William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night 's Dream Essay

A Misummer Night’s Dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare. In this play there are multiple themes however the most evident theme is love. Why is love an evident theme? It is an evident theme because the play commences with two Greek mythology characters─ the Duke of Athens, Theseus and Amazon queen Hippolita planning their marriage. However as Theseus plans his marriage he has to help Egeus persuade his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. Unfortunately both the Duke and Egeus failed to persuade Hermia into marrying Demetrius so the fairies (another set of characters. The fairies in this play consisted of goddess of chastity and Queen of fairies, Titania and King of fairies Oberon and his assistance Robin Goodfellow) decide

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare makes heavy use of hyperbole, the twisting of reality into something greater than what it actually is, in both the dialogue and the ridiculous, larger-than-life nature of the situations that occur to provide a basis for the conflict between reality and illusion, blurring the line that separates the two concepts.

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.

And as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call: So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.” (Shakespeare 5.1.425) The most interesting part of this excerpt is that Puck (Oberon’s henchman) says that he and the fairies are only a figment of the imagination and that he and his fairy world do not exist at all. The audience is asked to look beyond the performance at the intention of the actors. This passage allows the audience to break their character. The show is over and the reality of their own life is now. This monologue by Puck slowly unravels the reality and fantasy world from one another. The play lies in transformation and the forest is the setting of change. Puck invites the audience to think of the play as nothing more than a dream, a midsummer night’s dream. Here, it is clear that Shakespeare is commenting on the reality of plays. Like midsummer dreams, plays aren't real. All of the characters are hung in the audience’s suspension of disbelief. They are the product of imagination and fantasy and also involve the momentary suspension of reality.

In many of Shakespeare’s literary works one can find multiple themes that reflect or question our reality. He accomplishes this by using figurative language such as metaphors and similes. Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream encompasses many themes and apply them to certain characters or through communication between multiple characters. Helena portrays themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, and gender norms in Midsummer Night’s Dream presenting them through her speech and behavior. She depicts the challenges of a woman and also the flaws of human nature. In Act 2 scene 1 and Act 3 scene 2 Helena uses a metaphor twice which emulates these themes presenting us a broader understanding of her representation within the play and the play as a whole. Following are lines from Helena.

Exerting the type of power that is influenced by malicious intentions can cause one to make decisions that are not beneficial to others. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is written within a time period and setting that favors men instead of woman. In other words, men have all the authority to control the events that occur in their own lives as well as the lives of others whom are considered insignificant. The plot displays the catalysts that ignite many characters’ desire for control that is misused by higher status people. Shakespeare’s use of characterization demonstrates how the wanting of control causes the characters to act irrationally through the misuse of power. Shakespeare’s use of setting, plot and characterization causes the ordeals

Throughout literary history, different themes have proven to be consistently popular for audiences. The desire to present an accurate reflection of reality has proven to be a major source of inspiration for both authors and readers alike. Reality as a theme is prevalent in literature, and the numerous ways that reality and illusion intertwine. In William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the illusory world which the characters inhabit is enhanced by the supernatural. The relationship between Oberon and Titania contributes to the development of the play’s theme of reality and illusion; they are the catalyst by which the play’s action occurs, and their spontaneous natures are countered with human flaws, further

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.

A nobleman is a noblemen. An artificer is an artificer. Clowns will be clowns and lovers will be lovers and never shall the two intertwine because those are the rules of the social classes. The only thing that can unravel those threads of societal foundation is the magic that is alive and well in the forest. Bottom is confined to the boundaries and limits of his social class as an artificer, but magic can change that. While the lover is usually only a part allowed to be played by a person of higher status, magic can allow a clown to be in the throes of passion with a woman from a different class altogether. The social function of class in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one that normally only allows the upper class to be lovers and the lower class to be fools, but is skewed by magic and turned upside down.

Through the actions of the fairies in midsummers night’s dream , william shakespeare shows how magic can achieve impossible outcomes.

The introduction of Twelfth Night, written by M.M. Mahood, provides a cultural setting for readers to better understand the play. Although Mahood wrote the introduction for Twelfth Night, the information also allows readers to appreciate the magical freedom that A Midsummer Night’s Dream encompasses. Mahood delves into the cultural significance of Puritanism early in the 17th century through the character of Malvolio. Although Twelfth Night is a comedy, the presence of morally strict Puritanism affects the lightness of the play. The Puritan Revolution took away the foolish fun and celebration in life. Mahood connects the cultural context with Malvolio’s objection of fun throughout the play. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is completely and utterly entertaining, fun, and provocative; the play is essentially everything Puritanism frowned upon. The cultural setting provided by Mahood allows readers to appreciate A Midsummer’s Night Dream for its magic, fantasy, sex, and pure foolishness because that was socially acceptable at that time.

What are the themes for Shakespeare’s ‘’A Midsummer Night’s Dream?’’ There are countless of them in the play, but Puck’s monologue in Act III scene ii from line 384 to 393 highlights the harmony between night and day and the link between the mortals and the immortals. Puck talks about the goddess of dawn, the dead and the suicides to further develop this theme. First of all, the fairy says ‘’My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, for night’s swift dragons cut the clouds full fast and yonder shines Aurora’s Harbinger’’ (III. ii. 384-386).

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare portrays a progression of events leading to the marriage of lovers. Through the story lines, he encompasses the crossover and merge of supernatural and mortal worlds. Following many story lines and boisterous personalities, Shakespeare creates a difficulty to understand who the protagonist of the play is. Though Bottom delivers the play’s most humorous lines and absorbs the attention, the true protagonist is Puck.

In Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, There is controversy about the playwright’s stance on women. This play follows a disobedient daughter, lover, and friends through an interesting journey intertwined with a dispute between a fairy king and queen, and a wedding between a not so happy bride and her groom. At first the Bard seems a feminist to lift women up and makes them seem strong, but in the end the men always have the final say on what happens next.

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.