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 …show more content…
Shakespeare used the Venus allusion to show Hermia’s devotion to Lysander. Shakespeare used an allusion to Tartar’s Bow to show that Robin’s hasty and frivolous ways could obstruct other’s well being. As for Titania, Shakespeare used an allusion to Neptune to prove that Titania was a good friend, who was selfless and caring towards other, and that she ultimately deserved to continue having “sole custody” over the Indian Boy, as opposed to her husband. On closing thought, Salman Rushdie reveals that “A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones. Nothing comes from nothing” (Haroun and the Sea of