Analysis of A Midsummer Night´s Dream

William Shakespeare starts with a seemingly unresolvable conflict in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The main characters are lovers who are either unrequited in their love or hassled by the love of another. These lovers are inevitably paired. How does Shakespeare make this happen? He creates many subplots that, before long, are all snarled up into a chaotic knot. So, what actions does Shakespeare take to resolve these new quandaries? He ends up trusting a single key entity with his comedy. It’s only then that he introduces a special character into his world: a mischievous fairy whom is known by the name of Puck. Puck is the catalyst for all these subplots and, indeed, for the entirety of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Try to take Puck out of the play. Is there anyway for the play to survive? No, without the character of Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream would be very different from the play as it is today.

The progression of A Midsummer Night’s Dream depends on Puck in many ways. Working backwards, there are two major instances throughout the play that would be forever changed with the loss of Puck. What would happen if Puck were only there for the beginning of the play? Half of the comedic quality of the play would disappear without Puck’s farcical reaction to Bottom. For who, but Puck, would see Bottom and dislike his attitude enough to give him the head of an ass? Taking away this disfigurement would also cause King Oberon to feel less sympathetic towards his Titania when she falls in love with a mere mortal, instead of the monster. Though this

would have cost the play its comedic tone, there is a question of even greater import. Where would the play go without Puck altogether? King Oberon, in a power struggle with his l...

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...s character. Therefore, Puck is the single most important character to the development of the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The significance of this character has kept it alive for around 400 years. Most recently, the character has been revived in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Some say that the character of Dobby the house-elf is reminiscent of the legends of Puck which Shakespeare based his Puck on (Wright). However, there is a character that more thoroughly echoes Puck than Dobby. That character is that of Hogwarts’ resident poltergeist: Peeves. He resembles Puck in not only personality, but also in situation. They both play harmless pranks on unsuspecting individuals within their respective domains. They also both have an authority figure who has powerful influence over them. Clearly, Rowling was paying homage to Shakespeare when developing Peeves.