Mandy Conway Mrs. Guynes English 12 16 March 2000 A Critical Analysis of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest writers in literature. He dies in 1616 after completing many sonnets and plays. One of which is "A Midsummer Night's Dream." They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare's comedies. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-with-in-a-play, which master writers only write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer. Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a …show more content…
He needs her too, so he wins the boy for himself to make her feel inferior. In other words, Titania gave up something that she loved to make her husband happy. This is seen in everyday life, women give up their wants to make their men happy. Titania's sacrifice for Oberon cost her to lose both her Indian boy and his mother, her women lover. When men don't make women happy, they turn to their friends for what they need, whatever it may be. (Scott 370-373) Male domination not only exists between husband and wife, but also between father and daughter. Theseus will not allow Hermia to marry Lysander. Theseus wants her to marry Demetrius. Egeus, a ruler, will force Hermia to become a nun unless she marries Demetrius. In retaliation to his demands, Lysander and Hermia run away together. Hermia is scolded by Egeus for being in love with the man she chooses. This suggests that men cause women to feel forced and obligated to do as they say. (Scott 373) Another example of male domination is the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. Theseus' first wife was frail and yielding, and he divorced her. Hippolyta has been a warrior, and Theseus' victory over her makes her unable to resist. By conquering the female warrior and marrying her, he fulfills his need for the exclusive love of a woman while satisfying his homoerotic desires. Close bonding fulfills this homoerotic desire with a male companion, such as Demetrius and
It is seen as unladylike to follow a man around, praying for him to love her back. Women are supposed to stay in the house and wait for a man to start talking to her. Once again, Shakespeare is demonstrating how the Great Chain of Being can be challenged. He is showing the women, the so called lesser of men, that they can challenge society and disrupt the patriarchal hierarchy. In addition to Demetrius now loving Helena, Theseus finally makes up his mind, and he decides that the two pairs of lovers will get married alongside himself and Hermia: "Egeus, I will overbear your will;/ For in the temple by and by with us,/These couples shall eternally be knit.
Love, a prominent theme in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” entangles an ensemble of characters into a compelling but also frustrating plot that ultimately questions whether “love at first sight” exists. As someone who doesn’t believe in “true love,” I see the concept of “love at first sight” as an unrealistic physical need that is ultimately a copping mechanism to subdue or numb the outside world. Ultimately, through the characters of Bottom and Titania this falsehood of falling of love at first glance is revealed through their magically developed relationship that occurs when the character of Puck places a “love juice” on Titania’s eyes.
William Shakespeare is a successful playwright as he uses the style of history, tragedy and comedy which is an entertaining aspect that is in all his plays.
If there was no such thing as sympathy, empathy, or love in our world, it would be a hard place to live. If there was no hard law or reason in our world, it would be a crazy place to live. Neither of these worlds would be anybody’s first choice as a home - it's just common sense take away either of these two fundamental aspects of life, and everything is immediately chaos. In fact, it is only in a world such as ours, where legal and human emotion work together, that we are happy. In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare recognizes this truth and uses the two settings to represent the city of Athens as law, order, civility, and judgment, while the woods represent chaos, incivility, dreams, and love.
The story of A Midsummer Night's Dream was mainly about love and its abnormal dealings. In the play, Shakespeare tried to show that love is unpredictable, unreasonable, and at times is blind. The theme of love was constantly used during the play and basically everything that was said and done was related to the concept of love and its unpredictable ness. Shakespeare made all of the characters interact their lives to be based on each other’s. At first, everything was very confusing, and the characters were faced with many different problems. In the end, however, they were still able to persevere and win their true love, the love they were searching for in the first place.
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream the writer William Shakespeare uses many types of figurative language and literary devices to reinforce the major themes of the play. Throughout the play the major theme is love. Readers know this due to how in the play the main conflict is love. The types of figurative language and or literary devices that William Shakespeare uses in the play to reinforce the themes are personification, symbolism, and clichés. A good quote from the play is when Helena was talking to herself after the meeting with the duke and her father. Helena said “How happy some o'er other some can be! Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so.
Love is a term used daily in one’s life. Many categorize love in many forms. These forms differ from one-another such as the difference between love for food and love for one’s spouse. However, in the play; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, love takes different forms than the ones experienced in reality. One can classify the different types of love used in this play into three different categories; true love, love produced by cupid’s flower, and the state of lust.
Here, Theseus reminds Hermia that filial duty alone demands that she close her eyes to Lysander, and instead train her sight on the man her father deems more appropriate, i.e. Demetrius. This supposed power of the father's, to manipulate his daughter's actions, reflects Theseus' description of the "ideal" father-daughter relationship, in which he likens the daughter to "a form in wax" (1.1.49).
He is trying to earn her love by telling her all of the things he loves about her, how he refuses to go back to Hermia and by challenging Demetrius to a sword fight. Once Oberon got the child that he wanted from Titania, he fixed all of the crazy nonsense that was happening between the four young people wandering the woods. There would now be a triple wedding for Theseus and Hippolyta, Demetrius and Helena, and Lysander and Hermia. Lysander is once again in love with Hermia, and all is good among
What is true love? What is fake love? How can we tell the difference? William Shakespeare, in Midsummer Night's Dream demonstrates how fake love crumbles and how true love perseveres. New relationships can be easily broken if they are fake.
In response, the father will be willing to execute their daughter if they do not respond in such a way. In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia, Egeus daughter, rejects to marry a man named Demetrius-a man who wants Hermia’s father to marry her- and as a result the father, Egeus, will either execute Hermia or convert her into a nun. Hermia questions, “...tell me the worst thing that could happen to me if I refuse to marry Demetrius”; therefore, she can argue how she does not want to follow society’s rules but instead follow her desires (I.i. ll 62-4). This situation defines how women rejecting their father”s demands will lead towards an execution or nunnery. As a result, Hermia defies her father and she will either be forced to marry Demetrius or deal with a consequence. In proportion, Shakespeare also provides the audience with evidence on the consequences to a disobedient woman in Ancient Greece: “I’d rather wither away than give up my virginity to someone I don’t love.” comments Hermia so that the audience can interpret how she does not want to marry Demetrius but rather marry Lysander, even though she will be transgressing her father’s demands(I.i. Ll 79-80). This illustration proves how Hermia will rather “die” than to follow her father's decision on who to love. Consequently, Hermia stays bold towards her
William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream utilizes the technique of multiple characters playing leading roles. The fairy character Puck stands out as a dominant and leading role in the play. Puck is the best fit for the role of the protagonist because he is mischievous and therefore, has the ability to change the outcome of the play through his schemes and actions. As the protagonist, Puck is responsible for creating the major conflict that occurs between the four lovers throughout the play. This is important because the play focuses on the lives and relationships of the lovers. In addition, because of Puck’s interaction with these characters, his actions throughout the play, alters the final outcome. Finally, Puck’s
What literary criticism lens is most effective in creating meaning and entertainment throughout Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream? The play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has several characters involved in a love triangle. Many scenes in the story involves power being used or taken away and use of money. Throughout the play, readers and viewers experiences Hermia’s power is being taken away by her father, Eugues,which is her kindred, not letting her marry the man she truly loves,Lysander. Later throughout the story, Robin, character from the story contains a enthrall love juice that has power and makes another character from the story, Titania, fall in love with a donkey.The marxist literary criticism lens is the most effective in creating meaning and entertaining readers and viewers in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” This line, uttered by the fairy king’s servant and trickster Robin Goodfellow, is very telling of how ridiculous the central four characters in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are in their thoughts and actions. The true motivation behind their actions, though, is not found in witty quips by knavish fairies, but rather in the symbolic nature of the play’s setting. The varied settings in the play, from Duke Theseus’s regal estate to Fairy Queen Titania’s forest bower, serve to set the mood of every scene, and to accentuate the characters actions throughout the play. By observing the rich yet subtle backdrops of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is possible to glean greater understanding of
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.