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How Does Shakespeare Use Magic In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Fairies, plays, lovers, and magic are all important elements in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The most important of these is magic. The fairies in this play use their magic to throw parties and to cause problems. Most of the complications within this play are caused by magic, and more specifically, Puck. This paper will argue that Shakespeare uses magic to create conflict by tricking others through the use of Puck’s magic, turning Bottom’s head into a donkey head, and using flower juice to cross lovers. First, Shakespeare uses Puck to trick other people. He is a jokester and he is almost a bully to the other characters. Examples are given in Act II, Scene I: When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, Neighing in likeness of …show more content…

This tends to cause problems because it makes people upset with him and affects others by hurting them or embarrassing them in front of their peers. Furthermore, Shakespeare utilizes Puck’s magic to turn Bottom’s head into an ass head. This is done as Bottom is hiding in the bushes whilst the actors are rehearsing their show for the duke. When Bottom makes his entrance, all of the men are scared and don’t realize who they’re looking it. Quoting, “Oh, monstrous! Oh, strange! We are haunted. Pray, masters! Fly, masters! Help,” (Act III.i) shows the actors running away from Bottom when they first see him. Similarily, magic is used to make lovers within the play desire someone else. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there is a love square between Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius. Oberon tells Puck to fetch a magic flower and drop its juice in Demetrius’s eyes. Puck, however, accidentally uses the magic juice on Lysander and causes him to fall out of love with Hermia, and to fall in love with Helena. Helena then gets angry and yells at both men as well as Hermia, as shown in this quote, “Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? When at your hands did I deserve this score,” (Act II.i). The magic flower is also used on Titania. She is in love with Oberon, but falls in love with Bottom because of the

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