The play A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare was chosen as the subject of this analysis. The performances staging was simple, with the main playing area being a sizable white platform. The plays forest setting was achieved through projections and lighting, giving the impression of a moving, magical forest.
Discussion
The traditional setting was changed in this contemporary interpretation of the play, allowing for a more imaginative and creative approach to the plays world. The performers wore contemporary clothing for the mortal characters and modern, minimalist costumes for the fairy characters, who wore ethereal white robes. The production gained a sense of modernity thanks to this revision of the traditional costumes, which also made it more approachable to a modern audience. The actors who played the characters in the play were well-chosen and gave the parts their distinctive takes.
The mood and tone of the performance were playful and whimsical, with an underlying sense of mischief made possible by the actors use of comedic elements and the striking visual design. The playful mood was established through humor and physical comedy, especially in Stanley Tuccis portrayal of Bottom. Moreover, the depiction of the fairy characters, especially Puck, who was portrayed as cunning and mischievous, helped to create the undercurrent of mischief and manipulation. This aspect performed a gloomier and more enigmatic tone, which made the audience anxious and anticipatory.
The actors created compelling and relatable portrayals of the characters and their motivations for the audience, which made the play simpler to comprehend during the performance. One line from the play that stood out in particular, which was said by Max Casellas portrayal of the character Puck, was, Lord, what fools these mortals be (Shakespeare, n.d., P. 244). The physical comedy and comedic elements incorporated into the performance made the play more enjoyable. The portrayal of the friendship between Titania and Bottom was one aspect of the performance that stood out. The humorous yet heartfelt way their love was portrayed gave the play new depth and made it simpler to comprehend the difficulties in their relationship. The portrayal of Puck as a cunning and naughty character was another noteworthy aspect.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the performance was successful, giving me a rich and exciting experience. Together with the actors compelling performances, the inventive staging, lighting, and projection design produced an unforgettable experience highlighting the cultural importance of the dramatic arts.
Running back to the 14th century, ritual performances played great roles in peoples lives because they believed in the results therein. Rituals and festivities underscore Shakespeares works.
For instance, the celebrations that characterize the concluding setting of A Midsummer Nights Dream, is a rite of passage, a ritual that seeks to induct Hippolyta who must become an Athenian for she is from Amazon which is outside Athens. However, Shakespeare employs his conventional marks of scripted-ness to achieve his objective.
Courtships and play-within-play stand out conspicuously in this comedy; moreover, Shakespeare uses omens to make the contrived and the masterminded to appear natural.
In A Midsummer Nights Dream, courtships are not easy. As Lysander observes, The course of true love never runs smooth (Shakespeare 134). Lysanders relationship with Hermia is one that is full of misfortunes. Hermias Father chooses Demetrius and yet his daughter is in love with Lysander. The Duke rules in favor of Demetrius ordering Hermia to marry him or undergo execution or lifetime chastity to the goddess Diana. Helenas love for Demetrius is not reciprocated.
In the fairies world, the queen Titania is estranged to her husband because she cannot give him her Indian changeling. The situation becomes so complicated to an extent of Oberon ordering Puck to administer a spell on Titania to supposedly to make her fall for anything she sees upon her waking up provided it is a living creature.
In this play, love is balanced with imbalances. At the beginning of the play, two men love Hermia and yet she loves only one, Lysander. On the other hand, Helena is crazily in love with Demetrius who does not carry even the slightest feeling for her.
After Puck administers the love portion to the two men, first to Lysander who he had thought was Demetrius and later to Demetrius, the mens attention goes to Helena. Even her lover, Lysander, abandons Hermia. In the case of Oberon and Titania, imbalance comes in when Oberons desire for the Indian changeling overweighs his love for Titania.
He casts her on a spell that makes her fall in love with the ass-headed Bottom. This demonstrates an imbalance in nature and appearance (Nostbakken 70). How can a queen of the fairies fall in love with an ass-faced Bottom? Well, the love portion perhaps works. Nevertheless, any mature person conversant with the play will disagree with the idea of the queen of fairies falling for the ass-faced Bottom.
Use of comedy that revolves around the problems that confront the characters involved in relationships in the play shields the audience from the emotions that these problems could generate. Instead, use of humor assures the audience a successful conclusion maybe with the individuals marrying the love of their lives.
The audience is protected from the tension that comes with uncertainty. When writing this play, Shakespeares aim was to make people laugh, as it is a comedy. This has been well achieved through blending of human afflictions with humor. Shakespeare invented this style of writing to catch the audiences attention and it works very well in achieving that purpose.
The craftsmens play that is meant to entertain the duke and his newly wed queen is a play-within-a- play. The play, based on Pyramus and Thisbes story, represents the most important ideas and themes of the main plot though in a condensed form (Nostbakken 87). Pyramus and Thisbes parents do not approve their wedding, an element that compares with that of Hermia and Lysander. This play-within-a-play reflects the confusion in the main play.
On the eve of the wedding, the fairies love portion drama results into romance confusion. Demetrius and Lysander love Helana at the same time. The queen of the fairies, Titania, falls in love with the ass-headed Bottom. The craftsmens play brings out the themes and ideas of the main play clearly and in a hilarious way. The play is meant to make the audience understand the main play well and it does exactly that.
Once more, Shakespeare used this style of writing to achieve his conventional scripted-ness that underlines his dramatic performances that characterise his plays. The play-within-a-play element portrayed in this piece fits well in the content of the whole play.
The theme of dream has been used extensively in the play to explain many of the bizarre happenings that if taken as reality would not be comprehensible to the human mind. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what / dream it was. Man is but an ass if he goes about texpound this dream (Shakespeare 37).
Bottom uses these words to explain the ass-headed person the fairy has turned him into in the past. It is not in the laws of nature for a human to acquire an ass-head one minute and in the other is back to the normal human. Bottom could only see this as a dream. Hippolyta compares their wedding days as a dream, Four days will quickly steep themselves in night, / Four nights will quickly dream away the time (Shakespeare 8).
Four wedding days may seem unnatural in nature and to make them seem less, Hippolyta makes it lighter to the audience by comparing the four days to a dream that is short-lived. The victims of the events that take place on that fateful night perceive the events as mere dreams. Demetrius and Lysander conflict over Helena and Titanias short-lived love affair is not comprehensible to the humans.
To protect them from this unearthly reality, the fairies make the humans believe that it was nothing less of a dream. At the end of the play, Puck advice to the audience is to take the play as a dream if it did not impress them. Shakespeare uses this dream theme to bring out the comic nature of his play and ensure that the unusual happenings in the comedy serve to entertain the audience as opposed to depressing it.
Good and bad omens come with what a society believes. During the time when the play was being written, disobedience to ones parents or/and husband were considered as a bad omen and they would result in misfortunes. Shakespeares work reflects this myth in Hermia and Titanias cases.
When Hermia declines her fathers choice of husband, several misfortunes befall her. The duke rules against her, condemning her to an execution or lifetime chastity to the goddess Diana. When she elopes with Lysander, the fairies love potion diverts Lysanders love from her to Helena. When Titania refuses to give her husband the Indian changeling, the couple become estranged to each other.
The husband feels so offended that he seeks revenge by bewitching her into loving the ass-headed Bottom; she even offers sexual favours to show her affection for the newly found love. This act humiliates Titania and at the same time, she loses her Changeling that had been entrusted to her by the Indian mother. Even though these instances are only masterminded in the play, they appear natural because in many cases when one fails to heed authorities or parents usually turn out to be like Hermia and Titania in the story.
In the comedy, Shakespeare employs symbols to represent various aspects of nature. Leaders are associated with stability. Theseus and Hippolyta appear in the first act of the play but disappear for a long time after the darkness sets in. They later appear in act four when the sun rises.
Theseus and Hippolyta are highly respected leaders and can only be associated with order and stability. Their long disappearance during the acts that represent the night events shows the effect of their absence as chaos and disorder rule the scenes during their absence. Their reappearance after sunrise sets things in order. The confused couples are able to recognize their right partners.
The duke and the queen later allow them to marry. Surely, as the old adage goes, love is blind and the love potion used here underscores this great but often-neglected fact. It is the source of all the bad things on that night. Demetrius and Lysander fall for Helena to the chagrin of Titania. The careless administration of the potion by the fairies causes great harm to many people. This symbolizes the harm that unplanned and uncontrolled love can cause to the involved parties.
This play is a great display of Shakespeares peculiar dramaturgy. In his work, Shakespeare used human experience to create his plays. He blended this with humour and poetry that gave it a timeless flow. In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare uses an experience that was common back in that time.
Parents choosing partners for their children, husbands dominating over their wives and rulers ruling in favour of old-fashioned laws stand out in this play. In addition to the experience, Shakespeare uses humour and poetry to give it a light touch. The play is timeless and it has earned Shakespeare great respect over time.
Characteristic of Shakespeares works, performances underline A Midsummer Nights Dream. Two performances are well expressed in the play. These include courtship and play-within-a-play. The use of these two performances brings out the desired effect to the audience. Play-within-a-play ensures that the audience both in the play and out of the play understand the ideas and the themes of the play clearly.
The play is also ridden with humour and since this is a love comedy, the effect is well felt by the audience. Courtship episodes represent real-life experiences and bring out humour as well. Finally, Shakespeare employed use of omens to present the orchestrated scenario as if they were natural.
Works Cited
Nostbakken, Faith. Understanding A Midsummer Nights Dream: A Student Casebook To Issues, Sources, And Historical Documents. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1964.
A Midsummer Nights Dream was written at the end of the sixteenth century, the period marking the rise of Elizabethan era. Represented as a city comedy, the play also refers to the golden epoch of English history. Shakespeares literary work can be considered satirical in tone because it focuses on the audience of youth originating from gentry and nobility.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the play, however, underwent slight changes due to the tangible impact of old tradition of writing plots premised on folklore, legends, and myths. As a result, the mixture of reality and fictional characters highlights the main features of Elizabethan comedy. At the same time, there were some attributes that pointed to the writers willingness to experiment.
For instance, the plays contains nocturnal elements through the playwright depicts characters involved in a variety of events happened during one night. With regard to the above-presented overview, it should be stressed that genre, content, and fictional characters are the main aspects that were influenced by cultural, political, and social background of the time.
Socio-political background has an immense influence on the literary works because Shakespeares political, cultural, and social views were brightly illustrated in his play. Specifically, the playwright attains much importance to the social hierarchy, as well as to class barriers that this organization has to literary work.
Despite the class barriers, each individual has the right to receive good wages for hard labor, which led to greater self-reliance and self-respect (Ray 42). Industrial revolution was another feature contributing to social background of Shakespeares time, as well as glorious defeat of Spain, and active social movement.
Such a situation develops sense of pride penetrating to the entire England and reflected in the literature (Ray 12). Because the play was written during the prosperity of the England, Shakespeares Dream illustrates positive orientation and welfare of social classes that strived to better future.
Shakespeare associated the title of the play Midsummer Nights Dream with celebrations of dances, festivals, and pageants and merrymaking. Therefore, the play includes fairies, witches, devils, and goblins who can change people into animals and birds and influence by means of magic potions.
Therefore, it is logical that Shakespeare chooses to set the play in a fictional context. To prove the issues, Mulherin et al. introduce historic evidence according to which it was common for people to suffer from midsummer madness when, for example they imagined strange things or behaved in adds ways (10). Despite the fact that an enchanted wood forms the main setting the place, the author never went to Athens, but his education allowed him to rely on Roman and Greek history.
Therefore, the characters, the content, and the setting are based on ancient Greek motifs. At the same, most of the folks and legend refer more to the old English traditions rather than to Greek mythology (Mulherin et al 12). In the play, the author depicts some Greek divine creatures, Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;/ And therefore is wingd Cupid painted blind (Shakespeare n. p.).
The synthesis of old and new traditions in play writing contributes to the development of new genres that Shakespeare makes use of to reflect the historic and cultural context of his epoch. Hence, the playwright focuses on the plot rather on characters, which underlines the audiences greater interest in the background of the place, as well as sequences of the events in which the main heroes are involved.
Although A Midsummer Nights Dream belongs to a city comedy, it incorporates a great number of mythic elements. However, myths and legends are used for decorative purposes rather than for integrating mythic motives. For instance, such mythic characters as Theseus who is closely connected with the Greek world whereas his wife Hyppolyta interferes with this fictional world and mixes the Amazons myths with the Greek legends.
There are also some similarities related to the name of Egeus, Hermias farther, that reminds of the Minotaur. Old mythical narrations are accepted as ancient fables that were popular in the Middle Ages. Therefore, Shakespeare combines symbolic meaning of ancient stories with the old English tradition of Elizabethan era.
Aside from ancient motifs, A Midsummer Nights Dream encompasses various topics from Renaissance psychology, including Elizabethan viewpoint on fairies, as well as the transformation of reactions to witchcraft. Due to the fact that the play relates to performance with play-within-the-play and drama belongs to a living art form that alters over times, it has been interpreted and adapted over centuries to diverse social and historic backgrounds and values.
More importantly, it can be seen that Shakespeares play borrows much from other historic sources to develop the plot. In particular, the playwright combines various approaches to create complex storylines based on his cultural and social experience. As a result, the play involves many patterns that interwoven together with images and words of the historic period.
A Midsummer Nights Dream refers to a lyric drama, poetic and songlike in which the art of language dominates over the importance of the heroes circumstances, as well as the consequences of the conflict and pressure between them. Imagery and allusion prevail in the play to create atmosphere that links reality and supernatural world.
Understanding social constructs represented in the play shifts the readers attention from the content and allows to explore the attributes of individual unconsciousness. It also inquires into the patterns of translation, production, and representation of imaginative experiences. Therefore, the complexity of plotlines is not significant because the major focus is made on the stage directions. Dynamics and verbal irony are other approaches that are typical of Shakespeares plays.
Elizabethan culture is closely associated with peculiar representation of genders in literary works. Although the play illustrates the complicated and unpredicted mixture of relations between the characters, it shows that women are rejected in their choices related to marriage.
Therefore, the Shakespearean and Elizabethan cultural representations constitute ideological concepts of human physiology, as well as socio-historical constructs of sexual identities.
Additionally, play skillfully synthesizes both gender and sexuality to adjust to the main social realms of Elizabethan epoch. These discourses are closely associated with diverse modes of political, cultural, and social organization and experience. Such a perspective relies on criticism of love and marriage, which is among the core themes in the play.
In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare employs genre, Greek motifs, and old English tradition to describe the social, cultural, and political modes of social organization during the times of Elizabeth Is reign. Specific emphasis should be placed on humorous approach to representing relations between men and women. Because the play addresses to young gentry and higher social classes, it also refers to the high prosperity period in England.
Works Cited
Mulherin Jennifer, Frost Abigail, and Norman Bancroft Hunt. Midsummer Nights Dream. US: Cherrytree Books. 2002. Print.
Ray, Ratri. William Shakespeares a Midsummer Night Dream. US: Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2008. Print.
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is one of the important characters of A Midsummer Nights Dream . The essay focuses on Pucks important role in the play. The essay delves on the power of Puck to change the love interests of the two parties. Pucks important role in the play is grounded on pranks and magic to brighten the Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream .
In the timeless Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Puck is the most important and dynamic character in the play. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow is Oberons jester and servant. He is a mischievous fairy. His major role is to add variety to the intensely romantic Athens love story.
Puck injects comedic mischief to the play. He also adds color to the Shakespearean masterpiece by his irresponsible acts. He has a similar small character as Oberon. Puck boasts that he can effortlessly travel around the world. Likewise, he is good example of a person eager to do good deeds in all possible situations.
Between doing good deeds and playing practical jokes, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, prefers to focus more of his precious time playing practical jokes on the two lovers. The two lovers are Titania and Lysander.Puck, or Robin Goodfellow looks at love as one of the jokes to be implemented. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, shows similar love characteristics as mortals living on earth (Carey 12).
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, has a wonderful personality of laughing whenever unhappy situations crop up. Likewise, this Shakespearean character is comfortable whenever there is a change of emotions. In addition, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, displays several instances of philosophical prudence.
The readers of the Shakespeares Midsummer Nights Dream play will surely love the Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, In any play, the mixture of different personalities,especially Puck, help to enthusiastically increase the readers interest to continue reading the Shakespearan play until the last paragraph.
Specifically, Scene 2 of Act III shows Puck complying with his masters instructions to interfere with the lovers. Titania is accompanied by a monster in love. Puck has placed the nectar of a magic flower on the eyes of Titania to enchant her to fall in love with the first male person she sees.
Further, Puck has stopped the rehearsal Quinces play. Quinces band was preparing their part for Theseaus wedding day. Puck was successful in dispersing the actors from their scheduled play practice. Many of the actors scampered along the forest in complete chaotic order.
In addition, Puck had transformed Bottoms head from a human head to an asss head. The head transformation frightens the people around Bottom. They all scamper in many directions. Most importantly, Puck was able to enchant Titania to magically fall in love with the Bottom. During this time of Titanias love enchantment, Bottom has an asss head. Titania is the queen of Fairies.
In terms of jesting, Puck unintentionally puts the nectar or magic flower on the yes of Lysander, who is sound asleep. The magic flower causes Lysander to forsake Lysander to replace his true love, Hermia for Helena (Carey 37). Seeing Helena, Lysander falls madly in love with her and is surprised at why he is in love with Hermia.
In turn, Helena reminds Lysander that Hermia should be his only love. Helena runs away to avoid Lysanders love overtures. In Act IV scene 1, the story proceeds with Puck obeying his masters command to remove the enchantments on both Titania and Lysander. Puck eagerly obeys Oberons instructions to correct what Puck had twisted magically (Carey 9).
Based on the above discussion, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is one of the enchanting characters of A Midsummer Nights Dream . Pucks important role in the play is grounded on frankness. The power of Puck includes the magical power to change the love interests of Titania and Lysander. Indeed, Pucks major part is based on pranks and magic to spice up the Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream .
In connection to gender roles as portrayed in the Elizabethan culture, women had no power to do as they pleased. Power over a woman shifted hands from the father to the husband upon marriage, such that, women were not to do anything out of their own will but rather out of obedience and total submissiveness to their fathers and husbands. The feminine power was always been under men and therefore freedom of expression was limited.
The patriarchal rule is put to test by Hermia going against her fathers wish of marrying Demetrius. Instead she chooses to marry Lysander, the man who she loves and this shows how she has propagating feminism by wanting her views to be considered and even tests the tradition and law by questioning that which will happen to her if she does not obey her fathers wish of marrying Demetrius (Dusinberre 24).
Considering the Elizabethan times much was expected from women in terms of respect and submissiveness to the men in that society, such that a daughter going to an extent of going against a fathers choice of a partner to whom she was to get married to was an abomination of the highest order deserving the worst of all punishments.
Women were allowed no voice at all in matters that concerned them and this unfair treatment rendered them helpless and tortured in all aspects for lack of attention in issues that affected them. They were always beaten to submission and therefore any form of disrespect could render them a severe punishment.
The feminism theory propagates gender equality, advocates for the rights of women in making their own independent decisions, promoting womens rights and interests.
In Midsummer Nights dream, Hermia is a perfect example of a woman who wants to do things her own way by wanting to get married to the man she has chosen and not the one chosen for her by her father. She even questions what will happen if she does not get married to Demetrius (Dusinberre 31), this therefore shows a woman who is questioning what is considered tradition because she believes that freedom from a repressive tradition is paramount.
The father is the one to choose a husband for her daughter something that Hermia does not see as practical and that is why she is ready to go against the common norm. In this context therefore, men are seen to be treating women as objects and not human beings with feelings, likes and dislikes and this is why they want women to do what they want them do without question but Hermia rises up to challenge this belief.
Hermia is a strong willed and intelligent woman who defies her culture, the Athenian Law and even Theseus, the Duke of Athens to fight for the love of her life. In exchange for the comfort of her land where she has grown up in and family, she is ready to forsake all that and elope to distant lands which she knows nothing about in order to get her love Lysander by her side (Dusinberre 183).
This depicts her as an admirable character and very independent minded besides being determined, attributes that feminists advocate for. She is not ready to stoop low to laws that are not going to bring her the happiness she wants in life and therefore crediting her aspects of the strength of a woman.
She is not allowing herself to be treated in a manner suggesting that she has no brains and willingness to do as she pleases. Stepping up and showing the determination to do as she pleases unlike other women for instance Helena who is acting desperate for the love of a man brings hope for the independence of women in the Elizabethan era and not only then but as it has been shown in the generations that followed to the present day.
Women in the society of A Midsummer Nights Dream are threatened with death incase they dont obey that which they are told by the men in their lives, be it their fathers, brothers, husbands and even the law. Hernia is taken to the king and is threatened with death by her father if she is not going to take up Demetrius as a husband. She is threatened with the life of a spinster by the Duke of Athens (Dusinberre 283).
This gives the insight on the extent to which punishment would be inflicted on a disobeying woman, by her father and the set out law that is to guard its citizens. Even in the face of this; Hernia is fearless and is ready to die for her right to be happy with the man of her choice and not the one that her father chooses for her. She is ready to give up everything just for the sake of her freedom. This scene creates an impression of how repressive the system was and a determination by her to get out.
Hermia seeks to fill the gap of the status quo between men and women of that time. This is depicted in her so to say tough headedness, by saying; this is an indicator showing feminine strength.
One could have thought that with the threats on her she could have changed her stand but no, even with the option of joining a nunnery if she is not to go by her fathers wish of a husband. Hermia and Lysander decide to meet in the woods (Dusinberre 315), ignoring what could have come up about promiscuity because in fact they are an unmarried couple. In the past in a case of promiscuity among unmarried people, it was always the norm that a woman in that case was to be blamed.
But with Hermia she does not seem to care about what rumors people might say about her being in the woods with Lysander, instead she is a brave woman who is ready to do what she thinks is good for ignoring what others might say, with of course a clear determination of doing as she pleases as long as she does not hurt herself and no one in particular.
Some characters like Helena are annoyingly submissive and easy going; they are a mockery to the entire womenfolk. The strength that should be portrayed in the women of the play should be seen as that of liberating women from the ties of helplessness. Shakespeare creates Hernia as a woman with that strength that is the voice to reckon with in trying to achieve the liberty with which women are to be empowered.
Her position in the play is that of a liberator because she is using her tool of words to air her feelings without fear, a character that is displayed in feminism as a tool to be used to achieve gender equity (Dusinberre 98). Being in a position to speak her heart out and go against the norm is a plus to her in the struggle to liberate women in that society. The quality to question tradition and stand up to a king and speak her mind is quite impressive.
Because Hermia fights for the freedom of women, in both mind and soul, she respects the fact that Demetrius is in love with her friend Helena who she sees as a sister, such that Lysander acknowledges that fact to the king.
Respect among fellow women and their feelings can be seen through Hermia, who even goes on to tell Helena of her plan to elope with Lysander, so that she can give her room to get together with Demetrius (Dusinberre 18), Hermia is ready to make a sacrifice to leave for a land she knows nothing about, she sacrifices her life for the sake of a friend and fears no one. Such a sacrifice is an indicator of a freedom fighter.
Her friends happiness matters so much such that she fights for her own liberation and that of others who are repressed by the laws of the land. Having the zeal and determination to do that is enough proof that she is a feminist fighting for the rights of all women of the Elizabethan times.
In the woods both men under the love spell of Oberon, fall in love with Helena, Hermia does not consider it love lost. All the four lovers are not aware of what is going on between them which is of course caused by Pucks confusion.
Hermia is saddened by the turn of events but by the time the spell put upon Lysander and Demetrius gets finished, we see Lysander and Hermia get back together. Hermia gets relieved and finally sees light at the end of the tunnel because she has the man that she has fought for by her side, the ability to take the reigning circumstances and she is not discouraged by the challenges of the time.
It is obvious that in life good times are faced with bad times, that it happens once in a while when someone is faced with challenges, but it is the same challenges that help build us, thus in the case of Hermia, she is not stopped from getting what she wants by the hard times that face her for at the end she comes out triumphant because she gets married to the man she has always loved (Dusinberre 102).
Breaking free from patriarchal rule was the main reason as to why the feminism movement came up; therefore Shakespeare might have created Hermia as a voice through which he was sending a message of hope and restoration to women.
The battle of the sexes is seen at play in the play and in the end despite the challenges met on the way; Hermia ends up with Lysander and not Demetrius. Feminism triumphs because with the fight for respect for her feelings, Hermia gets what she wants (Dusinberre 162) Hernia brings to light a new era where women are reborn and are breaking free from the bonds of inferiority and bringing them to a level ground with their male counterparts.
The duke told Hermia that her father was to be seen as a god, this was to call for total submission to him, but she raises up against all odds, even defying her own father to define her position in society and liberate other women like Helen. The forceful bond of male dominance is put to challenge and independence of women breaking loose from a suppressive era of superior male is brought out by Shakespeare.
Works Cited
Dusinberre, Juliet. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women.3rd Ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is one of the important characters of A Midsummer Nights Dream . The essay focuses on Pucks important role in the play. The essay delves on the power of Puck to change the love interests of the two parties. Pucks important role in the play is grounded on pranks and magic to brighten the Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream .
In the timeless Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Puck is the most important and dynamic character in the play. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow is Oberons jester and servant. He is a mischievous fairy. His major role is to add variety to the intensely romantic Athens love story.
Puck injects comedic mischief to the play. He also adds color to the Shakespearean masterpiece by his irresponsible acts. He has a similar small character as Oberon. Puck boasts that he can effortlessly travel around the world. Likewise, he is good example of a person eager to do good deeds in all possible situations.
Between doing good deeds and playing practical jokes, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, prefers to focus more of his precious time playing practical jokes on the two lovers. The two lovers are Titania and Lysander.Puck, or Robin Goodfellow looks at love as one of the jokes to be implemented. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, shows similar love characteristics as mortals living on earth (Carey 12).
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, has a wonderful personality of laughing whenever unhappy situations crop up. Likewise, this Shakespearean character is comfortable whenever there is a change of emotions. In addition, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, displays several instances of philosophical prudence.
The readers of the Shakespeares Midsummer Nights Dream play will surely love the Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, In any play, the mixture of different personalities,especially Puck, help to enthusiastically increase the readers interest to continue reading the Shakespearan play until the last paragraph.
Specifically, Scene 2 of Act III shows Puck complying with his masters instructions to interfere with the lovers. Titania is accompanied by a monster in love. Puck has placed the nectar of a magic flower on the eyes of Titania to enchant her to fall in love with the first male person she sees.
Further, Puck has stopped the rehearsal Quinces play. Quinces band was preparing their part for Theseaus wedding day. Puck was successful in dispersing the actors from their scheduled play practice. Many of the actors scampered along the forest in complete chaotic order.
In addition, Puck had transformed Bottoms head from a human head to an asss head. The head transformation frightens the people around Bottom. They all scamper in many directions. Most importantly, Puck was able to enchant Titania to magically fall in love with the Bottom. During this time of Titanias love enchantment, Bottom has an asss head. Titania is the queen of Fairies.
In terms of jesting, Puck unintentionally puts the nectar or magic flower on the yes of Lysander, who is sound asleep. The magic flower causes Lysander to forsake Lysander to replace his true love, Hermia for Helena (Carey 37). Seeing Helena, Lysander falls madly in love with her and is surprised at why he is in love with Hermia.
In turn, Helena reminds Lysander that Hermia should be his only love. Helena runs away to avoid Lysanders love overtures. In Act IV scene 1, the story proceeds with Puck obeying his masters command to remove the enchantments on both Titania and Lysander. Puck eagerly obeys Oberons instructions to correct what Puck had twisted magically (Carey 9).
Based on the above discussion, Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is one of the enchanting characters of A Midsummer Nights Dream . Pucks important role in the play is grounded on frankness. The power of Puck includes the magical power to change the love interests of Titania and Lysander. Indeed, Pucks major part is based on pranks and magic to spice up the Shakespearean masterpiece, A Midsummer Nights Dream .
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedic masterpiece that raises questions on power, gender, and the deception of love which facilitates the drama culmination. Elizabethan norms included patriarchal authority, which Shakespeare not only questioned throughout the play, but also challenged. During Elizabethan times, the predominant role that women played was that of a housewife. Women were subservient to men and had no will of their own, thus they remained completely dependent on their male relatives, as they were made to believe that they were inferior to them. Furthermore, marriage for women was often ordained by an authoritative male relative instead of giving the woman the opportunity to choose her suitor. It is in a similar light that Shakespeare portrays women, as that is the role of women he is most familiar with, however he uses comedy to veil his questioning of the female role in society. Despite A Midsummer Night’s Dream being a comedy, Shakespeare made it a point to raise concern over societal gender roles, including the identity of women in the Elizabethan era, and male dominance that is exerted throughout the play. Moreover, Shakespeare depicted the dichotomy between love and deception, and how oftentimes despite being portrayed alongside each other, are used to subjugate women.
Full of complex and modern ideas, A Midsummer Night’s Dream served as a commentary for such ideologies as a means to progress society towards a modern era. Shakespeare created the comedic play in such a motion that while disguised as a light-hearted play actually treads on serious matters concealed in a play within a play. Shakespeare questioned the notion that male supremacy and female obedience lead to a matrimonial harmony, while simultaneously pleasing the Elizabethan crowd so to not overstep any boundaries and by doing so, avoided having himself and his work be proclaimed as taboo (Pearson). Shakespeare challenges the idea of women serving and obeying men, yet subserviently succumbs to societal norms throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but not without first raising questions amongst the audience.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream kicks off with an entrance of the patriarchy. Hermia is left with the choice to either become a nun or to die if she refuses to marry Demetrius as her father had chosen for her. Egeus attempts to control Hermia’s choice of partner by subjecting her to the Athenian law and resorting to death should she disobey him. “As she is mine, I may dispose of her,” exemplifies how Egeus is using his status as a powerful male and a father figure as “her obedience, which is due to [him],” to exert his dominance and power over his daughter [1.1.45-49]. Egeus rages because he can ‘dispose’ of Hermia as he pleases, and yet she defies him. “Husbands and fathers can be understood as heads of households in much the same way monarchs functioned as heads of state.” This is especially true with Egeus as he not only believes his role is that of a father, but one as head of the household. “To disobey one’s parents was, in essence, to disobey God.” (Chamberlain) Shakespeare dramatizes the gender tension by having Hermia refuse to marry Demetrius, challenging the notion that females are the property of their fathers and must carry out their demands. The simple act of Hermia wanting to choose her lover is very risque as she is not only refusing her father’s command, but deciding for herself who she shall wed based on the pursuit of love:
Theseus: What say you, Hermia? be advised, fair maid:
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 but within his power
To leave the figure or disfigure it. [1.1.46-51]
This quote exemplifies the misogynistic ideals of the Elizabethan times and how Shakespeare used such diction to convey how serious the role of a man in society was taken, as her father is being compared to God. By comparing her “as a form in wax,” Shakespeare identifies how malleable women were believed to be compared to men, since women had to accept the authority and power of men, and do their bidding. The quote also hints at an underlying threat, should his daughter not agree to his demands, he would not hesitate to “leave the figure or disfigure it.” Moreover, the act of “disobedience could well “pollute” the patriarchal line, forever altering the family’s status within the community,” thus the idea of usurping such a role comes down to wanting power and control in society as that was a way to establish respect in the community as a male (Chamberlain).
Furthermore, Egeus’s role illustrates patriarchal prerogative in early marriage decisions. Despite knowing what’s expected of her and refusing, Hermia reveals the effect of the patriarchal notions by feeling the need to justify her decision, as she doesn’t know “by what power [she is] made bold.” The complex gender-related power dynamics is depicted in Hermia who comes off as an independent and free-willed character who isn’t willing to accept what she’s required to do, rather she demands to know why she must submit to her father’s wishes when it’s her livelihood in question. Essentially, she is questioning the stereotype in which men pursue the woman but the opposite is frowned upon (Boehrer). In other words, Shakespeare implicitly criticises the authoritarian notions and the double standards which dominated society in Elizabethan times. Hermia escapes subordination from her father only to fall into Lysander’s arms, whom she will have to depend on. She will never be able to be fully independent as she “appoints” him to be the next man whose proposals she’ll follow blindly:
Lysander: A good persuasion; therefore, hear me, Hermia.
I have a widow aunt, a dowager [. . . ]
From Athens is her house remote seven leagues; […]
There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee; […]
Hermia: My good Lysander!
I swear to thee, by Cupid’s strongest bow, […]
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee. [1.1.155-165]
Hermia frees herself from her father’s authority for love, which is a deceptive concept in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as the love she is chasing is nothing more than another web of male dominance. She doesn’t hesitate in elopping with Lysander as she believes she is running in the name of love, a liberating and freeing concept, which turns out to be nothing more than a facade aiming to entangle her in the complex threads of patriarchy. This is perhaps the irony Shakespeare attempted to portray in a seemingly light-hearted comedy as anything otherwise would be radicalized. “Patriarchal hegemony” is extensively predominant in the play because when the female characters try to pave their path towards establishing independency, they end up exchanging one role of submission to another at the hands of another man (Pearson).
Shakespeare metamorphosed the fairies with his playful imagination to create a kind of fairy that was free from the taint of witchcraft and demons. “The social … purpose of fairies extended outwards to take on new and unfamiliar purposes.” (Waits) Shakespeare toyed with the idea of the Fey and even went as far as portraying the patriarchy in the supernatural world [3.2.3]. This portrays the methods the king used to go as far as to shame the Queen into submitting to him through the use of a love potion. This is another instance in which Shakespeare uses the idea of love to openly deceit the characters. Deception disguised in the form of love is something the readers see often in this play as it plays a crucial role in developing the critical questions challenging the patriarchy. Shakespeare could have raised the questions without the addition of a supernatural realm, however if he were not to include the Fey, then the closing remarks would lose their impact and lessen the mystical illusion that he has Puck apologize for and claim it is nothing but a dream (Waits). Hence, Shakespeare included such a scene to extend upon an already developed questioning, and the method of which he went about doing so was not only creative, but clever. Through the Egeus and Hermia, and Hermia and Lysander, Shakespeare was able to raise critical questions about the role of patriarchy that rendered women unable to escape the conventions of male domination.
Consequently, Shakespeare used A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a way to depict the societal norms in such a way that the audience would gleefully enjoy as it comes off as a farce, however Shakespeare subtly weaved in socially challenging ideologies so to change the way society functioned. Egeus and Hermia’s relationship and Hermia and Lysander’s relationship, as discussed previously, is one of subjugation as Hermia is constantly halted in her attempt to be free from the shackles of female oppression. The gender dynamic and the theme of power and domination was exemplified through the male characters, whether they be mortal or Fey, as a way to depict the deception or illusion of love throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This play revealed the misogyny and the obvious male dominance in the Elizabethan times. The tension between the genders and the challenging of such roles is reflected in the play. In the end, Shakespeare used his play as a platform to openly question and challenge the norms of society.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, the differences between comedy and tragedy are often mentioned throughout this comedy. Although it is often described as a comedy; however, it can also be looked at as a tragedy as well. William Shakespeare focused on the aspects of the character Bottom and him being a perfect example of a fool, but also often viewing comedies as tragedies. Shakespeare centers in on comedic elements in the book by showing happy events such as marriages, relationships, and so on. But he also incorporates tragedy by looking at Pyramus and Thisbe and also how love is incorporated in the beginning of the play.
Bottom was known as the “fool” or the overconfident one in the play. He added comedy and humorous statements as well as often using malapropisms and puns. When using examples of these, it carries the play along and makes it more entertaining. Puns often keep the reader more intrigued and think harder sometimes. Bottom is in shock of what he has experienced hinting of what is reality, using malapropisms of making him not able to believe what he has dreamed: “The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was.” Bottom was always misusing words; adding comedy to the play. This quote is referred to as an allusion to a verse in the bible; however, Bottom mixed the words around. It is also synesthesia because of the way Bottom misuses his senses like, “the ear of man hath not seen…man’s hand is not able to taste…” and what it actually is supposed to be is which it is displayed in the bible as, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard…”. The meaning of this quote is basically suggesting and revealing his incapability to make sense of his dream because this whole time Bottom seems very confused of what is happening. For this reason, Bottom’s use of malapropisms added humor and comedy to the play, making it intriguing and enjoyable. Shakespeare’s common use of puns solidified the character of Bottom. Puns are good to keep the reader interested and is used to be humorous as well. During this scene, Bottom was being recognized as an “ass” seeing as him name is Bottom, “I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me, to fright me if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can. I will walk up and down here and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid”(3.1.). This is a pun because his name is Bottom and his head turns into that of an ass. Bottom’s head gets turned into the head of a Donkey, and because of that he is made out to be an “ass.” But it is not the fact that he has a Donkey’s head on him, it refers to another meaning of the word “fool.” He is very unaware of that, though. As soon as his friends see him, they immediately run from him, afraid. But he is very much confused. In conclusion, Shakespeare’s use of puns and malapropisms keeps the reader into it and thought provoking.
In this play, the use of tragedy was not common. Being that this play is a comedy, some of the happy endings or outcomes could be looked at as a tragedy. Once the play started, Hermia’s father wanted her to marry Demetrius and not Lysander and he made sure of it. He stated that he did not want Hermia marrying Lysander because of his actions or just the way he saw Lysander. He stated, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her. Which shall be either to this gentleman, or to her death” (1.1.44-46). This surely did not sound humorous at all. It was very harsh and forward, and Egeus wanted that to be clear. Egeus points out his wrongdoings in the lines before this quote and how he did not like the man he was. Lysander was very much in love with Hermia, serenading her and just simply being in love with her. The quote is stating that Egeus is Hermia’s father, therefore he determines who she marries. According to Athenian Law, the father of the bride is to pick out who he thinks is best for his daughter or he has to have the man be killed. Another example of a tragedy in this is the play of Pyramus and Thisbe. This play is very much like Romeo and Juliet, unfortunately ending in a tragedy. They are forbidden to see each other because of their parents rivalry, so when they’re not around, they get to see each other. These two plays are both alike because in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they are very much inspired by the Pyramus and Thisbe play. They are some things that they have in common. And that is that both couples are forbidden to be together. Hermia loves Lysander and is not liking the fact that she is having to be with a man she doesn’t love, so she plans to run away with Lysander. The mechanicals decided to re- enact the play of Pyramus and Thisbe, but it was not the greatest. The play was performed at the triple wedding of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, Duke Theseus and his newlywed Hippolyta. Having a play-in-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream added originality and it was authentic. In conclusion, Shakespeare’s use of tragedy kept the suspense to such a comedy and have readers come to conclusion that not all comedies have happy outcomes.
In summary, Shakespeare centers in on comedic elements in the book by showing happy events such as marriages, relationships, and so on. But he also incorporates tragedy by looking at Pyramus and Thisbe and also how love is incorporated in the beginning of the play. Shakespeare not only made this play a comedy, but alluded to the fact the some happy endings don’t have a happy ending. Also, how puns and malapropisms carry a play along keeping the reader focused. Therefore, not all comedies are tragedies and vise versa. Shakespeare had a very unique way of making use of that.
Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is widely regarded as nothing more than a romantic tale of light drama. Although the play is beautiful and funny, there’s also a clear trace of dark themes and violence, a twisted underside that’s distinct from its loving themes. Midsummer may conclude with a series of happy weddings, but along the way, it clearly shows how male to female relationships are portrayed to show a large amount of violence, throughout Shakespearian times.
At some point in the play, nearly all the male characters are intimidating their female counterparts with unnecessary aggression. Theseus, for instance, won Hippolyta’s affection not by seduction or courtship but through military victory, having conquered the Amazons, her woman warrior tribe. In the opening scene, he tells her, ‘I wooed you with my blade, And won your love doing thy wounds,’ drawing an apparent connection between love and attack. Egeus openly threatens to kill Hermia, his aunt, later on in the same scene if she does not agree to marry Demetrius. On his part, Oberon does not place Titania in danger of actual physical harm, but he does brainwash her with a love potion to humiliate and humiliate her. Lysander may be the only male inadvertently trying to hurt his mate. But even so, Hermia is unable to avoid risk. Only after the magical Lysander leaves her, she wakes out of a nightmare, shaking with terror as she explains how she dreamed she saw ‘a snake eat her heart out.’ While at this moment Lysander is not in charge of his own actions, Hermia’s subconscious still reports his desertion as an act of abuse.
The primary two female characters in the play, Helena and Hermia, end up tolerating all of the violent activity. An example is when Lysander tells Helena, that he’s ‘sick’ at the sight of her. He also threatens her by saying he would ‘do mischief’ in the woods, which was a much more threatening term at the time of the seventeenth century. She embraces the aggression directed at her and turns it into an argument, pleading for him to treat her like his “spaniel,” implying that the more he inflicts harm on her, the more she will “fawn” on him. Later on in the play, the two women give in to the hostile environment and fight with one another. Their encounter is comedically portrayed as a friendly feud but considering the fact that the fight took place after Helena begged Hermia not to fight by saying, “rend their ancient love asunder,” the fight possessed a much darker tone. Because of Hermia’s ignorance, the two begin to wreak havoc on one another, despite going as far as to refer to them as “sisters” because of the tight bond they once possessed. There was never any evidence of the sisters fully repairing their relationship even at the end of the play, so the harm they brought upon one another was possibly permanent.
Romantic conflict is depicted in the play as a power that could spread, as though it were a disease. When Titania and Oberon meet each other in Act II, scene I Titania portrays a chaotic universe overflowing with sickly clouds and decaying vegetations. She claims that this mess originated out of the conflict between her and Oberon and that they are the ‘parents’ of the present state of instability on the world.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream concludes with many joyful (if magically induced) celebrations, but even the excitement of the closing party does not banish the menacing undercurrent of the play entirely. A clownish show commemorates the nuptials, but importantly, the craftsmen’s motif is a grim one: a loving couple facing a brutal and tragic end. On top of that, Puck and Oberon’s blessings appear to invoke more fear than goodwill. The more conventional blessing Oberon gives, wishing the couples fertility and enduring happiness. He also describes, however, ‘blots in history,’ such as harelips and other deformities, calling attention to the hazards that young children may face just though he wards them safe. On his part, Puck spends much of his speech explaining all the terrible creatures lurking outside the door of the wedding hall, such as starving lions and ‘gaping’ grave ghosts. In conclusion, we don’t know whether the newlyweds are feeling the flush of marital joy internally, or whether the tension that bubbled during the play has unsettled them: when Puck locks the door to the night’s awful monsters, he also blocks out the crowd. Despite our characters ‘final destiny so vague, A Midsummer Night’s Dream can not be accurately considered a romantic comedy.
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, gender stereotypes prevail as a main source of comedy. As the audience, we notice this common theme between character relationships in certain scenes and events that occur within the play and the many film adaptations. It ultimately provides this idea of men having more control and greater power over women. More specifically, the relationship between Helena and Demetrius. In his writing, Shakespeare depicts some women to be submissive and dependent on the men in their surroundings, and this can be especially seen within Helena’s character. Through Helena’s desperation and willingness to humiliate herself for Demetrius, she encapsulates one role women are expected to play.
Looking at Demetrius and Helena’s relationship in Act 2 scene 1, Shakespeare illustrates a perfect example of how gender stereotypes are meant to be used as a source of comedy. In this scene, it is evident that Demetrius does not want anything to do with Helena in which he says, “I love thee not; therefore pursue me not” (2.1.195). However, instead of hearing this, Helena is depicted to have very little understanding of this and continues to follow him around. As the scene progresses, it becomes evident that she has very little self-confidence and that she would do anything for Demetrius. Helena then begins to compare herself to a dog and even claims, “Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave/(Unworthy as I am) to follow you” (2.1.213-214). This mentality provided by Helena, embodies a great sense of little respect and humiliation. Shakspeare uses this scene as a form of comedy to emphasize how little pride she has left and her willingness to obtain the slightest bit of attention from him.
In Michael Hoffman’s 1999 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the same scene between Helena and Demetrius is depicted in screen images to further the point of gender portrayal in Shakespeare’s writing. This scene begins with Helena behind Demetrius as they have stopped in the forest (0:33:54). Then as the scene progresses, Hoffman creates a comedic scene out of Helena’s foolishness. One example is when Helena honks the bike horn of Demetrius’ bike and begins to giggle while Demetrius tries to fix his bike. This scene depicts Helena to act in a child-like manner as well as having Demetrius speak to her like a child (0:34:07). To emphasize this childish manner, Hoffman zooms in to Oberon’s face as he watches over them. This so-called “reaction shot” of Oberon’s face in confusion allows the viewers to see another reaction to Helena’s behavior.
Another moment in this scene shown in Hoffman’s film used character placement and movement to further the element of gender dominance. Following Oberon’s reaction shot, Hoffman returns back to Helena and Demetrius. As their conversation continues, the shot focusses on Helena as she says, “I am your spaniel, and, Demetrius. The more you beat me I will fawn on you. Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave (Unworthy as I am) to follow you” (0.34.28-45). In this scene, the shot is in full view of her face. The use of the camera allows the audience to see what the director wants us to see. In this case, we watch as Helena begs Demetrius to treat her like a dog as she positions herself in a lower position than when she had started speaking. This movement made by Helena emphasizes her vulnerability to Demetrius. Following those lines, there is another “reaction shot” of Oberon in which he presents a look of pity for her. This reaction emphasizes how the audience should feel sympathetic for Helena as she makes a fool out of herself to gain attention. Directly after, the camera shows Demetrius walking away as Helena chases after him (0:34:53). This choice to show Demetrius walking away with Helena blurred in the shot, highlights the male dominance in the relationship in which he leaves her there to be fully dependent on him as she chases after him.
In conclusion, the 1999 Hoffman film fully emphasizes this role of gender dominance in addition to the play itself. Within Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the readers can take apart the textual evidence to see how gender plays a role in relationships, such as Helena and Demetrius’. This idea of having certain women play a role in which they submit themselves to the male roles, proves how little power women have and how they are seen to be fully dependent on men. This theme is undoubtedly recognized in the Hoffman film as well. As the viewers take a closer look at the director’s choices in the film, we recognize these same themes through the many elements of a shot. For example, movement, character placement, and staging position. To conclude, both the film and play accentuate, not only male dominance, but also Helena’s character as a woman and the measures she would take in order to subject herself to Demetrius.