One of William Shakespeare’s most notable comedies is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” According to Harold Bloom, “Nothing by Shakespeare before A Midsummer Night’s Dream is it’s equal, and in some respects nothing by him afterwards surpasses it. It is his first undoubted masterwork, without flaw, and one of his dozen or so plays of overwhelming originality and…
Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet (1603) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600), explore the theme of conflict and its repercussions, each play highlighting different aspects of the theme due to differences in genre and subject. Conflict, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one”, and would therefore seem to…
The role and character of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is not only entertaining but quite useful. William Shakespeare seems to have created the character of Puck from his own childhood. In Shakespeare’s time, it was believed that fairies and little people did exist. Whenever something went wrong around the farmyard…
The Play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare offers a wonderful contrast in human mentality. Shakespeare provides insight into man’s conflict with the rational versus the emotional characteristics of our behavior through his settings. The rational, logical side is represented by Athens, with its flourishing government and society. The wilder emotional side is represented…
Characters in Act 4 Titania The Clowns: Bottom Quince Snout Starveling Snug Flute Robin a.k.a. Puck Oberon Peaseblossom Cobweb Mote Mustardseed Demetrius Lysander Helena Hermia Egeus Theseus Hippolyta Act 4 Scene 1 Titania and her train enter with Bottom, as Oberon looks on unseen. The fairies attend to Bottom’s every need. He falls asleep in…
Characters in Act 3 Titania The Clowns: Bottom Quince Snout Starveling Snug Flute Robin a.k.a. Puck Oberon Peaseblossom Cobweb Mote Mustardseed Demetrius Lysander Helena Hermia Indian Boy Act 3 Scene 1 The laborers unwittingly choose to rehearse in the glade where Titania is sleeping. As the labourers rehearse, Puck turns Bottom’s head into an ass’s…