Antagonist In A Midsummer Night

The plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is made up of four subplots that intertwine with one another. Four young Athenians forced to flee from authority in response to an arranged marriage, a estranged relationship between the King and Queen of Faeries, a group of players fighting over a play, and a wedding. While each of these subplots are unique, they are connected not only by one event but a binary theme—control and rebellion. In the case of the four Athenian lovers, the binary theme of control and rebellion is obvious.

William Shakespeare is a successful playwright as he uses the style of history, tragedy and comedy which is an entertaining aspect that is in all his plays.

protagonists and antagonists, the plot structure and events of the story and the way he

The antagonists of a story are usually not the ones critically acclaimed. Due to our human inclination it’s fairly relevant that, as readers, more of an emotional attachment is built with the protagonists. However, in spite of that, villains still deserve our attention. From taking a close look at a few villains and the methods in which they manipulate, parallels in strategy are prevalent. A few examples of antagonists that particularly stand out are: Iago from the tragedy Othello written by William Shakespeare, Roger Chillingworth from the novel The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Abigail Williams from Arthur Miller’s novel The Crucible, these characters all use isolation to manipulate others throughout the stories.

The antagonists of the stories, who are seemingly evil characters, are interpreted differently because of the narration, thus creating ambiguity in the nature of the antagonists.

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

Love is a term used daily in one’s life. Many categorize love in many forms. These forms differ from one-another such as the difference between love for food and love for one’s spouse. However, in the play; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, love takes different forms than the ones experienced in reality. One can classify the different types of love used in this play into three different categories; true love, love produced by cupid’s flower, and the state of lust.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents many different aspects of Lord Capulet's personality in a wide variety of ways.

And, indeed, it does. This is how he comes to hold Oberon’s trust during the play; his love and obedience for his king lead Oberon to choose Puck as his deputy in his plot against Titania. His loyalty are also intricately tied in with his playful nature. He tries not to do anything that would anger or disappoint his king. However, even his kind nature is tested by human antics. Puck does not have a very high opinion of the mortal lovers or of the arrogant Bottom. His famous quote “What fools these mortals be” (III.ii.115) indicates his feelings about the lovers. If Puck were less loving of his King, and more in favor of his own amusement, he very well might leave the lovers as they are in the middle of the play if only for the entertainment value. Puck tells Oberon “And so far am I glad it so did sort, as this their jangling I esteem a sport” (III.ii.352-353). It is likely that he would think the mixed up lovers to be grand entertainment and leave them the way they are for his enjoyment. If Puck were meaner, then he might change Bottom completely into an ass and leave him that way.

Displaying her anger, she tells Helena: “I am amazed at your passionate words. /I scorn you not: it seems that you scorn me.”(III.ii.223-224). Although it is nice that Oberon cared about Helena, he should not abuse his power by meddling with the affairs of humans. Though Oberon tried to blame Puck for all the problems: “This is thy negligence. Still thou mistakest, /Or else committ’st thy knaveries willfully.”(III.ii.356-357), It was of no fault to Puck that the love potion was used on the wrong man because the only way that Oberon described Demetrius was by his Athenian garments, and both Demetrius and Lysander were wearing Athenian garments: “Did you not tell me I should know the man /By the Athenian garment he had on?”(III.ii.359-360). It was Oberon’s fault that the four lovers had a confusion because he was the one who ordered Puck to use the juice on Demetrius and Lysander. Also, Oberon knew that Puck was careless and should not have trusted him with such an important task. Although Oberon did not give precise instructions, Puck rushed and acted without thinking, much like his Master often does. When he was searching through the forest, Puck said:

The obvious antagonists in the story is the robbers whom take Ander's life. Really it was only the robber with a sawed off shot gun, the other robber is a flat character and is only used as filler. Having only one line and no description what so ever. The only character in the entire short story that has many lines, and a little back story is Ander's and its only after he is dead that the reader learns anything more about him than that he is a book critic. It was not until he had a

The antagonists gain our sympathy and understanding because they are the reflection of our mutual experiences and traits. The Alpha Male Darkseeker from the film “I Am Legend” reminds us of loss and what we do to fight for the people we love. The prostitutes from the fairytale “Myrtle Tree” illustrate how revenge can take over us and make us do evil things. Dave from the short story “Hello, Monster” exhibits how we use other people and what they have for our own benefit. We fathom the motives behind their actions because we relate to how they feel.

     In the movie version of A Midsummer Nights Dream, Puck has a more overt sense of humor. Although the dialogue is purely Shakespeare, the actions and direction of Puck’s character bring a new perspective to the story. When we are first introduced to Puck in the tree, he plays some jokes, such as vanishing, and turning up in a goblet of wine. He is speaking the same lines as in the play, but the addition of visual humor adds to the appeal of the original play. One is again exposed to this when Oberon and Puck discuss the flower while lying in the forest. Puck imitates Oberon’s position, adjusting himself in a friendly mocking manner towards his master. One also gets the impression from Puck’s body language that, although he

After observing the senseless behavior of the Athenian lovers, Puck exclaims to Oberon, “Lord, what fools these mortals be” (III.ii.115)! This line, aimed at Lysander’s foolish behavior is meant to be humorous, but it also cleverly addresses the prominent theme of the story: that love is not under human control. Puck is clearly referring to the foolishness and exaggerated emotions of the four lovers in the play; however, Shakespeare also intends to target the audience members by emphasizing that humans in general have the tendency to do and say crazy things because of love’s powerful grasp on their emotions. Therefore, a character such as Puck, according to Robert Diyanni, “may remind us in some ways of ourselves; they may appeal to us because they differ from us” (Diyanni 1270). Although the Athenian lovers neglect to realize the extent of their ludicrous behavior, their unbalanced emotions are very noticeable to the fairies, who replace the audience’s role in this scene. Moreover, it signifies the contrast between both the human lovers, who become so entangled in a disarray of emotion, and the enchanting fairies, always playful and rascally in

The theory of a scapegoat involves holding an individual or individuals responsible for the faults, misunderstandings, and wrongdoings of others. The role of the scapegoat conveniently allows for those truly at fault to deflect the blame and maintain their virtuous image. In her article, “Shakespearean Comedy”, Maus’ statement about the role of the scapegoat commonly found in Shakespeare’s comedies is accurate as the figure of the scapegoat is unfairly held responsible and excessively punished for the actions of others, as well as excluded from the conclusion of the play (Maus 117). A closer analysis of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice reveals the presence of a scapegoat, and its importance and necessity to