Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer first looks at the artist William Shakespeare and then studies his work "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The writer discusses the play and notes that while the situations portrayed in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' are hilarious to the point of being absurd, ultimately the play serves a higher purpose - that is, to affirm the value of love and pleasure in an often hostile universe. The writer concludes that whatever way one chooses to interpret 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', the play's goofy characters, outrageous situations, and rich language have ensured the play's status as a classic work of English literature.

Outline:
William Shakespeare the Artist
A Midsummer Night's Dream

From the Paper:

"A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most beloved romantic comedies. It consists of three plots that are chaotically interwoven in order to elicit an atmosphere of magic and the absurd, as well as love and the unknown. Throughout the course of the play, people from all different class backgrounds interact, and against the setting of a magical night forest, they come into contact with a band of mischievous fairies whose pranks will temporarily transform some of the characters, while making others' dreams come true.
"At the center of A Midsummer Night's Dream is the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens to the Amazonian Queen Hippolyta. Egeus has chosen Demetrius to marry his daughter Hermia - and Hermia is unhappy with the decision. To rebel, she runs away from Athens into the magical forests surrounding the city alongside her lover Lysander, with whom she hopes to elope. Hermia tells her best friend Helena of her plans."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Casey, Charles. "Was Shakespeare Gay? Sonnet 20 and the Politics of Pedagogy." College Literature, Fall 1998. 29 November 2007 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3709/is_199810/ai_n8827074.
• Gibson, H.N. The Shakespeare Claimants: A Critical Survey of the Four Principal Theories Concerning the Authorship of the Shakespearean Plays. New York: Routledge, 2005.
• Green, Douglas E. "Preposterous Pleasures: Queer Theories and A Midsummer Night's Dream." Kehler, Dorothea, ed. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Critical Essays. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998.
• Kolin, Philip C. Shakespeare and Southern Writers: A Study in Influence. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1985.
• Lamb, Mary Ellen. The Popular Culture of Shakespeare, Spenser, and Jonson. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Visitors who viewed this Analytical Essay also liked these:

• Comparison Essay # 98992 : "Film: "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream"
• Book Review # 102667 : "The Mechanical's Play in a "Midsummer Night's Dream."
• Analytical Essay # 17439 : "William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: