Midsummer Night's Dream

In the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the last soliloquy helps bring together the varied themes of the play itself, not to mention the unique and distinctive stylistic choices as dictated by Dieterle and Reinhardt. Although the production is somewhat limited by the technology of its time, the film is still largely successful in its depictions of sight and sound. The secret world of the fairies, in particular, almost plays like a sort of extended ballet; a grand odyssey of weirdness spearheaded by the dark and domineering Oberon, the bright and bubbly Titania, and by Puck, whose extended presence carries over to the end.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream has several themes but there is one that stands out to me. There are many conflicts throughout the play but a majority of them are caused by one character. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare brilliantly displays how love is never clear cut by his use of Puck’s character (who is always muddling everything up).

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a masterful piece of literature that both directly and indirectly comments on the reality of control and power in Western cultures. Shakespeare’s ability to depict human nature gives us insight into how English society functioned in his lifetime, but more importantly allows us to analyze our own perspective of ourselves and the world around us. One way Shakespeare articulates his ideas is through well constructed metaphors and similies, resulting in more powerful writing. One very significant metaphor is spoken by Theseus early on in Act 1, scene 1. Egeus has brought his daughter, Hermia, to the royal court to for Theseus’s opinion on Hermia’s marriage. Egeus has arranged for Hermia to marry Demetrius, a very worthy suitor, but Hermia is truly in love with another man, Lysander. This dilemna is explained to Theseus and he states, “To you your father should be as a god;/ One that composed your beauties, yea, and one/ To whom you are but as a form in wax/ By him imprinted and within his power/ To leave the figure or disfigure it” (I.i.51-55). In summary, Theseus is defending Egeus by saying Hermia was created by Egeus and his will determines her fate. Behind this metaphor is a simple idea that proves how a desire to control can have many unintended consequences as well as negative effects. In order to understand this concept more effectively, it is crucial to analyze how influence is structured socially. The quote demonstrates

Shakespeare’s usage of metaphor and simile in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is best understood as an attempt to provide some useful context for relationships and emotions, most often love and friendship, or the lack thereof. One example of such a usage is in Act 3, Scene 2 of the play. Here, the two Athenian couples wake up in the forest and fall under the effects of the flower, thus confusing the romantic relationships between them. Hermia comes to find her Lysander has fallen for Helena. Hermia suspects that the two have both conspired against her in some cruel joke, and begins lashing out against Helena. She says “We, Hermia, like two artificial gods, / Have with our needles created both one flower, / Both one sampler sitting on one cushion, / Both warbling of one song, both in one key; / As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds, / Had been incorporate. So we grew together, / Like 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; / Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, / Due but to one, and crowned with one crest.” (Shakespeare 2.3.206-13). Shakespeare writes this list of vibrant metaphors to establish the prior relationship between these two characters and to make it evident how affected Helena is by this unexpected turn of events, as well as to add a greater range of emotion to the comedy, thereby lending it more literary and popular appeal.

William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, establishes that there is natural law and social law. These two laws symbolize a balance in the world. Without one, the world would be uneven. However, evidence of King Oberon’s actions in the play demonstrate to the reader that he is a tyrant. Based on his actions, such as cheating on his significant other, toward the Indian boy, and the use of the love potion, the play displays his characteristics, thus proving the motives of King Oberon.

Love and reason will never fit together. Nor will love ever be a controllable compulsion. Maybe we are fools for going into the perilous, eccentric universe of love; yet what fun would life be without it? William Shakespeare 's play A Midsummer Night 's Dream investigates the unconventional, unreasonable and unpredictable nature of love during his time. Shakespeare conveys this through the main plot of the play, which is composed of the relationships between three couples. The three couples show examples of three different types of love; Hermia and Lysander’s true love, the unrequited love of Helena for Demetrius and the red hot relations of Oberon and Titania which all give an insight into the nature of love during Shakespeare’s time.

In any history textbook, there will most definitely be at least one example of a royal leader overthrown by their citizens. But why is it that some royal leaders, or any very powerful leaders, have trouble controlling their power? The answer is found in the amount of power the leaders possess, and how they choose to control it. The historic leaders found in history books often lose control of their power because their amount of power is too large, so it is very difficult to use it effectively. Oberon and Puck, characters in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, learn this the hard way, and use their power to attempt at solving the problems of the four lovers. Oberon and Puck are the characters with the most power in the play because of their supernatural advantage, similar to how a royal leader is born into their position. They create many unnecessary problems while doing this, such as Nick Bottom and Titania 's strange love, and Helena’s supposed mockery.In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a large amount of power is proved as difficult to control, and too much power in the hands of only a few characters can create more problems than there originally was, because of miscommunication and poor planning of the characters in power.

In any society there are rules and conventions that must be followed in order to uphold the established ideas of normality. These rules are imposed with the intentions of maintaining order and harmony; without them many would believe that society would fall into chaos. Within Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ these rules can be undermined in the confines of settings in which the supernatural reigns, allowing the characters to grow and develop before returning to society as changed people. Through this creation of comedic disorder, characters of authority are often displaced from their positions within a social hierarchy, thus making the supernatural an integral part of Shakespeare’s comedy. Without the supernatural elements that

In the play A Mid Summer Nights Dream there are many characters who teach us different life lessons. The characters that teach us the most important lessons are Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, Helena, Robin, And oberon. Out of all these characters I think one teaches us a very important life lesson. The character I am speaking of is Lysander. Throughout the whole play Lysander constantly showed the audience that you should never stop believing.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of William Shakespeare 's most well-known work, is a comedic play that has more than one plotlines. The play has many themes such as magic, dreams, and contrast. However, there is one theme that is reflected most throughout the play and that is love. In the play, Shakespeare shows us that love isn 't always what it seems to be; he shows us that love can be expressed in many different types. Throughout the play, we see three different types of love, blind love, inconstant love, and cruel love.

Symbols help to play an important part in giving a deeper meaning to a story. William Shakespeare uses a variety of symbols in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream and by using these symbols he offers some insight onto why certain events take place in the play. Symbols are sometimes hard to decipher but as the reader continues to read the symbol’s meaning might become more clear. Shakespeare uses a variety of symbols in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but this paper will only discuss four of the major symbols.

Male and female relationships differ a tremendous amount compared to now versus Shakespeare’s time. The obvious answer to many as to how it differs is the superiority of men over women. Of course, it may not be like that now, but way back then to when this play was written, much was different. Shakespeare demonstrates different types of relationships through the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Like the couple of Lysander and Hermia, Shakespeare shows an extreme love between a man and woman and how the man guides her important life decisions, but with a stubborn father right by their side. Again through Oberon and Titania, Titania wants to seem powerful and “independent” you could say by disobeying Oberon’s wishes. Shakespeare sort of creates a little battle between two authoritative characters but throughout the play put the male, Oberon, on top. Finally, Shakespeare demonstrates what is called gender role reversal between Helena and Demetrius. Helena instead of being lady-like and reserved, pretty much begs for Demetrius’ attention. Shakespeare makes Helena seem desperate throughout the play exemplifying the male has the most say in what goes on. Through these various male and female relationships, Shakespeare illustrates the overall power of males occurring in his time.

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind", spoken by Helena in Act 1 Scene 1 line 234, explains that it matters not what the eyes see but what the mind thinks it sees. In the play, A Midsummer Night 's Dream, written by William Shakespeare, there are several instances where the act of seeing is being portrayed. The definition of vision is the ability to see, something you imagine or something you dream. This proves that even though one has the ability to see; the mind tends to interfere and sometimes presents a different picture. Various scenes in the play interpret this act on more than one occasion. For instance, the use of imagination plays a vital role as it depicts the powers and limitations of human vision presented in this story. The artful use of seeing which allows one to notice or become aware of someone or something, sight which helps someone or something be seen and, eyes which allow one to appreciate something seen helps the audience understand just how significant the act of seeing is in the daily love affairs of each character.

Throughout his works Shakespeare breaks social conventions and hierarchy. He wrote in a time where unmarried people (women especially) were expected to remain chaste. Yet in, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the focus of the play is largely on that of sexual desire. In the Athenian social structure men were the obvious power-holders, but Shakespeare illustrates how a woman’s sexuality can be a source of power over the men who desire them. In this historical context virginity is a desirable trait, losing it would strip noble women of status. Shakespeare is known to punish characters who give in to their desires with the pranks they endure during their pursuit of love. The moon is initially referenced in the play as a metaphor for chastity but, as the play progresses, the moon also becomes a metaphor for madness; particularly madness caused by desire. The concept duality of the moon emphasizes the power disparity between characters who remain chaste and oppose desire, and characters who are controlled by their desires.

As Duke Theseus and Hippolyta prepare for their wedding, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Egeus arrives with his daughter Hermia, who is in love with Lysander. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius who loves her back. Helena is in love with Demetrius. The Duke tells Hermia she will either die or become a nun if she does not obey. Hermia and Lysander run away to the forest. In the forest, Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, mix the couples up when they squeeze a potion in the eyes of other characters. Theseus and Hippolyta arrive in the forest to discover the sleeping lovers and when Theseus hears of what happened, he allows the couples to marry as they wish, despite Egeus ' will.