...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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...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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...in a midsummer night's dream women are portrayed as characters that will do almost anything for love, even when they are not under a spell. the women characters in this play are shown to be very gullible, and are all greatly effected by the love spell. women are manipulated a lot in this play. friendships built upon more solid foundations crumble when attacked by the artillery of petty jealousies or when undermined by misunderstandings, which creates a complicated portrayal of women and their relationships with one another that cannot be understood in one specific way. Shakespeare wanted to convey regarding the nature of female passions and affections, not only as they affected women, but also as they impacted women’s relationships with men. The friendships and relationships of women in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare are important to the plot and even the general structure of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare. One of the most interesting representations of the friendships of women in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare can be seen in the conflict between Titania and her husband, Oberon. This is occasioned by the fact that both the wife and the husband want to retain possession of a young Indian boy who has been placed in Titania’s care. Titania does not want to give up the boy because she has, as she states in one of the important quotes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare, “never had so sweet a changeling” (II.i.23); for this reason, she...
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...Athens and Forest Reading through A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, it is easy to find out that the play can be separated by two sides generally. One of them is near world, represents complexity, statutory and fact. The other one is mystical kingdom, represents simplicity, freedom and dream. William Shakespeare uses antithesis to point out the differences from near world and mystical kingdom. The first thing, there are some differences in the complexity of people’s life. Athens, in the other words near world, wedding is a complicated ceremony. In ancient Athens, wedding ceremonies started after dark. Her family followed the chariot on foot, carrying the gifts. Friends of the bride and groom lit the way, carrying torches and playing music to scare away evil spirits (Unknown). Especially for the royalties, they usually hire hundreds of people to ready the performances for their wedding. Those multifarious ceremonies are used to entertainment and invocation. In addition, civility is very important and complexity. Talking with people who have higher rank, they have to use many humble words to show their respect. Beside near world, mystical kingdom does not have that much propriety. Spirits do not need many ways to disport. They are so simply that even a mirror can make them happy. William Shakespeare also points out the second difference in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is legal system. In Athens, people have laws to limit women’s right. Women have...
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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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...In “A Midsummer Night’s dream” William Shakespeare shows a variety of different types of love. A few examples of love are: true, parental, friendship, and romantic. Also, Shakespeare shows how easily one’s feelings can change for one another. Even though “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was written in Ancient Greek times, people can easily relate to the different types of love shown throughout the drama. Love can be a beautiful thing or either it can be chaotic and at times nerve racking, but in the end everything works together for the best. Parental love and true love are commonly used in the drama. Hermia saw that parental love can be rather nerve racking because she wants to marry Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius instead....
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...Themes Different, Yet Similar We all have relationships. What if you couldn’t choose who you got to marry when you grow up? Well in the Elizabethan Era, most people’s parents choose who they were going to marry when they grew up. That’s how it was during A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well, but in today’s society, most people get to choose who they marry. In “Bringing Home the Wrong Race”, the parents tell their child what race they can and can’t marry. That’s how today’s society is. There are many similarities and differences with rules of marriage from today’s society and during Shakespeare’s time. These three articles have many things in common. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Egeus, Hermia’s father, explains that he can disfigure her if she does not listen to who he wants her to marry (I. i. 43-46). In the article Love and Marriage, the author states that children were property of their parents, and they had to treat them like a servant treats his master, or else. This article explains exactly what happened in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Then in...
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...Love means many things, to each person it means something different. Sometimes, the word love doesn't even mean love, it merely becomes an image of something we want it to be. In the book a Midsummer Night's Dream love can be defined in three different ways; friendship love, relationship love, and mistaken love. The friendship love comes between the couples Hermia & Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, and Thisbe and Pyramus. In act five Thisbe and Pyramus were shocked but yet accepted what had happened between the couples and set the wedding and events for them. This shows friendship love between the couples because they accepted their differences like true friends do. The next type of love is relationship love. We see it mostly between Hermia...
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...Arranged Marriages Arranged marriages have been practiced for years in many countries. For many people, the idea of arranged marriages brings joy and happiness. For others, it brings great displeasure in not being able to choose the one they want to marry. For example, in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia is in love with Lysander, yet her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Hermia has to make a decision on who she wants to marry. Hermia has to either marry Demetrius or Lysander. In order to marry Lysander, they were going to run away together. In the end, she is able to marry Lysander, her true love. Arranged marriages were quite popular during the time that Shakespeare wrote this play. However, there are many countries today that still arrange many marriages. One country in particular is India. In India, there are many reasons why and how they arrange marriages. Arranging a marriage in India is part of their culture and plays a big role in their country. Parents choose to find a match for their children in India. Finding a husband for the daughter allows her to relax and enjoy life. It takes unnecessary stress away from the child. Parents have their children’s best interest at heart when it comes to education and marriage. Both are considered to be a very important part of their culture. A successful marriage and a good education for the child directly reflect on the parents. There was an article written on arranged marriages and Sita, an Indian...
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...and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare are highly evocative pieces of theatre that have transcended the category of brilliance and have had a profound effect on the course of Western literature and culture. Both plays explore a broad range of themes, from the supernatural to comments on the power of religion in society. However, I have chosen to explore the ways in which they portray the theme of gender. Firstly I will examine the issues regarding gender in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in particular the oppression of the female characters. I will explore Shakespeare’s portrayal of Titania and Hermia and his ability to disguise the deeper feminist consciousness that is at work. I will then look at the way in which gender is presented in Miller’s The Crucible, ranging from the heroic depiction of John Proctor to the oppositional presentations of Abigail and Elizabeth. William Shakespeare is a famously suggestive author in terms of highlighting issues regarding gender ideology. Although in some works, such as Othello, he reflects and arguably supports the stereotyping of men and women, he is also seen to challenge such representations. A Midsummer Night’s Dream dramatizes tensions between genders, from a young woman quarrelling with her father for the right to choose her own husband, to Theseus marrying Hippolyta whom he conquered through violence and even a bitter battle between Oberon and Titania which affects the order of the natural world. A Midsummer Night’s Dream...
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...In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, there are many aspects of love. Many characters present a dark feeling of love towards others. Helena believes her friendship with Hermia has changed ever since men have entered their lives. Helena reacts to this adjustment in her life with jealousy. Theseus shows his love for Hippolyta in a more manly way rather than romantically. He believes in the more dominant type of love, where man overpowers woman. Egeus, Hermia’s father, is an ignorant man. He does not care for his daughter’s happiness with Lysander but for his own well-being. Shakespeare approaches the concept of love in a negative way. Helena and Hermia are best friends but ever since men have made an impact in their lives, Helena has been left out. She believes her friendship with Hermia has taken a turn for the worst. She feels jealous because she wants to be like Hermia, she wants to be loved by Demetrius and have the characteristics that he loves about her. She misses her simple friendship with Hermia, “So we grow together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet a union in partition, Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So with two seeming bodies, but one heart;” (III.ii.208-212) Helena explains how close she used to be with Hermia. They have branched apart and wish she could be like her because men like her and she is beautiful. This represents the fact that when a relationship is put between friends the love in the middle of the friendship can...
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...soul mates, or family. Though love can be a strong bond between two people, it can prove to be even more fragile. One mistake, one misstep and the love can disappear. In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream it is evident, through the actions of Oberon and Lysander, that love can be both strong and fragile. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the actions of Oberon allows the reader to question the strength of the love between the Fairy King and Titania. Oberon is portrayed to have two personalities. Though he can be caring, loving, and benevolent. Oberon is...
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...6/14/14 05 A Midsummer Night's Dream. Love can be known to be crazy and complicated. love has many different aspects to it and it can be understood to be magical and a beautiful thing, as well as vise versa. love is known to have many powers and Shakespeare is very interested in both magic itself and love. These two things in A Midsummer Night's Dream are greatly connected. This is why I think that the magical and surreal world Shakespeare creates in his play, reflects the almost supernatural power of love. The things that he creates within his text to embody this are the love potion, the "dreams", the double worlds, and the forests. the love potion and magic itself that are woven within the play makes some characters feel love drunk, confused, or under the influence. the first example of this is when Demetrius thinks he's in love with Helena while under the potions powers, when you can tell from the beginning of the play he really is not. "O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine! To what my love shall I compare thine eyne." (3.2.137-138) This piece of text evidence shows exactly the powers of this plant. The potion on Demetrius makes him think that he is in love with Helena, but he doesn't realize that he is under the influence of this potion, leaving him confused and not sure of his real feelings for Hermia. Another thing that involves the love potion and reflects the actions of being drunk is when Oberon orders puck to put the love potion onto Tatania's...
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...Adam Romack Midsummer Test Essay Question 1 There are many different characters in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, two of which are Puck and Bottom. Bottom, one of the mechanicals, was a very big character. He was loud and ambitious, even if his acting skill was primitive at best. In the end of the performance, his play ended up doing well, but overall, Bottom didn’t have as large of an impact as Puck. Puck dominates the mood of the play by flitting about Athenians, for instance, it was because of Puck’s accident, that the wrong people loved the wrong people. Oberon wanted Demetrius to fall in love with Helena, so that she would be happy, but instead, Puck made Lysander fall in love with Helena. This caused a repetitive, everyone loves the wrong person, loop that affects the relationship of all of the Athenians....
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...Anyone in love knows that it can strike at any moment. Love can tangle around hearts and cause people to do unimaginable things. For instance, marry one another on a whim, continue to stay in an abusive relationship, or in extreme cases commit suicide. People do not choose to fall in love; it can affect anyone at any time. In a moment someone may realize they love a boss, a former lover, or even someone who only suddenly appears attractive. William Shakespeare, in his Elizabethan era romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, uses the motif of the magic flower to reveal how love can hit suddenly and consume everything. People can easily fall in love. Shakespeare uses the motif of the magic flower to show how even Titania, queen of the fairies, can fall in love with an ass in an instant. “What angel wakes me from my flow’ry bed?” (Shakespeare III.i.131) She does not choose to fall in love with Bottom; love chooses her. Shakespeare shows how people cannot control their love. People simply become immersed in their love and begin to forget everything else. Even Helena wonders at how Demetrius falls in love with Hermia. “O, teach me how you look and with what art // You sway the motion of Demetrius’s heart” (I.i.196-197). She loves Demetrius so much, but he does not love her. Shakespeare shows that if Demetrius could choose who to love,...
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