William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night 's Dream

Puck, the Lord of Misrule in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is mischievous and more than willing to have a laugh at others’ expense, even when the trick has gone too far. Despite Oberon’s chiding, Puck shows no remorse after his careless mistake when applying the flower’s juice on the wrong Athenian’s eyes. Puck merely observes the chaos he creates, and revels in every moment of it. Neither the disarray brought into the four lovers’ lives nor the possible consequences of his actions ever affect what Puck does next. He may be loyal to

This argument is clearly supported when Puck says, “Did you not tell me I should know the man/ by the Athenian garments he had on?/ And so far blameless proves my enterprise/ that I have ‘nointed an Athenian’s eyes” (III. ii, 369-372). This quote reveals Puck’s innate characteristics by showing his utter lack of guilt even after he made the lives of the four lovers worse off by putting the flower’s nectar on the wrong person. Although, he is correct in stating how Oberon’s instructions were not entirely clear, he still fails to apologize for his mistake. It is also important to note that Puck is not oblivious to the outcomes of his mistakes. He notices his faults have implications on the lives of Hermia, Helena, Lysander, Demetrius and those around them, and yet he sits back, laughs, and watches the scenes play out. This claim is also supported when Puck declares, “Cupid is a knavish lad/ thus to make poor females mad” (III.ii. 469-470). In this quote, Puck states that Cupid is the cause of the quarrels between Helena and Hermia due to the fact that it was Cupid’s arrow that shot the flower used to anoint the eyes of Lysander. He uses this as a sort of excuse or way to back out of taking responsibility for his actions and mistakes. However, it was Puck who used that flower on Lysander which caused the

Puck is an active person who is engaged in helping his fairy King Oberon get what he wants. However, he is also very clumsy and gets into a lot of mischiefs. A few examples are: When Oberon ordered Puck to put the love potion on the eyes of Demetrius and make sure the first thing he sees after he wakes up is the woman whom he hates - Helena. Puck ended up finding Lysander, sleeping on the forest floor with Hermia. and put the love potion on poor Lysander’s eyes, thinking that he was Demetrius. This is funny because lieutenants are highly respected individuals, and they should have a lot of skill and experience. Puck, however, does not have any of the above, quite the opposite. Another funny section in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is when Puck puts an ass (Donkey) head on Bottom’s shoulders, when he is presenting a play for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, in front of a lot of people. Puck was invisible, therefore, people could not see the process. When the people saw Bottom, they were shocked and thought that Bottom was an ass. Peter Quince noticed Bottom, and shouted “ O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted! Pray, masters, fly, masters! Help!” (Act 3 Scene 1 Line 92). Snout also says “O Bottom, thou art changed. What do I see on thee?” (Act 3 Scene 1 Line 111) Bottom sees Peter and Snout’s reaction, he is confused, as he does not know

Shakespeare’s epilogue at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream has haunted many critics and resulted in numerous interpretations. Through Robin, he clearly gives the audience a message, but

In the story Oberon the king of the fairies causes all the problems in the story. Oberon causes many problems in the Midsummers night’s dream, but perhaps the most significant is the conflict with Lysander, Demetrius, Hellena, and Hermia. Oberon causes this conflict by saying that Puck needs to put the juice of the flower on Demetrius eyes (Shakespeare 2.1 260-265). Oberon says this without the knowledge that there are two groups of Athenians in the forest.

Demetrius at this point falls in love with Helena as well, while Helena is still in love with Demetrius. Since Puck is a mischievous sprite, he feels that it is his duty to create this mayhem as a sport. He thrives and enjoys making chaos as portrayed with the lovers in the play. Puck feels this so much so that he is “that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon and make him smile,” (MND 2.1.43-45). This character from the beginning in which he was introduced admits that he likes to poke fun at things and cause his fairy king Oberon to laugh. With this in mind, it is definitely safe to say that Puck is the cause of the vast majority of the chaotic events that occur in this play. However, Oberon should also be put to blame for the events that occurred, as he was the one that assigned Puck to use the love potion from the

Thanks to Puck, the reader can appreciate the complex story arc involving Lysander, Demetrius, Helena and Hermia. Were it not because of Puck mistakenly squeezing the “love-in-idleness” flower on Lysander’s eyelids instead of Demetrius’, the story would have been completely different. Puck also provides the audience a chance to enjoy the comedic transformation of Bottom’s head into that of an ass, as well as his brief affair with Titania, Queen of the fairies. However, Puck’s strongest relationship is with Oberon, King of the fairies. In fact, Oberon is the only character who addresses Puck as “My gentle Puck,” which seems to reveal that before Oberon’s eyes, Puck is not just a mere mischievous spirit, but also a genuinely and positively gentle being. This particular relationship is the one that sets the whole story in motion. Daniel Derrin further defines Puck and Oberon’s relationship as complementary, by pointing out that “Other fairies in the play recognize Puck as one who can laugh at the harm of misled “night wanderers,” but that representation is balanced by his subordinate relationship to an Oberon who can step in and fix things before they create permanent harm” (Derrin

The woods in many forms of media is portrayed as a place of enchantment, mystery and horror. Often a common place characters become lost within, or use as an escape from the binds of society. In A Midsummer Night 's Dream, the scenes that take place in the woods are full of enchantment and mystery, but Shakespeare also uses the word "wood" in several very unique and distinct ways. The term is associated with several meanings and Shakespeare uses these differently throughout the play. The purpose of this essay is not to focus on the wood as a setting in the play, but how Shakespeare plays with the various meanings of word wood and in turn connects those meanings with the setting. As mentioned, the word wood has many meanings but I will be focusing mainly on the Oxford English definitions associated with insanity, enclosure, and violence.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is the story of a group of workmen preparing a play for the Duke, fairies in the forest and four Athenian lovers. This different groups of characters’ lives become entwined from the magic of the fairies. The characters of Puck, Peter Quince and Helena are characters used in a Midsummer Night’s Dream that show an individual can make a difference. These characters successfully show that an individual can make a difference.

For generations, Shakespeare’s masterpieces have remained at the peak of the ever increasing bar of literary works. A reason for this could be the inclination of everyday people to the consistent and underlying concept of romance in each of Shakespeare’s plays and related movies. For instance, one could look at the movies A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Shakespeare in Love. The latter follows the life of William Shakespeare himself, everything from his love affair with Viola de Lesseps to his creation of Romeo and Juliet. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare’s, revolving around the tumultuous relationships of four lovers, aided, and sometimes thwarted by the mischief of fairies. Although Shakespeare in Love outlines a few of the characteristics, such as the triumphs over obstacles, presence of danger, and humourous qualities that define Shakespearian romance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream provides depth into these feelings, displaying more, if not better examples of the complex type of “love” that Shakespeare portrays.

Just like the way we think of it in today’s society, love, in a classical Shakespearean play is heavily influenced by other people. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, is a very unique comedy in which love has a different definition with everyone in the play. The play portrays the adventures of four young lovers and a group called the mechanicals along with their interactions with woodland fairies and a duke and a duchess. This work is widely performed around the world, and it’s no wonder, it 's about the world 's most popular pastime, falling in love. But as the mischievous Puck knows, falling in love can make fools of us all. The message conveyed of the nature of love, in the play, is that no matter how hard you try, the control of love is out of your hands, but is in the hands of society.

Written in the mid 1590’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most delightful and eccentric pieces of work (The Life of William Shakespeare). While some of Shakespeare’s contemporaries disregarded the play as “insipid” and “ridiculous”, this romantic comedy has been successful in the theater from its first production to the present day” (Worthen 186). Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan age, and during this era, learning and literature were thriving in London under Queen Elizabeth’s rule (The Elizabethan Age). The culture and conventions of Shakespeare’s time surface through his choice of characterization and plot. For example, many of the characters in the play distinctly represent English craftsperson’s whose names indicate their skill and position in society - Bottom the weaver and Starveling the tailor, for example. Such depiction “…roots the play firmly in Shakespeare’s contemporary culture, as does the folkloric background embodied in the fairies (Cobweb, Mustardseed), and in the characterization of the sprightly Puck…a familiar figure of English folklore” (Worthen 186). Furthermore, the play reveals the revolutionary insolence of young lovers against arranged relationships/marriages, which was a common imposition in Shakespeare’s time. Despite the fact that England was ruled by a female monarch, women remained powerless over the direction of their lives. This play illustrates the patriarchal paradigm of domination and submission which

Hermia, must marry Demetrius, as arranged by her father. However, she loves Lysander. Lysander then proposes a plan, he and Hermia shall sneak out of Athens, and be married by his aunt. Hermia swears she will meet him, and tomorrow, they will be wed. The audience then learns, that Hermia’s friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, even though Demetrius loves Hermia. Hermia and Demetrius reveal their plan to Helena, but Helena tells Demetrius of the plan, desperate to please her love. Quince, Bottom, Flute, Snug, Snout, and Starveling are given roles to play in the play they are to put on for the Duke of Athens. Robin tells the audience that Oberon and Titania are arguing over a human boy that Titania stole. Titania wishes to raise the boy, Oberon wants the boy to be one of his henchmen. Oberon creates a plan to drip a juice of a flower into Titania’s eye to have her fall in love with the first creature she sees. The scene cuts to Helena desperately pursuing Demetrius, but Oberon sees and tells Robin to drip the flower juice into Demetrius’s eye. Oberon clarifies which man to drip the flower juice into by saying, “Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on” (Shakespeare 93). When the fairy servants of Titania leave her, after singing, Oberon squeezes the flower juice into her eye. Robin sees Lysander and Hermia sleeping and mistakes Lysander for Demetrius,

There are three distinct levels of action during the play. Firstly, we as the audience see the characters play out the main narratives. Secondly, Shakespeare introduces a play-within-a-play during which the audience observes the mechanicals acting out their tragedy, and thirdly, as part of an epilogue, we are addressed directly by Puck. These differing levels of viewing the play encourages the audience to reflect upon, and compare, the interplay between the levels of address; when the three levels are compared to each other a deeper reading of the play becomes possible, even though the structure is irrational with regards to rational narrative structures. The dramatic conflict is resolved after the fourth act, begging the question of why Shakespeare opted for a play-within-a-play for his final act. The effect of “Nature” (V.i. 278) is contrasted between the main

In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare tells us a poet’s task is to transform “things unknown” to shapes that give “to airy nothing a local habitation and a name,” suggesting a defined context (“local habitation”) and words (“a name”) (5.1.65). Without a named place we live in a chaotic world. Likewise, without the development of language from a pool of amorphous sensations in our brain we cannot begin to approach creativity. Words and how they are used become tools to chisel meaning from undefined emotion. This process of making creative order out of chaos begins with the child’s sense of wonder and curiosity.