Introduction Considered to be the greatest playwright to ever have lived, William Shakespeare’s works continue to fascinate and entrance audiences around the world. Imbued with imagery, his comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is perhaps one of his more fantastic but none the less intricate plays. Presiding over the proceedings, the moon is the uniting feature of the play. With its multi-layered symbolism it is the thread that connects the different characters and weaves the tale together. 1. The Keeper of Time Upon its first mention the moon is used as a marker for the passage of time. In the opening lines of the play Theseus, the duke of Athens, laments to his fiancée Hippolyta that time is passing too slow and blames this on the moon: THESEUS: Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace; four happy days bring in Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires, Like to a step-dame or a dowager Long withering out a young man’s revenue. (1.1.1-4 (Shakespeare and Brooks)) The old moon keeps Theseus waiting for his wedding night with Hippolyta, on the new moon. Theseus compares the old moon to an older woman, which stepmothers or a dowager usually are, and accuses her of keeping from him what is his to have, Hippolyta and their wedding night, like old widows might keep an inheritance from a young man. 2. The Moon Goddess Unlike the impatient Theseus, who mourns the dark moon, Hippolyta sees the moon as a symbol of Cupid and his arrows, which unite lovers: HIPPOLYTA: four nights will quickly steep themselves in night; Four nights will quickly dream away the time; And then the moon, like a silver bow New bent in heaven, shall behold the night Of our solemnity. (1.1.6-11 (Shakespeare and ... ... middle of paper ... ...moon, therefore creating the image of the ‘Man in the Moon’: STARVELING: This lantern doth the horned moon present; Myself the Man i’th’ Moon do seem to be. (5.1.235-236 (Shakespeare and Brooks)) Thus the moon takes on another more comical and amusing role in contrast to the darker, more serious roles it holds towards the other groups. Conclusion Returning to the introduction, the moon is not only ever present, it actively influences the proceedings throughout the play, not only connecting characters, but also giving them agency for their actions. Shakespeare once again displays his dexterity with imagery through his manifold portrayals of the moon; one moment merely the indicator of time, the next a symbol of the goddess Diana, at once a symbol of order and chaos, of happiness and discord, fertility and chastity, it encompasses all that transpires on the stage.
However Vala mentions that the Sun didn’t have her “hall” yet or know her purpose nor did Moon, noted to be Sun’s companion, know its purpose yet. The Northern Europeans understandably associated the sun and moon together as it appeared that one rose at night and one in the morning and both celestial objects glowed and must’ve held a purpose or influenced life on earth.
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.
This suggests that Hippolyta is more like an object if she is "won" and represents the typical view that men were superior over women. However with Hippolyta's character Shakespeare mocks this ideal, as Hippolyta, being queen of the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women, represents a very strong and independent woman, therefore does not conform to the stereotypical view of the "wife. " Theseus and Hippolytas first scene is important as it sets the scene for the play. Shakespeare stresses the differences between the two. Theseus is very impatient for their wedding to take place: " But, O, methinks, how slow this old moon wanes.
Helena + Demetrius = One sided (Unrequited) Hippolyta + Theseus = Stable Love (Mutual love and respect) Titania + Bottom = Unrequited and magical (fake) Egeus + Hermia = Family - Father and daughter Titania
...Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword, And won thy love, doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph and with revelling.
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...
The first scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduces a tangled web of lovers. Hermia presents herself for judgement as she refuses to marry Lysander, the man of whom her father approves, as she is infatuated instead with Demetrius. Meanwhile her friend Helena is besotted by Demetrius, but he loves Hermia. The scene plays out like a soap opera with dramatic relationships galore, but Shakespeare establishes greater depth with the help of allusions. The most significant references in this scene appear when Hermia and Lysander speak privately for the first time. In their brief conversation, Hermia alludes to Cupid, Venus, and Dido. The first two are gods of love, and Dido is a queen who burned herself on a pyre after being abandoned by her lover. Shakespeare uses each of these mentions of mythology to make the point that the affair between Hermia and Lysander is no passing fancy. However, when Helena enters and converses with the star-crossed lovers she makes no mention of mythology as she discusses her unrequited love for Demetrius and resulting jealousy of Hermia. The absence of allusions in Helena’s speech accentuates the divide between herself and her friend. Barbara A. Mowat speaks eloquently on this concept in the Folger Library edition introduction. As Ms. M...
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
While Hippolyta is still recognized as Theseus’ Queen, negative light continues to be shown upon women during this time, Hippolyta specifically, as Theseus continues to be smitten by other women that catch his eye regardless of his being wed. This further suggests that men held little respect or concern for women during this time as he continues to have wandering eyes while married but also continues to portray ...
The moon is a wondrous thing. Every night it's outside, up high in the sky, giving light to the world. Most people take advantage of the moon's light, because they don't know why or how the moon shines. Scientists today are busy proving theories and studying the moon, which will hopefully help society to understand the moon more. They know a lot about the moon, but there is still much more to learn.
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.
Magic affects both the plot and the environment of William Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” as it influences the thoughts and actions of the characters through most of the play. Through its power, magic confuses the characters and creates conflicts between them, but it also solves the conflicts. The character’s use and misuse of magic lead to some of the ridiculous moment of the play.
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is often read as a dramatization of the incompatibility of “reason and love” (III.i. 127), yet many critics pay little attention to how Shakespeare manages to draw his audience into meditating on these notions independently (Burke 116). The play is as much about the conflict between passion and reason concerning love, as it is a warning against attempting to understand love rationally. Similarly, trying to understand the play by reason alone results in an impoverished reading of the play as a whole – it is much better suited to the kind of emotive, arbitrary understanding that is characteristic of dreams. Puck apologises directly to us, the audience, in case the play “offend[s]” us, but the primary offence we can take from it is to our rational capacity to understand the narrative, which takes place in a world of inverses and contrasts. The fantastical woods is contrasted to the order of the Athenian law, and Elizabethan values of the time are polarised throughout the narrative, such as Helena’s feeling ugly even though she is tall and fair. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is thus not solely a comedic meditation on the nature of the origin or meaning of love, it also cautions against trying to rationalise the message of the play. Puck, who by his very nature cannot exist in rational society, propels the action of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He is a manifestation of mischief and the unpredictability of nature, which governs not only the fantastical woods outside of Athens, but also the Athenians themselves when it comes to love. Yet, it is Puck, and thus nature, which rectifies the imbalance of the lovers in the beginning of the play. Rationalising, o...
Hippolyta is a strong yet silent amazonian beauty who is the love of Theseus, Duke of Athens. Although Hippolyta is largely silent in her dealings with love in the patriarchal society, her physical presence speaks for the untold voice she might profit from. Of the four main female characters Hippolyta is the more silent of the four. However, since Hippolyta is the maiden of Theseus she bears heavy in the decisions Theseus makes about the love quarrels within the play. From the words of Theseus the reader can associate that Hippolyta has a strong impact on the actions he takes when dealing with love and marriage:
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.