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Puck In A Midsummer's Night Dream

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Analysis
Shakespeare named his character Puck or Robin Goodfellow, because these names are an allusion to shape-shifting and mischievous creatures of English and Celtic folklore. In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Puck is a witty sprite who sets many of the play’s events with his magic and foolish pranks on the human characters. Shakespeare named him Robin Goodfellow and Puck in reference to popular characters in English and Celtic folklore, which were depicted as either fairies, goblins or devils. As a shape-shifter, Pouk had many appearances: a frightening creature with the head of an ass, or an odd little figure, or a rough, hairy creature. “The fabled Robin Goodfellow was one of the fairies known as “hobgoblins”, also famous for shape-shifting and misleading travellers, but sometimes a helpful domestic sprite” (Wright). The Shakespearean Puck well illustrates the …show more content…

The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she (II.i.47-55)

This shows that Shakespeare’s Puck is a shape-shifting creature, just like the mystical Pouk.
Surely, Shakespeare also chose these names for the mischievous traits of the creatures in old folklore. The terms “Robin Goodfellow,” and “Pouk” were typical medieval terms for the devil. Pouk would turn into a horse and lead people on a wild ride, sometimes dumping them in water. Robin Goodfellow would lead travelers with a lantern and then blow it out when they were at the edge of a cliff. An expression for being lost is "Robin Goodfellow has been with you tonight" (Wright). Puck’s antics are also characterized this way by a Fairy: “Are not you he /
That frights the maidens of the villagery … Mislead night wanderers, laughing at their harm?” (II.i.35-40). All of Puck’s troublesome tricks have made him infamous to the other fairies. His fondness for shenanigans is shared with the ancient creatures of the same name.

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