others whom are considered insignificant. The plot displays the catalysts that ignite many characters’ desire for control that is misused by higher status people. Shakespeare’s use of characterization demonstrates how the wanting of control causes the characters to act irrationally through the misuse of power. Shakespeare’s use of setting, plot and characterization causes the ordeals that the characters ultimately face. In turn, the deceitful choices of a few individuals with status impacts whether the lives of lower status people are enhanced.
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.
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck exhibits manipulative tendencies towards the human characters: he deceives them yet, then again, brings them back to their “Athenian” senses (as displayed in the previous paragraph). In his epilogue, he treats the audience in much the same way. First, he wishes to gain their trust, “If we shadows have offended / Think but this, and all is mended” (5.1.430-431), and then proceeds to deceive them into thinking that “[they] had slumber’d here / While these visions did appear.” (5.1.432-433). Just as he reconciles the worlds of Athens and the Woods by reinstating “That every man should take his own” (3.2.459), Puck reassures the audience into making them believe that what they had witnessed in the woods was but a dream—without, of course, dismissing the idea of it happening altogether. In this manner, his ability not only to influence the human characters of the play, “On whose eyes I might approve / This flower’s force in stirring love” (2.2.68-69), but also to address the audience directly, “Give me your hands, if we be friends / And Robin shall restore amends” (5.1.444-445) further reinforces the notion that his character embodies the ambivalence in-between these contrasting worlds. He is not confined to these boundaries, but rather, makes use of
The fairy world then comes into contact with the world of the young lovers. Mischievous Puck causes further complications when he uses magic to anoint a young Athenian male’s eyes, who is in fact the wrong Athenian that Oberon assigned Puck. Puck misuses magic when he plays a silly prank on Bottom who is one of the Mechanicals, by giving Bottom a head of an ass. Strangely Titania falls in love with the creature that Puck has created. This results in Oberon becoming extreamly fu...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play of conflicted love. Thus semi-comedy displays the notion of, the spiritual and natural world working together. The play begins with a noble family discussing a planned marriage. Hermia is arranged to marry a man she does not love. In rebellion she and her lover (Lysander) flees to the woods so they can avoid Athenian law. Before leaving Hermia tells her sister about her plans to run away. In desire to gain revenge and find love herself Helena (Hermia’s sister) chases Hermia and her intended mate into the woods. The forest is where the spirits live, the fairy king, Oberon, is desperate to gain the affection of the fairy queen. He saw cupid shoot his love arrow, which landed on a flower. He is determined that,
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.
So from all of this I still have to say Puck is a good character. He
Presented with many obstacles and complications to overcome, we know that Hermia is the protagonist in the play. She has relations with almost all the characters in the play. The first and most important relationship is her love, Lysander. From the very beginning we see that Hermia loves Lysander with all her heart and soul and he loved her the same. The only tragic flaw in their relationship was when Puck put the magic juice in Lysander's eyes and he fell in love with Helena. Hermia felt sad and rejected when that happened. But when Puck finally realized that he had made a mistake and corrected it, Hermia and Lysander were in their heavenly bliss of love once again.
Sly, a drunk beggar, he immediately plots a practical joke to play on him. The
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.
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...
The Role Of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream & nbsp; The role and character of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, is not only entertaining, but quite useful. & nbsp; William Shakespeare seems to have created the character of Puck from his own childhood. In Shakespeare's time it was believed that fairies and little people did exist. Whenever something went wrong around the farmyard or house or village, incidents such as buckets of milk ‘accidentally' spilling over, or tools suddenly disappearing, or doors opening for no reason, it was blamed on ‘ those damn little people are amazing! i.e. a sym & nbsp; The idea of Puck's character is a lovely one. One can't help but be attracted to him and his innocent, little pranks. He is also known by the name Robin Goodfellow. The audience can only see this ‘Robin Goodfellow' side of. Puck when he is trying to fix something he disrupted, hence the name Goodfellow. & nbsp; When compared to Oberon, King of the Fairies and Titania, Queen of the Fairies and the remaining fairies of the play, Puck does not seem to fit in as well. well. While Oberon and Titania belong to the forest and the world of dainty fairies, a small village setting seems more appropriate for Puck. He is the type of fairy that likes to be around mortals and cause them trouble, as opposed to the snare. to other fairies. This is why Puck's little job with a love potion and a young couple is perfect for him and perfect for the job. & nbsp; Puck is a likable character who tends to create mischief around himself.
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.