...The theme of love in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ The theme of love is crucial in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as the plot revolves around love. Without love there would not be any lovers for the play to be based on. I feel that love in the play is personified and has two personalities, comforting and cruel- comforting within civilisation, but cruel within the woods where characters are insecure. The woods have a very negative effect on the lovers and love plays with this insecurity. The magic juice represents mischief but its ultimate affect is love. When the men’s love interests’ change, the women don’t accept it, instead it throws them into a frenzy of questions and confusion and so something that should be unexpected but amazing for Helena, instead is a nightmare as she thinks she is being mocked. “O spite! O Hell! I see you all are bent to set against me for your merriment” (3, 2,145-146). This shows Helena’s frustration and how even though all she longs for is love, the woods can still change her perception of it. Love seems to consume the lovers, and makes them lose their rational mind. As Freud said “you are always mad when you are in love” and this is strongly shown in the play as love seems to rule the lovers heads and leads to mad decisions. For instance Helena has a perfect opportunity as Hermia is planning to elope with Lysander, leaving Demetrius for her. However her insane love for Demetrius means that she acts entirely irrationally by telling Demetrius “of fair...
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...True love does not exist without a harsh path traveled. Love shows how vulnerable people are. In the romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play in the Elizabethan era, William Shakespeare uses comedic conventions to explain love’s harsh and chaotic nature can make a fool out of anyone. Love not only makes a person a fool, but also guides people to make poor decisions. Shakespeare shows this through Hermia inquiring to Theseus the punishment for refusing to marry Demetrius because she loves Lysander, “But I beseech your Grace that I may know the worst that may befall me in this case if refuse to wed Demetrius”(I, i, 64-66). The fact that she would even ask the question that disobeys her father’s wishes makes an excellent example of a poor decision. Hermia not only asks this but also has thoughts of running away with Lysander and tries to carry out these plans, “Take comfort: he no more shall see my face. Lysander and myself will fly this place” (I, i, 207-208). Hermia also makes the poor decision of telling this to Helena who wishes to impress Demetrius out of love and Helena tells Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plans to escape....
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...Shakespeare’s Four Different Kinds of Love in AMND A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy/fantasy fiction by William Shakespeare wrote in 1595 or 1596 where Theseus plans to marry Hippolyta, and where lovers spend the night in the forest and fairies do spells and pranks on them. The play takes place in Athens. The plays first performance was on January 1, 1605 (Study.com, 2003-2018) and has been a popular play all over the world, ever since. The play is about love; it is not a tragedy. There were many different types of love portrayed in the play. Shakespeare talked about four different kinds of love in A Midsummer Night’s dream. He talked about forced love, parental love, romantic love, and complicated love. Forced Love- At the beginning of the play Theseus and Hippolyta have a forced love....
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...A Midsummer Night's Dream Genre Comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream is a classic example of Shakespearean comedy. What, you don't believe us? We'll prove it to you. We've got a checklist that details all the typical conventions and features of the genre so you can see for yourself: Light, humorous tone: Check. The play features fairy magic (like Oberon's love potion), silly pranks (like the transformation of a guy's head into that of a jackass), and the botched performance of a play-within-the-play by a bunch of wannabe actors. Need we say more? Clever dialogue and witty banter: Check. Shakespeare is a huge fan of punning and snappy wordplay, so naturally, his characters know how to get their witty repartee on. Shakespeare reserves some of the best dialogue for his warring lovers, especially Oberon and Titania, and even the "rude mechanicals" manage to wow us with their clever banter. Deception and disguise: Let's see…Hermia and Lysander try to sneak away from Athens to elope (behind Egeus's back). Also, Titania and the young lovers have no idea they've been drugged by Oberon and his magic love juice. So, check. Mistaken identity: Check. Sort of. In most of Shakespeare's other comedies, someone usually runs around in a disguise to mask his or her identity. (Sometimes, a lover is even tricked into sleeping with the wrong person by mistake.) This isn't necessarily the case in A Midsummer Night's Dream, unless we count the fact that the love juice causes Titania to fall head...
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...Major Task Essay What is it that appeals to audiences of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Reading the work written by Shakespeare, many of the readers feel different emotions; humour, confusion, happiness, sadness. However this emotions, show that if one author can allow the reader to feel these emotions than they have a very powerful gift. Shakespeare gives the reader a glimpse of his ‘magical’ powers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This book has a very large base of which this book appeals to, due to criteria, it can be placed in. Wether it be fantasy, romance or comedy, this book is fit for anyone, however recommended for High School Children and up. Comedy is a very good element to have in a book as this is something everyone looks for, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream gives the reader a huge proportion of comedy. A character who is known for their comedy is Nick Bottom as he exaggerates his movements and voice all the time. He is is the light of comedy because he isn’t funny, which makes him funny. The mechanicals who put on the play, where humorous as they turned the play from tragedy to comedy. The comedy is shown with irony of love. The ‘lovers’ in the book are often switching partners and always falling ‘in and out’ of love. The love is eventually resolved with everyone falling in love with the partners they are supposed to fall in love with. Midsummer Night’s Dream brings many people ‘back to the old days’ when they were watching Disney movies and reading about an enchanted...
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...A Midsummer Night’s Dream ‘All Shakespearean plays are relevant to modern audiences.’ Shakespeare’s plays have an exciting and capturing quality about them that continues to excite modern day audiences. One of his most famous plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has many themes such as love, dreams and farcical events that make us laugh at the foolishness of the smitten characters. We watch as the play unravels before us, showing the obstacles people go through to achieve happiness when they are in love. Because of these characteristics, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a riveting play that is still relevant to modern audiences. One of the key features in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that is used to engage viewers and readers is love vs. reason. This is cleverly demonstrated when Bottom says “…reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” as Titania, the fairy queen, professes her unjustified and undying love to him. Shakespeare used personification in the text because Bottom and Titania are portraying ‘reason’ and ‘love’ while they speak, seeing as fairies and mortal humans do not mix. Finding love illogical or having no reason is still relevant and a very common occurrence in our modern day lives, as (coming from a non-scientific point of view) we still don’t understand how or why love happens. Love and all its glorious mayhem shall always persevere throughout the ages, and even throughout varying cultures, as it is a part of being human. Being such a dominant theme in...
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...of time. Even today they are used in education, personal leisure and of course entertainment, as they were always meant for. Today, plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, have been made into movies. But how well do the actors portray the timeless characters in Shakespeare’s world? Can modern day actors do Shakespearean characters justice in their portrayal? In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck is one of the most significant characters. In the 1999 film adaptation the character of Puck is played by actor, Stanley Tucci. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow is the mischievous sprite who serves Oberon, the Fairy King. He spends his days playing annoying tricks on people or helps them out with their chores. In the play, Puck brags about when he has been a nuisance to women in the village, “Sometimes for three-foot stool mistaketh me/Then slip I from her bum. Down topple she” (Shakespeare 2.1 52-53 857) more than anything else, Puck enjoys a good practical joke. After he changes Bottom’s head into the head of an ass, he delightedly proclaims, "My mistress with a monster is in love" (Shakespeare 3.2 6 870). Puck can be considered the heart and soul of the play because of his playful spirit, enthusiasm and disposition to prank anyone. His sense of humor and the tricks he plays infuse A Midsummer Night's Dream with a whimsical and disheveled quality that forms the majority of the play's amusing atmosphere. In the film, Stanley Tucci portrays the character...
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...uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen. One aspect of these genres that can be compared and contrasted is the narrative or plot. A comparison can be analyzed in that both begin with a problem. In Oedipus Rex, the play begins with a plague devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about the...
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...SYNOPSIS A Midsummer Night's Dream" deals with the universal theme of love and its complications: lust, disappointment, confusion, marriage. The plot focuses on three parallel stories: * The trials and experiences of two sets of lovers camping in a magical forest * The world of the Fairy King and Queen and their elves * And a group of amateur actors attempting to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisby" for the wedding of the Duke of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius (who is loved by Helena). Hermia has to choose between marrying Demetrius, death or becoming a nun. To escape the arranged marriage, she and Lysander elope into the woods followed by Demetrius and Helena. While there we have the two male characters in love with Hermia, while Helena is trying to win the heart of Demetrius back. With this going on in the ‘main plot’ we are re-introduced to the fairies who try to ‘help’ the situation by using a love potion. The whole thing goes completely wrong which adds to the comedic elements of this play and ends up with Lysander and Demetrius now loving Helena and they find themselves in the same situation that they were already in before. "The course of true love never did run smooth" comments Lysander, uttering one of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s most important themes. The theme of love’s difficulty, which is explored through the motif of love out of balance. The prime example of this is the unbalanced love among...
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...uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen. One aspect of these genres that can be compared and contrasted is the narrative or plot. A comparison can be analyzed in that both begin with a problem. In Oedipus Rex, the play begins with a plague devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about...
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...A Midsummer Night’s Dream Throughout your life you might occasionally find yourself having difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is just your imagination. William Shakespeare, born in April 1564, was one of the greatest play writers of all time. In each of his plays Shakespeare focused on conveying a message or theme to the audience. One of his most beloved works is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Throughout this play William Shakespeare is trying to make the distinction between appearances versus reality. Using the concepts of love, a play-within-a-play, and dreams Shakespeare is able to make the distinction between the two. This essay will examine each concept and explain its importance in distinguishing between how things look versus what they actually are. Love is a major theme throughout the story. There are many different types of love between the different characters. First, there is noble love between Theseus and Hippolyta. Next is true love, which is shared between Lysander and Hermia. Also, Oberon and Titania share a magical love because both are fairies. Shakespeare confuses reality by including fairies in this story. The fairies can interact with the humans and can even fall in love with them. Another tactic used by Shakespeare is that the fairies have a magic liquid that when poured onto a persons eyelids will cause that person to fall in love with the first thing that person sees once they open their eyes. This potion is poured into many characters...
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...METATHEATRE IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (SHAKESPEARE). The term metatheatre is used to refer to any instance in which a play draws attention to itself as a play, rather than pretending to be a representation of “reality.” Various uses of metatheatrical devices can be found in the works of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare’s favorite such devices is the “play-within-a-play.” With this device, the theatre audience finds itself watching an audience (on stage) watching a play. The play-within-a-play is thus a self-reflexive device that addresses the question of where audience reality ends and theatrical illusion begins. Shakespeare often incorporated the device as an integral part of his plots. A famous example can be found in Hamlet, in which a play is used as part of the effort to uncover the guilt of Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. Another famous play-within-a-play is found in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this work, the play performed by Nick Bottom and his friends takes up almost the entire final act. It appears after the major issues of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have been resolved, and thus it is clearly not integral to the development of the plot. Nonetheless, as this paper will argue, the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream serves an important function by making commentaries on the events that occurred in the first four acts. Various metatheatrical elements can be found throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For example, Bottom appears...
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...Allusions in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Carlos Fuentes wrote “There is no creation without tradition; the 'new' is an inflection on a preceding form; novelty is always a variation on the past” (Myself with Others: Selected Essays). Judging from William Shakespeare’s own extensive use of allusions, he would agree with Carlos Fuentes. William Shakespeare was an English Renaissance author of many timeless pieces, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a tale of how love, (whether it be true love or the misuse of love potions,) blurs the fine line between dreams and reality. In the preceding literary piece, and many more of his unlisted works, William Shakespeare used allusions. Literary allusions are “implied or indirect references to a person, event, or thing, or to a part of another text” (Encyclopedia Britannica). William Shakespeare, author of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, used allusions to reinforce the intended persona of his characters. As revealed earlier, Shakespeare used allusions to better the character development in his writing. This was made very self-evident when it came to Hermia’s character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hermia...
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...Explore the ways writer’s present characters in difficult circumstances. What similarities and differences do you find in the ways Juliet in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Hermia in ‘A Midsummer night’s dream’ are presented in their battle to be with the man they love. Both plays, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s dream are based upon the theme of love. Shakespeare’s explores the difficulties faced by the characters in both plays and how they struggle to be with the person they love, I will be exploring two main female characters in both plays which are Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet” and Hermia from “A Midsummer Night’s dream”. Both Women face difficult and challenging decisions throughout the plays however the plays differ on what kind of story they are “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy, whereas “A Midsummer Night’s dream” is a comedy. Juliet is in a land of hostility where the audience knows from the very beginning the audience know she is controlled by fate and is going to die at the end. The Audience are told this right at the beginning in the prologue where it says “The fearful passage of their death-marked love,” this tells the audience that the lovers of the story are going to die in a tragic way. On the other hand, Hermia’s surroundings are fair more kind and because the play is a comedy, the audience know it’s going to end with a wedding and you could say “happy ever after”. There are parallels throughout both plays that copy each other but these parallels exist within...
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...Antithesis in A Midsummer Night’s Dream In Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's, there are a lot of themes that are evident. Some of these themes included order, disorder, reality, dream, harmony, enmity, amity, harmony, and dissonance are just to name a few. Normally, none of these themes would even be present at the same time because of their contrasting nature and the fact that they are complete opposites. However, the fact that not only are these themes present at the same time, but they even interact with one another inside of the play to create events within the play is the epitome of antithesis. Shakespeare even includes character antitheses that intertwine with the themes. Furthermore, in A Midsummer Night's Dream the main overshadowing theme is the concept of antithesis because the fact that all of the themes present in the play have opposites that can be clearly be seen and the fact that Shakespeare places next to each other in contrasting beauty show antithesis. In this play, none of these themes would exist without their opposites. Initially, one of the examples of antithesis, and probably the most prevalent, in A Midsummer Night's Dream is the theme of disorder and its companion order. Disorder is a dominant theme in this play because it is seen on nearly every page and in many aspects of the play. In most cases, the disorder is cause by the fairies. These fairies are part of the dream world that actually controls the real world. One of the main fairies that...
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