A Midsummer Night's Dream Research Paper

Better Essays

DREAMS IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM

“Four days will quickly steep themselves in night. Four nights will quickly dream away the time”. From the very first line of William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we are introduced the motif of dreams which is present throughout. The significance of the role played by dreams cannot be stressed enough. It is present in almost all aspects of the play, no where more so than in the woods, where the four lovers of the story flee to. The dreams in a MSND are not just a thematic setting but also serve to delve into the true natures of the characters themselves. For my presentation today I will be exploring a number of different aspects relating to the role that dreams play, as well as the role …show more content…

The day world of Athens, where there is law and order and the night world of “the woods”, where there is the absence of order and instead the presence of chaos. These two worlds can be interpreted in a psychoanalytical manner using the work of Sigmund Freud. We can look at these two worlds, and the play as a whole, as an explanation, or attempt to explain, the human mind. They are representations of what Freud described as the conscious and subconscious mind. The day world of Athens can be seen as the conscious mind, where everything is governed by order and the characters all act as society expects them to. On the other hand, the night world of the woods is the realm of the subconscious mind. It is here that the characters enter the dream world, where their insecurities and their true natures are revealed. An example of this is the nightmare suffered by Hermia in the forest, the only clear “dream” in the play, which can be interpreted as an illustration of her true, subconscious view of Lysander. When awake, she shows complete trust in Lysander’s fidelity yet in the dream world she is ever doubting of it. In her nightmare she dreams that Lysander is watching her getting attacked by a snake, this can be seen as a manifestation of her innermost fear of his potential sexual threat and betrayal. This can be further inferred from her …show more content…

You could argue that Demetrius is almost as irrational in the when he is conscious and unaffected by the dreams love juice than when he isn't. This can be seen in Athens where Helena says “The more you beat me, I will fawn on you”, to which a seemingly rational Demetrius, replies “Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit / For I am sick when I Do look on thee”. This is an example of how the savagery and bitterness the lovers show to one another in the dream world might just be a reflection of their true selves. Often we try to hide our true emotions and feelings so as to behave in a manner that society deems appropriate but here we can see an example of how our true nature can come out, no matter how hard we try to hide it. In Athens where law and order reigns the characters are generally calm and rational but once they enter the dream world of the forest there is nothing to stop their true natures from coming out. The love juice administered by Puck which causes the conflict between the lovers is simply the manner that Shakespeare has chosen to convey how in the dream world our true selves are

Get Access

A Midsummer Night's Dream Research Paper