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Bottom In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Nick bottom is weaver who is an actor in the play within the play. He may seem to be less significant character but, as a matter of fact, he is very necessary to the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of the most prevalent themes is weather the play is a dream or reality; weather or not the world of the fairies is imagined and the human world is “real”. The characters seem to be unclear about this and Shakespeare allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusion. Bottom believes in this alternative reality with fairies and in this world, he is treated as a noble. This is quite different from how he is perceived in the “real” world, which is as a joke and as a member of the lower class who does not demand much respect and is considered …show more content…

This treatment is completely opposite from the treatment he receives in the human world. Bottom believes the devotion of the beautiful, magical fairy queen is nothing out of the ordinary and that all of the trappings of her affection, including having servants attend him, is how he should always be treated. He does not question this because he feels as if he is deserving of this. As the fairy servants serve Bottom he says, “Monsieur Cobweb, sir, get out your weapons and kill me a striped bumblebee on a thistle, and bring me its honey. Don’t tire yourself out, monsieur. Oh, and monsieur, be careful not to break the honey-sac. I’d hate to see you drowned in honey, sir.” (4. 1. 10-17). Bottom is practically demanding monsieur Cobweb to kill a bumblebee and bring him the honey-sac. He says he would hate to see him drown in honey in a sarcastic tone that makes it seem as if he is talking down to Cobweb because he believes he is of more …show more content…

In the human world he is treated as a commoner and foolish, while in the fairy world he is treaty as royalty and is respected. When he is acting, he is overconfident, thinks he is the best, and takes charge of every situation; this resembles how he is treated in the fairy world. The connection he has with these two worlds shows how he is a complex character. The human world and the world of the fairies are contradictory of each other and this represents the theme of dream versus reality. Bottom is the only character who believes in the fairies and his ability to travel between both worlds makes him the bridge that ties both worlds together. It is never clear weather this is all a dream or if it is real but, Shakespeare does this to give the reader the chance to decide if the story is real or imagined. Bottom is a very complex character which makes the story very complex as

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