A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Analysis of the Indian Boy Could removing a child as a character in a play be irrelevant to its outcome? If a cast member has no distinct role and is always referred to in third person, what kind of importance could one have in a play? In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the persona of the Indian boy could have been excluded. If the boy were not in the play, then Oberon and Titania would still be able to rekindle their relationship. Since Oberon communicates no rationale as to why he wants the boy, his fight to obtain the child is unclear. Oberon and Titania would still have jealousy within their relationship to propel the action of the play; therefore, the Indian boy’s role is insignificant. …show more content…
Slights supports the argument that none of the characters in the play have a rightful claim to the boy. He states, “Oberon’s competing and exclusive claim suggests that perhaps, as Puck implies, no one in fairyland has a rightful claim to him. Anyone who wants the changeling, for whatever purpose, may have to withhold him ‘perforce,’ that is forcibly” (262). Although at the end of play Oberon acquires the boy, it is done through magic rather than through forceful means. Even Titania is afraid of a forceful brawl taking place over the Indian boy. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania attests to this when she states, “Not for thy fairy kingdom.—Fairies, away! We shall chide downright, if I longer stay” in response to Oberon’s remark, “Give me that boy. . .” (2.1.128-130). When Oberon demands the boy and tensions seem to escalate, then Titania decides it is time to leave in order to prevent further conflict. At the very least, even if the Indian boy were to have significance to the play, according to author Jan H. Blits in her book The Soul of Athens: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, states, “. . .Oberon loses interest in the boy once he gets him. The boy is never mentioned again” (139). It is, therefore, easy to conclude that the importance of the Indian boy is
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream he entices the reader using character development, imagery, and symbolism. These tools help make it a wonderful play for teens, teaching them what a well-written comedy looks like. As well as taking them into a story they won’t soon forget.
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.
The play moves into the woods which is haunted by fairies who are there to bless the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. The quarreling between Oberon and Titania over the changeling boy leads to the king wanting to embarrass Titania with the love juice by making her fall in love with a monster. The first person she sees is Bottom and she falls violently in love with him.
The other major example of conflict with authority is also partly responsible for the friction that occurs in the play. This example occurs in the fairy world between Oberon and Titania. Oberon, as king of the fairies, is the supreme authority in the fairy world. Therefore, by disobeying him, Titania is defying her supreme authority. Her disobedience causes the conflict in nature that is apparen...
Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...
She demonstrates one of her strengths when she defends her young Indian boy from Oberon. Oberon pleads, “I do but beg a little changeling boy to be my henchman” and Titania replied, “And for her sake I do rear up her boy, and for her sake I will not part with him…We shall chide downright if I longer stay” (II.i.123-150). With her promise to protect the Indian boy, Titania, willing to fight Oberon over the ownership of her new son, keeps the young changeling boy safe. Willing to fight her husband in order to keep a young boy safe shows immense courage and strength that Titania possess. She also shows great strength when she put aside her anger against Oberon and invites him into the forest. Titania graciously ask Oberon, “If you will patiently dance in our round and see our moonlight revels, go with us” (II.i.145-146). Though angry with Oberon, Titania demonstrates great strength by graciously inviting him to stay with her in the forest and dance with the other fairies even after their fight over the Indian boy. By protecting the Indian boy and offering kindness during times of anger, Titania exemplifies what it means to have
William Shakespeare, an illustrious and eminent playwright from the Elizabethan Age (16th Century) and part owner of the Globe theatre wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which he portrays the theme of love in many different ways. These include the paternal love seen in the troubled times for Egeus and his rebellious daughter Hermia, true Love displayed with the valiant acts of Lysander and Hermia and the destructive love present in the agonizing acts of Titania towards her desperate lover Oberon. Through the highs and lows of love, the first love we clasp is the paternal love from our family.
The four lovers run away to the woods outside of Athens. In the woods, a world of fairies dwell. The fairy king, Oberon, stumbles across Demetrius and Helena while Helena is begging Demetrius to love her. Since Oberon is having some problems with love on his own, he tries to help Helena with her unfortunate situation. He sends his jester, Puck, to use a flower that, if its juice is dropped onto someone who’s sleeping’s eyes, will make the person fall madly in love with the first person they lie their eyes on. “Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove; A sweet Athenian lady is in love with a disdainful youth; anoint his eyes; but do it when the next thing he espies may be the lady. Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on.”(64) Puck, following Oberon’s orders, finds Lysander and Hermia instead of Demetrius and Helena. Anointing Lysander’s eyes, he leaves, thinking he did his bidding. Helena finds Lysander sleeping, and, wi...
can see his importance in the title of the play; he is named in the
In the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare the contrast between both setting and character are well explained throughout the play. This play is mostly about four young Athenians whose lives become a total disaster because of the fairies in the forest, strange situations in the city of Athens, Greece and mixtures of love potions. The main setting of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is in Athens, Greece. In Athens, the Duke Theseus plans his marriage with Hippolyta. In contrast, the forest is where all the drama happens between all the characters. The four main characters of this play are Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the King of the Fairies is a powerful man named Oberon. Oberon is married to Titania, Queen of the Fairies, who received an Indian boy from her dear friend who passed away. Oberon desperately wants the Indian boy to be one of his followers, but the boy is one of Titania followers and she will not give him up. This is when Oberon decides to use magic, in an attempt to win the Indian boy. Oberon uses the magic of a flower, to make his wife, Titania fall in love with the next creature she sees. Oberon says, “Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once: / The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid / Will make or man or woman madly dote / Upon the next live creature that it sees” (2.1.175-178). Oberon then black mails Titania and tells her that she will love the donkey forever unless she gives over the Indian boy. Although many would consider this bad, Oberon uses his magic because he can and he feels he needs to.
William Shakespeare’s writings are famous for containing timeless, universal themes. A particular theme that is explored frequently in his writings is the relationship between men and women. A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains a multitude of couplings, which are often attributed to the fairies in the play. Each of these pairings has positive and negative aspects, however, some relationships are more ideal than others. From A Midsummer Night’s Dream the optimal pairings are Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania; while the less desirable pairings are Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Demetrius, Lysander and Helena, and Titania and Bottom. Throughout A Midsummer
The fairies also show that their culture and society are not completely devoid of human qualities when Robin makes the mistake of placing the nectar on Lysander instead of Demetrius. The human actors in the play are a form of entertainment to their viewers in the human world, while the fairies are the entertainment of the woods and those who experience them. Humans are known for making mistakes all the time and the fact that Robin mistakes Lysander for Demetrius shows that he too suffers from error and is not infallible.
He is aware that Cupid hit a certain flower petal with his arrow and that if the juice of the flower is squeezed in an individual’s eyelids while he or she is sleeping, then that person awakes, he or she will fall in love with the person he/she sees first. Oberon requests Puck to bring him the flower. His plan is that, when Titania is distracted with love feelings over any creature she sees, he can more easily persuade her to hand over the boy. In fact, his trick also creates a self-conflict within Titania since she falls in love with the man who, due to Puck’s trick, has a donkey 's head. Then, we observe that at this moment, the magic created conflict within the story line. Nevertheless, when Oberon has secured the boy, he applies the supernatural or magic, to restore Titania again and their quarrel comes to an end, the magic has successfully recovered the married couple’s
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.