Characteristics Of Fairies

Furthermore, Titania complains due to Oberon’s actions, she and her fairy friends have been unable to meet anywhere for their usual dancing and frivolity without being disturbed. In order to further expand the point of the irrationality of love to the audience, Shakespeare continues to use hyperbole to express her intense feelings. Titania reasons that because of Oberon’s insistence on taking the Indian boy as his knight, there is no place for her to meet—not “on hill, in dale, forest, or mead, by pavèd fountain, or by rushy brook, or in the beachèd margent of the sea” (Shakespeare II.i.86). His continual interruptions have prevented their dances and moreover, his revenge has brought about terrible consequences for the human mortals. As Shakespeare details the affects, he imaginatively uses personification to describe the pale moon in her anger filling the air with disease and the icy winter wearing a crown of summer flowers in mockery. As Titania’s closes her long rant directed at Oberon, she concludes by confessing, “And this same progeny of evils comes from our debate, from our dissension, we are their parents and original” (Shakespeare II.i.118). As a

Titania and her husband Oberon are shown arguing over ‘A lovely boy, stol’n from an Indian king –’ (II.i.22) who is her possession. As she is refusing to hand over this changeling child, Titania is showing Oberon, that they are equals, ‘am I not thy lord/Then I must be you lady;’ (II.i.63-64), she retaliates showing him that they are equals, which when Shakespeare was writing this was far from the social norm. During their argument in Act 2, Titania uses natural world imagery to argue her case, that she should keep the changeling child and for their argument to cease. She says that "the winds, piping us in vain, /as in revenge have suck'd from the sea" (II.i.87-88) which suggests that she is angrier than normal as a wind coming of the sea is more powerful than a normal wind. This use of natural metaphors tells us that the characters of Oberon and Titania are unpredictable and dangerous because of the power they have as King and Queen of the fairies.

There are many instances in A Midsummer Night's Dream where love is coerced from or foisted upon unwilling persons. This romantic bondage comes from both man-made edicts and the other-worldly enchantment of love potions. Tinkering with the natural progression of love has consequences. These human and fairy-led machinations, which are brought to light under the pale, watery moon, are an affront to nature. Shakespeare knows that all must be restored to its place under fate's thumb when the party of dreamers awaken.

Her father’s actions are done out of love, but ultimately rob Talia from the opportunity to choose for herself. The father is meant to be the voice of reason in the story, and Talia is established a naïve girl who needs a male figure to protect her. As the story progresses Talia goes against her father’s wishes and “ran a splinter of flax under her nail, and she fell dead upon the ground” (Hallet & Karasek, 2009, p. 67). The moment Talia touches the flax she is making a conscious effort to be independent from her father’s over protection. It is one of the few times in the story where Talia’s decisions are not dictated by another, and she gets to act on her own impulses, but for that she is punished. In other words, she betrays her father. This is further demonstrated through the following quote, “…he left the house which had brought him such evil fortune, so that he might obliterate the memory of his sorrow and suffering” (Hallet & Karasek, 2009, 67). Although it is Talia’s who life is changed as a result of the Flax, the story makes an effort to let the reader know how the father felt. The king sees himself as the central figure in the story, and when he is no longer of use, he abandons his daughter. King Stefan, the father of Aurora, in Maleficent, plays a similar role as Talia’s own father. In the

Shakespeare's works have persistently influenced humanity for the past four hundred years. Quotations from his plays are used in many other works of literature and some common phrases have even become integrated into the English language. Most high schoolers have been unsuccessful in avoidance of him and college students are rarely afforded the luxury of choice when it comes to studying the bard. Many aspects of Shakespeare's works have been researched but one of the most popular topics since the 1960s has been the portrayal of women in Shakespeare's tragedies, comedies, histories and sonnets.

In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the plethora of comedic styles used by Shakespeare illustrate his intention to poke fun at love throughout the play. The play is notorious for its intricate and irrational plotline, mainly due to the constantly shifting love triangles. Once the powerful fairies become involved with the fate of the naive lovers – Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia – matters are further complicated. The complication inflicted by the fairies is credited to the powerful love potion that Oberon, King of the Fairies, hands over to Puck, a mischievous fairy, to use on his wife Titania, with intentions to embarrass and distract her. This spiteful attitude is due to Oberon and Titania’s argument over the custody of an

When Polonius finds out that Ophelia has been conducting a romance with Hamlet, he insists that she no longer have contact with the prince: ‘I will teach you. Think yourself a baby.’ (1.3.105) Polonius convinces Ophelia that she has been naïve and stupid to believe Hamlet’s professions of love: ‘Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl.’ (1.3. 101) In Polonius’s dialogue, Shakespeare repeatedly employs images of Ophelia as a child to portray how her father psychologically controls her, by making her dependent on his commands, as a young child would: ‘I shall obey, my lord.’ (1.3.136)

Fairytales, arguably some of the most historical forms of literature, have remained popular throughout the decades. Tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Frog King” and “The Swan Maiden,” were originally written between the mid-eighteenth century and mid-nineteenth century. Whether it is the fanciful love-story or the magical transformation which attracts and has kept attention throughout the decades, fairytales, specifically those in which either the protagonist or antagonist undergoes a physical change, teach an important lesson to readers. In this day and age, the media has put so much pressure on particularly young women to look a certain way; what seems to be missing is the idea that physical beauty does not necessarily parallel inner beauty. The theme of transformation in many fairytales serves to portray certain truths about

One of the most notorious topics of interest in the works of Shakespeare is the role women receive in his plays. The way Shakespeare wrote his plays, women were very submissive to men and had no will and choice of their own. Women were extremely reliant upon the men in their lives, believing that they were inferior and thus following their desire for the women’s lives. This included that marriages were usually arranged by a powerful male, instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing marriage for love. It is not surprising that Shakespeare portrayed women in a way that was familiar to him and the time era in which he lived. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, both focus on the development of love and not, with

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play about four Athenian lovers. Theseus listens to both Hermia and her father’s request and he tells her to bend to her father’s will or die due to the old Athenian law. Hermia and Lysander flee Athens, into the domain of the fairy kingdom. At this time, Oberon is in a fight with Titania. This fight is over a human child of Titania’s friend. Oberon tells Puck, one of his loyal servants, to get a flower hit by Cupid’s arrow, and drop the oil into Demetrius’s and Titania’s eyes. However, Puck drops the oil into Lysander’s eyes due to Oberon’s vague description, making him fall in love with Helena and despise Hermia. Titania falls in love Bottom, who has the head of an ass, after Oberon places the oil

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare easily blurs the lines of reality by inviting the audience into a dream. He seamlessly toys with the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Among the patterns within the play, one is controlled and ordered by a series of contrasts: the conflict of the sleeping and waking states, the interchange of reality and illusion, and the mirrored worlds of Fairy and Human. A Midsummer Night's Dream gives us insight into man's conflict with characteristics of human behavior.

In fairy tales, female characters are objects, and their value centers around their attractiveness to men. Since fairy tales rely on cultural values and societal norms to teach morals or lessons, it is evident that fairy tales define a woman’s value in a superficial way. Fairy tales teach that, typically, beauty equates to being valuable to men because of their fertility and purity; whereas, ugliness equates to being worthless and evil, including being ruined because of their lack of virginity. Descriptions readers see from fairy tales like “Rapunzel,” and “Little Snow-White” revolve around the women’s, or girl’s, physical appearance, and both stories play out to where the women remain in a state of objectification. In addition, they are damsels

In Shakespeare?s play, numerous examples were given as to how the women are treated like second class citizens. Those examples are concurrent with the Elizabethan time period pertaining to the rules of dating and marriage, respect for elders, and obedience to figures of authority. Children were the property of their parents, and gave them the respect that a servant might give to his master. This was a time when male domination was the norm. In this patriarchal society, women had very little, if any, choice in whom their husbands were to be. In order for families to benefit, marriages were arranged. Shakespeare demonstrates this in the relationships between the dominant Theseus, Egeus, and Oberon and the characters they attempt to control. Egeus demands that his daughter, Hermia, must either marry Demetrius or answer to Athenian law. Theseus orders that if Hermia does not marry his son, she will face death or be sent to a nunnery. Oberon, the king of fairies, after arguing with his Titania over an Indian boy, decides that he will disregard her wants and attempt to control her without

The fairy king and queen live in a type of parallel universe to their human counterparts. The forest that they live in represents a break from reality, or at least the reality initially presented. Despite their supernatural abilities, Oberon and Titania endure arguments like any couple, which instantly creates a blurring of reality and fantasy in the play. It is from an argument regarding the young Indian prince that propels Oberon to be at odds with his wife, which compels him to create chaos through magic. He is driven by the love for his wife, and love is also a prevalent theme throughout the play. It is love that drives all the characters, and not always rationally. As Robert Dent writes in his article, “Imagination in A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “love sees with that part of the mind that has no taste of judgment (177)”, which is clearly displayed by the couples in the play. Interestingly, the blurring of reality and illusion originates with a lover’s spat, highlighting the impact that love can have on reality.

King Claudius in Hamlet comes to realization of his actions, and notices what he is willing to do for power. The play emphasizes trickery and revenge that is yet to come. Shakespeare shows that the characters cannot be trusted, which proves to be true in Act 5 Scene I. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play serves to illustrate same circumstance, but different turnout then that of Hermia, Demetrius, Helena and Lysander. In both instances family comes between marriages and has them seek an alternate way to have love. The play teaches that love shouldn’t be taken too seriously, and the couples understand by laughing and having jokes about the play. Shakespeare shows that love is a mixed up emotion and can sometimes be dangerous. Both couples end up looking for each other in a forest and animals interfere, causing havoc. In Pyramus and Thisbe the lion results in confusion and then death. In the case of Hermia and Lysander, Puck also causes confusion, but is able to fix his actions before they became lethal. In both plays, Shakespeare inserts another play to imitate the main story and reiterate common