A MIDSUMMER NIGHT.doc

8/11/2019 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT.doc

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM

William Shakespeare

Context

The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to

a successful middle-class gloe-maker in Stratford-upon-!on, England" Shakespeare attended

grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further" #n 15$% he married an older

woman, !nne &athawa', and had three children with her" !round 15() he left his famil' behind

and traeled to *ondon to work as an actor and pla'wright" +ublic and critical success uickl'

followed, and Shakespeare eentuall' became the most popular pla'wright in England and part-

owner of the lobe Theater" &is career bridged the reigns of Eli.abeth # /ruled 155$016)2 and

3ames # /ruled 16)016%52, and he was a faorite of both monarchs" #ndeed, 3ames grantedShakespeares compan' the greatest possible compliment b' bestowing upon its members the

title of ings en" Wealth' and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at

the age of fift'-two" !t the time of Shakespeares death, literar' luminaries such as 7en 3onson

hailed his works as timeless"

Shakespeares works were collected and printed in arious editions in the centur' following his

death, and b' the earl' eighteenth centur' his reputation as the greatest poet eer to write in

English was well established" The unprecedented admiration garnered b' his works led to a

fierce curiosit' about Shakespeares life, but the dearth of biographical information has left man'

details of Shakespeares personal histor' shrouded in m'ster'" Some people hae concluded

from this fact that Shakespeares pla's were reall' written b' someone else89rancis 7acon and

the Earl of :;ford are the two most popular candidates8but the support for this claim is

oerwhelmingl' circumstantial, and the theor' is not taken seriousl' b' man' scholars"

#n the absence of credible eidence to the contrar', Shakespeare must be iewed as the author of

the thirt'-seen pla's and 154 sonnets that bear his name" The legac' of this bod' of work is

immense" ! number of Shakespeares pla's seem to hae transcended een the categor' of

brilliance, becoming so influential as to profoundl' affect the course of Western literature and

culture eer after"

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Written in the mid-15()s, probabl' shortl' before Shakespeare turned to Romeo and Juliet, A

Midsummer Nights Dreamis one of his strangest and most delightful creations, and it marks a

departure from his earlier works and from others of the English

English countr' fair' lore /the character of +uck, or


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@emetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her loer> &elena follows behind

him"

#n these same woods are two er' different groups of characters" The first is a band of fairies,

including :beron, the fair' king, and Titania, his ueen, who has recentl' returned from #ndia to

bless the marriage of Theseus and &ippol'ta" The second is a band of !thenian craftsmen

rehearsing a pla' that the' hope to perform for the duke and his bride" :beron and Titania are at

odds oer a 'oung #ndian prince gien to Titania b' the princes mother> the bo' is so beautiful

that :beron wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses" Seeking reenge, :beron sends his

merr' serant, +uck, to acuire a magical flower, the Buice of which can be spread oer a

sleeping persons e'elids to make that person fall in loe with the first thing he or she sees upon

waking" +uck obtains the flower, and :beron tells him of his plan to spread its Buice on thesleeping Titanias e'elids" &aing seen @emetrius act cruell' toward &elena, he orders +uck to

spread some of the Buice on the e'elids of the 'oung !thenian man" +uck encounters *'sander

and &ermia> thinking that *'sander is the !thenian of whom :beron spoke, +uck afflicts him

with the loe potion" *'sander happens to see &elena upon awaking and falls deepl' in loe with

her, abandoning &ermia" !s the night progresses and +uck attempts to undo his mistake, both

*'sander and @emetrius end up in loe with &elena, who beliees that the' are mocking her"

&ermia becomes so Bealous that she tries to challenge &elena to a fight" @emetrius and *'sander

nearl' do fight oer &elenas loe, but +uck confuses them b' mimicking their oices, leading

them apart until the' are lost separatel' in the forest"

When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is 7ottom, the most ridiculous of the !thenian

craftsmen, whose head +uck has mockingl' transformed into that of an ass" Titania passes a

ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaer" Eentuall', :beron obtains the #ndian bo',

+uck spreads the loe potion on *'sanders e'elids, and b' morning all is well" Theseus and

&ippol'ta discoer the sleeping loers in the forest and take them back to !thens to be married8@emetrius now loes &elena, and *'sander now loes &ermia" !fter the group wedding, the

loers watch 7ottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their pla', a fumbling, hilarious ersion

of the stor' of +'ramus and Thisbe" When the pla' is completed, the loers go to bed> the fairies

briefl' emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protectie charm and then disappear" :nl'

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+uck remains, to ask the audience for its forgieness and approal and to urge it to remember the

pla' as though it had all been a dream"

Character Lit

P!c"- !lso known as he also transforms 7ottoms head into that of an ass"

O#eron- The king of the fairies, :beron is initiall' at odds with his wife, Titania, because sherefuses to relinuish control of a 'oung #ndian prince whom he wants for a knight" :berons

desire for reenge on Titania leads him to send +uck to obtain the loe-potion flower that creates

so much of the pla's confusion and farce"

Titania- The beautiful ueen of the fairies, Titania resists the attempts of her husband, :beron,

to make a knight of the 'oung #ndian prince that she has been gien" Titanias brief, potion-

induced loe for Aick 7ottom, whose head +uck has transformed into that of an ass, 'ields the

pla's foremost e;ample of the contrast motif"

L$an%er- ! 'oung man of !thens, in loe with &ermia" *'sanders relationship with &ermia

inokes the theme of loes difficult'= he cannot marr' her openl' because Egeus, her father,

wishes her to wed @emetrius> when *'sander and &ermia run awa' into the forest, *'sander

becomes the ictim of misapplied magic and wakes up in loe with &elena"

De&etri!- ! 'oung man of !thens, initiall' in loe with &ermia and ultimatel' in loe with

&elena" @emetriuss obstinate pursuit of &ermia throws loe out of balance among the uartet of

!thenian 'ouths and precludes a s'mmetrical two-couple arrangement"

Her&ia- Egeuss daughter, a 'oung woman of !thens" &ermia is in loe with *'sander and is a

childhood friend of &elena" !s a result of the fairies mischief with :berons loe potion, both

*'sander and @emetrius suddenl' fall in loe with &elena" Self-conscious about her short

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stature, &ermia suspects that &elena has wooed the men with her height" 7' morning, howeer,

+uck has sorted matters out with the loe potion, and *'sanders loe for &ermia is restored"

Helena- ! 'oung woman of !thens, in loe with @emetrius" @emetrius and &elena were once

betrothed, but when @emetrius met &elenas friend &ermia, he fell in loe with her and

abandoned &elena" *acking confidence in her looks, &elena thinks that @emetrius and *'sander

are mocking her when the fairies mischief causes them to fall in loe with her"

E'e!- &ermias father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus= Egeus has

gien @emetrius permission to marr' &ermia, but &ermia, in loe with *'sander, refuses to

marr' @emetrius" Egeuss seere insistence that &ermia either respect his wishes or be held

accountable to !thenian law places him suarel' outside the whimsical dream realm of the

forest"

Thee!- The heroic duke of !thens, engaged to &ippol'ta" Theseus represents power and

order throughout the pla'" &e appears onl' at the beginning and end of the stor', remoed from

the dreamlike eents of the forest"

Hi((ol$ta- The legendar' ueen of the !ma.ons, engaged to Theseus" *ike Theseus, she

s'mboli.es order"

Nic" )otto&- The oerconfident weaer chosen to pla' +'ramus in the craftsmens pla' for

Theseuss marriage celebration" 7ottom is full of adice and self-confidence but freuentl'

makes sill' mistakes and misuses language" &is simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful

Titanias sudden loe for him and unawareness of the fact that +uck has transformed his head

into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance"

Peter *!ince- ! carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmens attempt to put on a pla'

for Theseuss marriage celebration" Cuince is often shoed aside b' the abundantl' confident

7ottom" @uring the craftsmens pla', Cuince pla's the +rologue"

+ranci +l!te- The bellows-mender chosen to pla' Thisbe in the craftsmens pla' for Theseuss

marriage celebration" 9orced to pla' a 'oung girl in loe, the bearded craftsman determines to

speak his lines in a high, sueak' oice"

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Ro#in Starvelin'- The tailor chosen to pla' Thisbes mother in the craftsmens pla' for

Theseuss marriage celebration" &e ends up pla'ing the part of oonshine"

To& Sno!t- The tinker chosen to pla' +'ramuss father in the craftsmens pla' for Theseuss

marriage celebration" &e ends up pla'ing the part of Wall, diiding the two loers"

Sn!'- The Boiner chosen to pla' the lion in the craftsmens pla' for Theseuss marriage

celebration" Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience"

Philotrate- Theseuss aster of the


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fair' mentions that some call +uck a Dhobgoblin, a term whose connotations are decidedl' less

glamorous than those of Dfair' /##"i"4)2"

Nick Bottom

Whereas +ucks humor is often mischieous and subtle, the comed' surrounding the

oerconfident weaer Aick 7ottom is hilariousl' oert" The central figure in the subplot

inoling the craftsmens production of the +'ramus and Thisbe stor', 7ottom dominates his

fellow actors with an e;traordinar' belief in his own abilities /he thinks he is perfect for eer'

part in the pla'2 and his comical incompetence /he is a terrible actor and freuentl' makes

rhetorical and grammatical mistakes in his speech2" The humor surrounding 7ottom often stems

from the fact that he is totall' unaware of his own ridiculousness> his speeches are oerdramatic

and self-aggrandi.ing, and he seems to beliee that eer'one takes him as seriousl' as he does

himself" This foolish self-importance reaches its pinnacle after +uck transforms 7ottoms head

into that of an ass" When Titania, whose e'es hae been anointed with a loe potion, falls in loe

with the now ass-headed 7ottom, he beliees that the deotion of the beautiful, magical fair'

ueen is nothing out of the ordinar' and that all of the trappings of her affection, including

haing serants attend him, are his proper due" &is unawareness of the fact that his head has

been transformed into that of an ass parallels his inabilit' to perceie the absurdit' of the idea

that Titania could fall in loe with him"

Helena

!lthough +uck and 7ottom stand out as the most personable characters inA Midsummer Nights

Dream,the' themseles are not inoled in the main dramatic eents" :f the other characters,

&elena, the loesick 'oung woman desperatel' in loe with @emetrius, is perhaps the most full'

drawn" !mong the uartet of !thenian loers, &elena is the one who thinks most about the

nature of loe8which makes sense, gien that at the beginning of the pla' she is left out of the

loe triangle inoling *'sander, &ermia, and @emetrius" She sa's, D*oe looks not with the

e'es, but with the mind, belieing that @emetrius has built up a fantastic notion of &ermias

beaut' that preents him from recogni.ing &elenas own beaut' /#"i"%42" ?tterl' faithful to

@emetrius despite her recognition of his shortcomings, &elena sets out to win his loe b' telling

him about the plan of *'sander and &ermia to elope into the forest" :nce &elena enters the

forest, man' of her traits are drawn out b' the confusion that the loe potion engenders=

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compared to the other loers, she is e;tremel' unsure of herself, worr'ing about her appearance

and belieing that *'sander is mocking her when he declares his loe for her"

The&e, S$ol, / Moti-

The&e

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary or!"

Love Di--ic!lt$

DThe course of true loe neer did run smooth, comments *'sander, articulating one ofA

Midsummer Nights Dreams most important themes8that of the difficult' of loe /#"i"142"

Though most of the conflict in the pla' stems from the troubles of romance, and though the pla'

inoles a number of romantic elements, it is not trul' a loe stor'> it distances the audience

from the emotions of the characters in order to poke fun at the torments and afflictions that those

in loe suffer" The tone of the pla' is so lighthearted that the audience neer doubts that things

will end happil', and it is therefore free to enBo' the comed' without being caught up in the

tension of an uncertain outcome"

The theme of loes difficult' is often e;plored through the motif of loe out of balance8that is,

romantic situations in which a disparit' or ineualit' interferes with the harmon' of a

relationship" The prime instance of this imbalance is the as'mmetrical loe among the four

'oung !thenians= &ermia loes *'sander, *'sander loes &ermia, &elena loes @emetrius, and

@emetrius loes &ermia instead of &elena8a simple numeric imbalance in which two men loe

the same woman, leaing one woman with too man' suitors and one with too few" The pla' has

strong potential for a traditional outcome, and the plot is in man' wa's based on a uest for

internal balance> that is, when the loers tangle resoles itself into s'mmetrical pairings, the

traditional happ' ending will hae been achieed" Somewhat similarl', in the relationship

between Titania and :beron, an imbalance arises out of the fact that :berons coeting of

Titanias #ndian bo' outweighs his loe for her" *ater, Titanias passion for the ass-headed

7ottom represents an imbalance of appearance and nature= Titania is beautiful and graceful,

while 7ottom is clums' and grotesue"

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Ma'ic

The fairies magic, which brings about man' of the most bi.arre and hilarious situations in the

pla', is another element central to the fantastic atmosphere ofA Midsummer Nights Dream"

Shakespeare uses magic both to embod' the almost supernatural power of loe /s'mboli.ed b'

the loe potion2 and to create a surreal world" !lthough the misuse of magic causes chaos, as

when +uck mistakenl' applies the loe potion to *'sanders e'elids, magic ultimatel' resoles

the pla's tensions b' restoring loe to balance among the uartet of !thenian 'ouths"

!dditionall', the ease with which +uck uses magic to his own ends, as when he reshapes

7ottoms head into that of an ass and recreates the oices of *'sander and @emetrius, stands in

contrast to the laboriousness and gracelessness of the craftsmens attempt to stage their pla'"

Drea&

!s the title suggests, dreams are an important theme in A Midsummer Nights Dream# the' are

linked to the bi.arre, magical mishaps in the forest" &ippol'tas first words in the pla' eidence

the prealence of dreams /D9our da's will uickl' steep themseles in night, F 9our nights will

uickl' dream awa' the time2, and arious characters mention dreams throughout /#"i"G0$2" The

theme of dreaming recurs predominantl' when characters attempt to e;plain bi.arre eents in

which these characters are inoled= D# hae had a dream, past the wit of man to sa' what F

dream it was" an is but an ass if he go about te;pound this dream, 7ottom sa's, unable to

fathom the magical happenings that hae affected him as an'thing but the result of slumber"

Shakespeare is also interested in the actual workings of dreams, in how eents occur without

e;planation, time loses its normal sense of flow, and the impossible occurs as a matter of course>

he seeks to recreate this enironment in the pla' through the interention of the fairies in the

magical forest" !t the end of the pla', +uck e;tends the idea of dreams to the audience members

themseles, sa'ing that, if the' hae been offended b' the pla', the' should remember it asnothing more than a dream" This sense of illusion and gau.' fragilit' is crucial to the atmosphere

ofA Midsummer Nights Dream,as it helps render the pla' a fantastical e;perience rather than a

hea' drama"

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Moti-

Motifs are re$urring stru$tures, $ontrasts, and literary devi$es that $an help to develop and

inform the texts ma%or themes"

Contrat

The idea of contrast is the basic building block of A Midsummer Nights Dream" The entire pla'

is constructed around groups of opposites and doubles" Aearl' eer' characteristic presented in

the pla' has an opposite= &elena is tall, &ermia is short> +uck pla's pranks, 7ottom is the ictim

of pranks> Titania is beautiful, 7ottom is grotesue" 9urther, the three main groups of characters

/who are deeloped from sources as aried as reek m'tholog', English folklore, and classical

literature2 are designed to contrast powerfull' with one another= the fairies are graceful and

magical, while the craftsmen are clums' and earth'> the craftsmen are merr', while the loers are

oerl' serious" Hontrast seres as the defining isual characteristic ofA Midsummer Nights

Dream,with the pla's most indelible image being that of the beautiful, delicate Titania weaing

flowers into the hair of the ass-headed 7ottom" #t seems impossible to imagine two figures less

compatible with each other" The Bu;taposition of e;traordinar' differences is the most important

characteristic of the pla's surreal atmosphere and is thus perhaps the pla's central motif> there

is no scene in which e;traordinar' contrast is not present"

S$ol

&ym'ols are o'%e$ts, $hara$ters, figures, and $olors used to represent a'stra$t ideas or $on$epts"

Thee! an% Hi((ol$ta

Theseus and &ippol'ta bookendA Midsummer Nights Dream,appearing in the da'light at both

the beginning and the end of the pla's main action" The' disappear, howeer, for the duration of

the action, leaing in the middle of !ct #, scene i and not reappearing until !ct #I, as the sun is

coming up to end the magical night in the forest" Shakespeare uses Theseus and &ippol'ta, the

ruler of !thens and his warrior bride, to represent order and stabilit', to contrast with the

uncertaint', instabilit', and darkness of most of the pla'" Whereas an important element of the

dream realm is that one is not in control of ones enironment, Theseus and &ippol'ta are alwa's

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entirel' in control of theirs" Their reappearance in the da'light of !ct #I to hear Theseuss

hounds signifies the end of the dream state of the preious night and a return to rationalit'"

The Love Potion

The loe potion is made from the Buice of a flower that was struck with one of Hupids misfired

arrows> it is used b' the fairies to wreak romantic haoc throughout !cts ##, ###, and #I" 7ecause

the meddling fairies are careless with the loe potion, the situation of the 'oung !thenian loers

becomes increasingl' chaotic and confusing /@emetrius and *'sander are magicall' compelled

to transfer their loe from &ermia to &elena2, and Titania is hilariousl' humiliated /she is

magicall' compelled to fall deepl' in loe with the ass-headed 7ottom2" The loe potion thus

becomes a s'mbol of the unreasoning, fickle, erratic, and undeniabl' powerful nature of loe,

which can lead to ine;plicable and bi.arre behaior and cannot be resisted"

The Cra-t&en Pla$

The pla'-within-a-pla' that takes up most of !ct I, scene i is used to represent, in condensed

form, man' of the important ideas and themes of the main plot" 7ecause the craftsmen are such

bumbling actors, their performance satiri.es the melodramatic !thenian loers and gies the pla'

a purel' Bo'ful, comedic ending" +'ramus and Thisbe face parental disapproal in the pla'-

within-a-pla', Bust as &ermia and *'sander do> the theme of romantic confusion enhanced b' the

darkness of night is rehashed, as +'ramus mistakenl' beliees that Thisbe has been killed b' the

lion, Bust as the !thenian loers e;perience intense miser' because of the mi;-ups caused b' the

fairies meddling" The craftsmens pla' is, therefore, a kind of s'mbol forA Midsummer Nights

Dreamitself= a stor' inoling powerful emotions that is made hilarious b' its comical

presentation"

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