In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare decides to have a few of the characters act out the story of Pyramus and Thisbe for four other personages. What is curious is that, rather than simply having them quickly act out the short skit, Shakespeare has the characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream who are watching comment on the playlet as it is being presented by Bottom and his friends, in turn affecting the way it is demonstrated by influencing the ‘characters’. Shakespeare has the audience (Theseus, Demetrius, Hippolyta, and Lysander) bring attention to and complement the moon, wall, and lion, despite the fact that Pyramus and Thisbe are supposed to be the main focus and play the most important roles. Additionally, he has both the comments and the acting de-romanticize Pyramus and Thisbe, who are known for their tragic yet romantic story of love and death. These elements make a mockery of the so-called ‘romantic’ tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, in a way de-romanticizing it by …show more content…
He does so by ridiculing Pyramus’ demise and effectively nipping the emotion of the story at the bud. Bottom’s portrayal of Pyramus dying is comical rather than saddening, narrating what is happening: “Thus die I, thus, thus, thus. / Now am I dead. / Now am I fled. / My sould is in the sky. / Tongue, lose thy light. / Moon, take thy flight. / Now die, die, die, die, die.” (l. 284-290). The whole ordeal is far from touching, overdramatizing the act with its description. The comments from Hippolyta, Demetrius, and Lysander prove as much. Hippolyta expresses her hope that Thisbe “will be brief” (l. 300) and not mourn her lover’s death for long, Demetrius and Lysander following by narrating Thisbe’s actions, once again removing the tragic romance of it all with description. The use of description in the saddest moments of the story ruin the emotional moment and downplay the whole tragic tale of the infamous lovers Pyramus and
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.
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,
This element of intense similarity between characters serves to illustrate how fickle and easily changed feelings between young people can be. For example, the strong similarities between Demetrius and Lysander are discussed relatively early in the play; at Theseus’s assertion that Demetrius, the man she is reluctantly betrothed to, is “a worthy gentleman”, Hermia shoots back that “so is Lysander.” (1.1, 53-54). Lysander himself is also quick to point out the strong similarities between himself and his romantic rival, stating that he is “as well derived as he/As well possessed…/My fortunes every way as fairly ranked” (1.1, 99-101.) The apparent identical traits of Lysander and Demetrius lend themselves to the mystery of why Hermia loves
A Midsummer’s Night Dream, written by William Shakespeare, is a complicated love story that involves four teenagers. Hermia and Lysander are so in love; however, Hermia’s dad wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena is chasing after Demetrius, who treats her like a dog. The speaker is none other than the love-struck Helena. Her speech is not directed to anybody because Helena was alone, yet she still wants to make it clear how deeply in love she is with Demetrius. Shakespeare uses many literary devices to further explain and state that Helena loves Demetrius.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander.
Theseus’ reality doesn’t include things like fairies. He further says that the poet, lunatic, and lover are of “imagination all compact”. Theseus thinks that they are delusional. However, Hippolyta sees that there must be something more to the story than delusion because the lover’s minds have been “transfigure” and this “grows something of great constancy” even if it is a bit strange. It is as if the lover’s all had the same dream. Looking at the play as a whole, it would seem that those with powerful imaginations like the poet, lover, and lunatic transcend logic and reason. They see beyond what is there. Shakespeare, who’s imagination “bodies forth/the forms of things unknown” (Norton 5.1.14-15) has written A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Norton 845). This doesn’t seem very different from when Bottom says that he wants to have his vision turned into a ballad. This leads me to believe that the play-within-the-play is a comparison to the play we are watching. The performance of Pyramus and Thisbe assures us that nothing is what appears to be. Though Hippolyta thinks the play is silly, Theseus explains that the “best in kind are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if the imagination amends them” (Norton 5.1.208-209). This line seems to say that the best plays are only illusions, and the worst (the play by the rude mechanicals) can be just as good if you use your
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, there are multiple analyses that one can follow in order to reach a conclusion about the overall meaning of the play. These conclusions are reached through analyzing the play’s setting, characterization, and tone. However, when one watches the production A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Michael Hoffman, a completely different approach is taken on these aspects, leading to a vastly different analysis of the work. Though there are many similarities between the original written play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and the on-screen production of the aforementioned play which was directed by Michael Hoffman, there are differences in setting and
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.
However, the protagonists do not win in the end. This is yet another melodramatic quality found in both "Pyramus and Thisbe" and in Romeo and Juliet. It seems that they should, and will, be together in the end and be allowed to love each other freely, but that is not the way it turns out. Instead, the young lovers are dead by play's end because of pride and hate. The entire audience watching this spectacle is left feeling the same way and asks, "But why couldn't they just be together?
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
In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he strides to portray the tides of love! But even for Shakespeare, It’s quite hard to grasp the understanding of love, for there is always arising complications, that get in the way of lustful love; Throughout the play, Shakespeare, undermines the notion that true love ever existed.
Some of the characters are fairies, kings, queens, and even lower class people. It is
The concept of contrast plays an important role throughout Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare provides many examples of contrast signifying it as a motif. He groups the ideas of contrast together into those of some of the most important roles in the play. Helena is portrayed as tall and Hermia is short. Titania is a beautiful fairy who falls in love with Bottom, who is portrayed as graceless. Moreover, the main sets of characters even have differences. Fairies are graceful and magical creatures, yet tradesmen are clumsy and mortal. Additionally, the tradesmen are always overjoyed while the lovers are always serious with their emotions. Contrast layers throughout the whole play, as examples are shown in nearly every scene. Contrast becomes a constant, important motif to Shakespeare’s playwrite.
The Role of the Fairies in A Midsummer Nights Dream Introduction = == == == ==
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.