‘Midsummer Nights Dream’ is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and successful plays. The play was part of Shakespeare’s early work. It was written and performed around 1595. ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ is a romantic comedy play; and that’s what I will be focusing on how Shakespeare creates humour in act 5 scene 1. So how does he create humour?
There are many ways as to how Shakespeare creates humour; one of the main reasons is through the characters. There are there sets of characters the fairies, court and the mechanicals in this case it’s the mechanicals. The mechanicals are normal workers that want to become actors. They are uneducated, you can tell this because Bottom (mechanical) says in act 4 scene 2 line 20 “Where are these lads?”
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Theseus comments on the childish actors by saying “His speech was like a tangled chain, nothing impaired, but all disordered.” Act 5 scene, lines 123-124. This shows that because of Quince’s lack of education he cannot send the right information he wants to send to the audience. Due to the bumpy start of the play the court had already created a comical atmosphere. All of this entertainment and amuses the audience (both in the play and watching the play). The themes of this play are mostly to do with love and magic however the play as a whole is a comedy. The magic scene is the scene that brings the whole play together. Without it the lovers would not be called lovers and there wouldn’t be a marriage. Before Puck put the love potion on them Lysander was in love with Hermia but her dad wanted her to marry Demetrius; and Helena was in love with Demetrius and Demetrius was in love with Hermia. Puck sorted things out by putting a love potion on Demetrius so that he falls in love with Helena. The funny part about it all is when they are all confused when they awake from what they think is a dream which is a dramatic irony because we know it wasn’t a dream but in fact a reality. One of the ways Shakespeare creates humour in the mechanicals performance is with the usage of props. Through Shakespeare’s intelligent writing skills he sends a strong message that there is a man playing a wall. This is funny because Snout(playing the wall) actually has a speech
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare detailed the story between warring characters. From couple conflicts to love quadrilaterals and the interference of outsiders, the story played out as a comedy, with Helena on the receiving end of a running joke. Introduced in Act One as the jealous friend of Hermia, as she was in love with Demetrius, who decided to marry Hermia despite Hermia’s love for Lysander. Hermia appears rather guilty as she confirms her distaste to Demetrius to her friend. However, her father disapproves of her relationship with Lysander. Despite her co-dependent aspirations, Helena exemplifies progressive ideals that counter the societal norms of Midsummer’s era.
In any successful story or play humor is present and it is able to create different moods and contrasts. In Shakespeares famous play Romeo and Juliet, humor is used skillfully throughout all the play to give the audience a break from all the tension. During the play the use of puns and comic characters implement humor which ultimately helps lighten the mood. During Shakespeares tragic play Romeo and Juliet he uses puns and comic characters throughout the play to implement humor which ultimately helps lighten the mood in certain scenes.
Shakespeare’s language is extremely complicated to read, it is vital in education to teach the art of this literature to understand the depth and meaning. Although Shakespeare may be difficult for the modern generation to understand, it’s because of the sophistication of his work. 21st century’s English has been so simplified to the point where we are unfamiliar of this classic form of English used in his playwrights.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
The story of A Midsummer Night's Dream was mainly about love and its abnormal dealings. In the play, Shakespeare tried to show that love is unpredictable, unreasonable, and at times is blind. The theme of love was constantly used during the play and basically everything that was said and done was related to the concept of love and its unpredictable ness. Shakespeare made all of the characters interact their lives to be based on each other’s. At first, everything was very confusing, and the characters were faced with many different problems. In the end, however, they were still able to persevere and win their true love, the love they were searching for in the first place.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as in many of Shakespeare's plays the main theme is love. Shakespeare presents many different aspects of love in the play. He shows how love can affect your vision of reality and make you behave in irrational ways. He presents many ways in which your behavior is affected by the different types and aspects of love. The main types of love he presents are; true love, unrequited love, sisterly love, jealous love, forced love, and parental love. Shakespeare tries to show what kinds of trouble, problems and confusion, love can get you into.
Have you ever wondered why Shakespeare uses so many descriptive words that could really be said in one? Or why some characters speak in rhyme and sometimes not? Shakespeare writes in this way to show how the characters feel through the rhythmic and descriptive words that they use. How the characters speak also shows how sincere and loving they are. Shakespeare had a way of writing that informed us about the characters and what we needed to know about them and also makes it interesting to read.
Shakespeare uses metaphors and figures throughout his plays to give the reader and audience a further understanding of the story he is telling. In Metaphors We Live By, it is stated that “…Metaphorical expressions in everyday language can give us insight into the metaphorical nature of concepts that structure our everyday activities…” (Lakoff & Johnson 7). Through these conceits Shakespeare expands a normal idea and transforms it into
Taylor argues that the speech made by Theseus before the play-within-a-play is performed “brings logic and order to all that is illogical and
In I Henry IV and II Henry IV, William Shakespeare brings together drama and comedy to create two of the most compelling history plays ever written. Many of Shakespeare's other works are nearly absolute in their adherence to either the comic or tragic traditions, but in the two Henry IV plays Shakespeare combines comedy and drama in ways that seem to bring a certain realism to his characters, and thus the plays. The present essay is an examination of the various and significant effects that Shakespeare's comedic scenes have on I Henry IV and II Henry IV. The Diversity of Society
In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the plethora of comedic styles used by Shakespeare illustrate his intention to poke fun at love throughout the play. The play is notorious for its intricate and irrational plotline, mainly due to the constantly shifting love triangles. Once the powerful fairies become involved with the fate of the naive lovers – Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia – matters are further complicated. The complication inflicted by the fairies is credited to the powerful love potion that Oberon, King of the Fairies, hands over to Puck, a mischievous fairy, to use on his wife Titania, with intentions to embarrass and distract her. This spiteful attitude is due to Oberon and Titania’s argument over the custody of an
How does Shakespeare create humour in act 5 scene1 in the play a ‘Midsummer Nights Dream’?
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that utilises comedy to convey complex ideas that are seen throughout the play, concepts like the jealousy Helena has towards Hermia, Egeus’s strong hostility towards Hermia and Lysander’s relationship and unrequited love. He uses comical tools like unconscious irony and hyperbole to turn rather difficult topics into humorous representations of them. Events like how Puck thinks Titania had fallen in love with him, not knowing he was bearing the head of an ass, are portrayed in a humorous way so the viewer understands the meaning, but sees it as a light- hearted narrative. Shakespeare carefully uses comedy that does not overpower the meaning of the play, but puts a completely different perspective on some of the themes.
The supernatural world is rather distinct to that of the human world entrenched in societal standards and boundaries. Shakespeare’s play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, explores this concept, particularly through the use of Puck. In agreement to Harold Bloom’s statement, the following essay will analyse how Puck is significant because, by being so disparate, he is able to show the limitations of the human. This will be done through, first, exploring a definition of the human in relation to the supernatural. Subsequently, the essay will use a Freudian lense to analyse the morality of Puck and, lastly, the essay will focus on Puck’s physical characteristics as well as his ability to span across boundaries in the play and the metatheatrical realm.
Shakespeare has a difficult task entertaining the rowdy Elizabethan audience, especially during the exposition of the play, which sets up the entire plot. The audience needs to be engaged and invested in the play, otherwise many of the Elizabethan audience would throw food and furniture on stage or vandalize the theatre in response. Shakespeare employs a variety of techniques throughout the exposition of the play in order to do this, by creating tension between characters, introducing scandalous plots and unresolved issues right at the beginning of the play leaving the audience waiting for an answer. This essay will explore Shakespeare’s techniques and methods of engaging his Elizabethan audience.