Abstract
This paper analyzes Puck, one of the main characters in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and explains how the character of Puck is central to the play, in spite of the fact that Shakespeare did not develop Puck's character more fully.

From the Paper
"Shakespeare is notorious for creating memorable characters and perhaps one of his most famous characters is Puck from his play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. While Puck is critical to the development of the play, his character remains essentially flat throughout the course of the play. Puck is poetic, playful, innocent, and enjoys laughing at those who become the victims of his antics. However, we do not witness Puck's development as a character. In a sense, he never grows up and we never see any depth of his character."

Tags:child, pranks, fairy, wanderer, oberon, love, potion, lysander, eyes, humor, heartache, lovers

Abstract
The writer of this article studies various acts of Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The paper provides a view of one of Shakespeare's most famous and most loved works. In particular, the paper looks at how an all-male cast affects three pivotal scenes and explains how this staging tactic demands that audiences respond in a particular way. The writer explains that using only men in all the roles would have been common in Shakespeare's time, but today, it seems to take away from the impact and humor of the play.

From the Paper
"Clearly, the implications and consequences of the play are different when all the cast members are one gender. Some of the passion goes out of the play, and some of the scenes may even seem ridiculous or far-fetched. Personally, the play is funny and emotional, and some of that might just seem like farce to the audience when the cast was all male. It might seem more like "The Bird Cage" or other gay films. Giving hints of femaleness may work with some of the cast, but in other scenes, giving hints may simply take away the dramatic effect and lessen the impact of the play. The femaleness of the female characters is very important to the play, but it can be overcome with actors who believe in what they are doing and deliver their lines with conviction. Tongue-in-cheek lines will ruin the entire meaning and impact of the play."

Tags:Oberon, act, scene, Puck

Abstract
A Midsummer Night's Dream, is a play which revolves around the idea of love as an opportunity for foolishness. Puck takes great delight in manipulating the loves of the humans who have unwittingly stumbled into his kingdom. Lovers, particularly those in this play, expose themselves to danger as a result of love from the very beginning. Love simply makes us more so. This play demonstrates that only through humor can we survive the changes in love and life that we experience.

Abstract
This report looks at Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" from the perspective of how the author uses comedy in the play to achieve plot and character development. It primarily looks at Shakespeare's ironic references but also considers more serious themes in the play. For example, when Shakespeare refers to the players as asses in the work, this highlights the ridiculousness and humorous aspects of the scene. The paper concentrates on such scenes, around the general theory that Shakespeare used comedy to further some contrast to the serious scenes in the play.

From the Paper
"In the first scene of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's
Dream, the character Helena, after the other characters have gone offstage, continues to speak to the audience about her conception of love. She seems to contradict herself, first saying that love is born of the mind and then stating its blindness and irrationality. This
is showing some humor already in that there is a willful contradiction for the audience. More seriously, her idea of love is one that is mixed up in power and revenge, and these themes come into play later on in the work, when Oberon and Titania have their own schemes of power and revenge in the forest."

Tags:helena, oberan, ouck, love, forest

Abstract
In this article, the writer notes that Benjamin Britten obtained the plot for the opera, "Midsummer Night's Dream", from Shakespeare's play by the same name. The writer relates that in 1960 Britten, along with his companion, Peter Pears, presented it as a showpiece for friends and for a wide variety of talents. The writer points out that the opera contains a largely spoken, theatrical part, a boy's soprano choir, a large fairy who sings coloratura, a simple country bumpkin named Bottom whose head is turned into an ass' head by Puck and romantic subplots. The writer maintains that the opera is humorous and lyrical and a treat for the musical ear. The writer concludes that in this opera, the audience falls in love with Puck and with the fairies, as if the love-juice had been put on their own eyes.

From the Paper
"Britten starts the opera in what was the second act of Shakespeare's play, but refers to what happened, so the audience does not feel anything is missing. The rustic folk, the fairies and the lovers are first presented in the woods around Athens and from there on the action never stops. The lead role of Oberon is sung by a countertenor, which is very rare, as leads are usually sung by tenors or basses. As the fairies appear, the well-known song, "Over hill, over dale" is heard, sung by Tytania's young boys' fairy choir. The strange relationship of Tytania and Bottom is the central romantic story that Britten chose to make the centerpiece of the opera. The dominating female fairy has a very difficult role to play, as she is attracted to Bottom, but is subject to Oberon and his accomplice, Puck, who make her life very difficult and her music hard to sing."

Tags:puck, oberon, musical, play

Abstract
This paper examines and analyzes the importance of comedy and friendship in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream", "Twelfth Night" and "As You Like It." The paper explores the comic elements of each work, giving brief plot summaries and character descriptions. It also compares and contrasts the humor in each work, noting that Shakespeare used comedy in a harmless way. The paper concludes by stating that these plays show us the importance of comedy because it has the ability to rise above race and class and focus on the one true emotion that can sometimes save a life - laughter

From the Paper
"In A Midsummer's Night Dream, comedy becomes a focal point that drives the play. Comedy also becomes the force that brings people together in this play. Humor emerges through the very distance characters of the fairies and the mortals. Shakespeare weaves a world of reality mixed with fantasy that sets the stage for nothing but humor. The fairies are funny with mischievous Puck as their leader in making love a comedic mess. When Puck says, "Cupid is a knavish lad, / Thus to make poor females mad" (Shakespeare Midsummer III.ii.440-1), he identifies how love sometimes makes people do crazy things. With the aid of Bottom, Puck and the others bring us world of love that is forgiving because, in the end, no one is hurt and all ends well. An example of the humor in this play is seen when Lysander, and Demetrius are thwarted by Puck. He successfully confuses the men so they have no sense of direction, demonstrating mortals in love. Lysander points out that the one responsible for his confusion is "much lighter-heeled" (III.ii.416) than he and "faster he did fly" (III.ii.417). This scene demonstrates Shakespeare's ability to use humor in a harmless way."

Tags:friendship, laughter, popular comedy, classics

Abstract
In this article, the writer studies Act III Scene 1 of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare. The writer focuses on Sir Philip Sydney's defense of poetry in the play.

From the Paper
"This paper discusses Act III Scene 1 in the light of Sir Philip Sydney's contention in his "A Defence of Poetry" that "Poesie therefore, is an Art of Imitation: for so Aristotle termeth it in the word mimesis (24), that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth to speak Metaphorically. A speaking Picture, with this end to teach and delight." Act III begins when the craftmen bumble in to set up their attempt at drama. Puck asks ironically, "What hempen ..."

Tags:midsummer, night's, dream

Abstract
In this paper, the theme of love relationships in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare are analyzed. By understanding the often unpredictable nature of love that arises within these characters, the two main love relationships between Hermia and Lysander and that of Helena and Demetrius are analyzed, revealing their very similar changes of loyalty and devotion that occur throughout the play. The writer discusses that without a stable sense of love that is often provide through forced marriages and through fairy world intervention, the lovers eventually sort out their differences, but without a great deal of betrayal and desire driven factors that simply cannot be controlled.

Tags:love, midsummer

Abstract
The paper asserts that Shakespeare's well known early comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is very true to its title, as it is entirely founded on the themes of dream, sleep and magic. The paper discusses how the three themes are closely related to each other and in the context of the play it is not easy to discuss one without bringing in the others as well. The paper describes how these magical effects, these alterations and transformations, are frequently performed while their unwilling subjects or victims are asleep, and often dreaming. The paper clearly shows how the connection between dreams, visions and magic as such is very tight in the play.

From the Paper
"Shakespeare's well known early comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is very true to its title, as it is entirely founded on the themes of dream, sleep and magic. In fact, the three themes are closely related to each other and in the context of the play it is not easy to discuss one without bringing in the others as well. One thing that is interesting is that the word "magic" itself is not to be found anywhere in the play, even though it is central to a lot of the workings of the plot and even plays a role in the subplot of the mechanics' play. The nature of the fairy-folk, who motivate the story, is..."

Tags:shakespeare, magic, dreams