Abstract An analysis of the idea of desire in the playMidsummerNightsDream, and how the characters of Shakespeare's play portray this in the text. By analyzing how love and relationships play into this theme, we can see relate how madness plays a part in their demise.
Abstract This paper discusses "MidsummerNight's Dream" as the author believes Shakespeare intended the play to be - as a delightful, fun frolic, and contrasts it to Moshinsky's film version which emphasizes the darker elements of the script and loses much of the comic elements of the story.
From the Paper "This sentence would be a perfect introduction to Elijah Moshinsky's film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", since it is not delightful, but instead stresses the tragic elements of the play. Shakespeare's language, rich of colourful images, creates a flower-scent and magical atmosphere. ?The descriptions breathe a sweetness like odours thrown from beds of flowers.? Though Moshinsky adapts Shakespeare's original text, the language loses nevertheless a part of its imaginative power. He focuses rather on the tragic elements of the play and renders it thus more serious and less bland."
"?We do not come, as minding to content you, our true intent is. All for your delight, we are not here. That you should here repent you, the actors are at hand; and, by their show you shall know all, that you are like to know (p.57).?
This sentence would be a perfect introduction to Elijah Moshinsky's film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", since it is not delightful, but instead stresses the tragic elements of the play.
Shakespeare's language, rich of colourful images, creates a flower-scent and magical atmosphere. ?The descriptions breathe a sweetness like odours thrown from beds of flowers.? Though Moshinsky adapts Shakespeare's original text, the language loses nevertheless a part of its imaginative power. He focuses rather on the tragic elements of the play and renders it thus more serious and less bland."
Abstract This paper discusses Shakespeare's play; "A MidsummerNight's Dream" and analyzes how it satisfies the functions of literature, raising a heightened sensitivity of the complexities of life. The paper also discusses plot devices.
From the Paper "A Midsummer Night's Dream: One of the functions of literature is to force the reader to question the things he has taken for granted; another is to heighten his sensitivity to the complexities of life and individuals. Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" fulfills both functions masterfully. Shakespeare's play creates an intricate juxtaposition of plot and characters that reduces even the careful reader to a state of confusion."
Tags: A MidsummerNight's Dream, Shakespeare, literature
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to understand what Shakespeare meant by the title "A MidsummerNight's Dream" following the clues in key speeches. It also looks at the theme of the title, midsummer madness and supernatural elements.
From the Paper "The themes embodied in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream recall the line that questions whether all that we see or seem is merely a dream within a dream. Unlike his other plays the title of Shakespeare's fantastic..."
This paper analyzes the use of comedy in William Shakespeare's "A MidsummerNight's Dream" as presented in the play-within-a-play, 'The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisby', in Act V.
Abstract This paper describes William Shakespeare's "A MidsummerNight's Dream as preposterous, and arsy-versy. The author points out that, by using the rude mechanicals, Shakespeare seems to be arguing that arsy-versy can turn even the most lamentable tragedy into a roaring comedy. The paper relates that an example of arsy-versy of one of the rude mechanicals is called Snug the Joiner, whose rhetoric is so slow and disjointed that he asks for his lines written in advance. The author also then discusses Titania as an example of preposterousnous, explaining that she is the fairy goddess who falls deeply in love with Bottom despite his having an ass for a head of which he is unaware. The paper concludes that the backwards reaction to the events of the play-within-the-play points to Shakespeare's message that people are insensitive to their own follies and yet are very perceptive of the same follies found in others.
From the Paper "As the play begins, the preposterousness of the presentation is immediately shown in the prologue, which the rude mechanicals took great care to write so as not to offend the court. Peter Quince's delivery of the prologue presents a message opposite from the intended one. "If we offend, it is with our good will," he says, unfortunately telling the court that his intent is to offend. "All for your delight," he later says, "we are not here". The players then continue to present their play in a rather backwards manner; by making it crystal clear to the court that what they see in front of them isn't real."
Abstract This paper looks at and compares Shakespeare's play, A MidsummerNight's Dream, with Michael Hoffman's 1999 film adaptation. Looking at how specific differences such as language and scenes differ from interpretations, and how if there is any suggestive influence that enables us to better understand the original play.
Abstract This paper looks at the similarities and differences between "A MidsummerNight's Dream" and 'Romeo and Juliet". The author compares the themes and characters in the two plays.
From the Paper "Certain parallels can be drawn between William Shakespeare's plays, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Romeo and Juliet". These parallels concern themes and Shakespearean character types. Both plays have a distinct pair of 'lovers', Hermia and Lysander, and Romeo and Juliet, respectively. Both plays could have also easily been tragedy or comedy with a few simple changes. A tragic play is a play in which one or more characters is has a flaw, which leads to his/her downfall. A comedic play has at least one humorous character, and a successful or happy ending."
Abstract This paper analyzes one of William Shakespeare's most celebrated comedic plays, "A MidsummerNight's Dream". The author examines how the throughout the play the characters attempt to find a way to understand the mechanism of love in a rational way and experience self-alterations that they believe to be a dream in the end. The paper also looks at how the recurring reference to the ever-changing moon parallels the transformation of the characters in "A MidsummerNight's Dream".
From the Paper:
"A MidsummerNight's Dream" brilliantly expresses the profound human uncertainty about love. Dream world and reality merge undetectably so that the characters are not sure themselves in which sphere they move, nor whether what they have experienced has been imagination or truth. What seems to be a fantasy or a dream for the characters in "A MidsummerNight's Dream" is actually reality. However, the dreamlike atmosphere of the play accentuates the fact that the lovers appear to be quite removed from any criteria applicable to reality."
Abstract This paper is based around characters that are featured in Shakespeare's play "A MidsummerNight's Dream". The paper first relates that, amid this complicated play, there is the tale of the six mechanicals or craftsmen. The paper then explains how Shakespeare differentiates between them and the other members of his play by use of different language and style.
From the Paper "The mechanics have retreated to the woods outside Athens to rehearse the play that they intend to present at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. The play is the classical story of Pyramus and Thisbe. These were two young lovers, living in houses that shared a common wall, whose parents had forbidden them to marry. Their only means of communication was through a crack in the wall of their adjoining houses. Eventually, they were unable to stand separation any longer, and agreed to elope, meeting in the nearby woods. On the appointed night, and taking advantage of the darkness, they slipped out of their respective houses. Thisbe arrived first at the appointed place by a mulberry tree, to find a lioness, her mouth bloody from a recent kill. Terrified, Thisbe fled, dropping her veil as she ran. The lioness then mauled the veil, leaving it torn and covered with blood. Coming on the scene and finding only the torn bloody veil, Pyramus assumed that the lioness had killed Thisbe. In his wild grief, he stabbed himself. Thisbe, emerging safe from her hiding place, and finding Pyramus dead, killed herself. In commemoration of this tragedy, the mulberry tree beside which the lovers took their lives now bears purple berries, instead of the white it had originally grown. (Rivers)"
Abstract In this article, the writer first looks at the artist William Shakespeare and then studies his work "A MidsummerNight's Dream". The writer discusses the play and notes that while the situations portrayed in 'A MidsummerNight'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 MidsummerNight'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 MidsummerNight'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."
Abstract Specifically, this paper presents a thesis that magic and imagination drive the events of the story in "A MidsummerNight's Dream" more than in any other Shakespearean play, thus making "A MidsummerNight's Dream" Shakespeare's only play of pure fantasy.
Abstract This paper analyzes the use of love and magic in William Shakespeare's "A MidsummerNight's Dream". The paper looks at how magic is used to bring the effects of love to light and how the magical setting of the play is emphasized by the language of the play, which also stresses the parallelism between love and magic. The paper concludes that, in this play, Shakespeare wonderfully uses magic to emphasize the power of love in A MidsummerNight's Dream, a love which he is describing as a magical force.
From the Paper "The powers of love are not only shown in language, but also in the transformations that the characters are enduring in the play. Magic and love are closely linked by the symbol of the love flower, "Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound" (2.1.167) because of Cupid's mistake. The flower has endured the power of both magic and love, and is now carrying its transformation on to the ones on which its juice is applied. This is what happens to Titania, the queen of the fairies when she wakes up under the influence of the love potion in front of Bottom. The transformation of Bottom into an ass is an important magical change in the play. It has the effect of revealing Bottom's true nature, since, as Quince says, "[he is] translated" (3.1. 113). Titania's falling in love with Bottom, namely with an ass-head creature, makes us realize how love is not logical. Shakespeare thus says that love does not follow logic in any way, and can even fool a queen. Consequently, magic, under the form of the love flower, is used to emphasize the illogical nature of love."
Abstract William Shakespeare's play, "A MidsummerNight's Dream", creates a dream world fused with reality. Shakespeare successfully makes the world of Puck and other sprites realistic by employing powerful, vivid text in the play. The paper explains that, through his creative use of language, Shakespeare creates a world of illusion where things are not what they seem, and imagination pushes the limits of fact. The result of powerful language aided by our own imagination allows this enchanted world to appear real in the moonlit forest. It examines how the text of the play is constructed in such a way that we not only visualize the setting of the play, but we also come to know each character.
From the Paper "The interplay between Puck, Lysander, and Demetrius demonstrates the contrast between mortals and fairies. Puck successfully misguides the two men until they become confused and lose their sense of direction. Puck has an added measure of fun when he tells Demetrius to follow his voice. While Lysander tries to follow that voice, he describes Pucks? nature almost perfectly. He states that the villain is "much lighter-heeled" Shakespeare (III.ii.416) than he is and though he followed the voice fast, "faster he did fly" (III.ii.417). Similarly, Demetrius encounters the same type of confusion with Puck."
Abstract The paper discusses "A MidsummerNight's Dream" by William Shakespeare. The paper notes that the play weaves together the three subject themes: a reality in Athens, a dream-state in the woods, and the play-within-the play. The paper discusses that it is a tale of three romances, of love triangles, of jealousy and hilarity. The paper also states that Shakespeare's play is therefore structured to ask its readers and viewing audiences to contemplate the meaning of fiction and its impact on human consciousness.
From the Paper "They share characters and situations. For example, all four of the play's central human characters fall asleep in the woods and enter its dreamlike world. Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander all appear in the city and in the woods and have equally significant roles in both worlds. Likewise, Bottom and the rest of the craftsmen troop practice "Pyramus and Thisbe" in the woods but perform it to the king and queen-to-be in Athens. The woods therefore serves as the place in which dreams are created, crafted, and nurtured. Those dreams then impact the daily lives of those living in the concrete world of the city, just as Shakespeare's play impacts the daily lives of those who read and watch them."
Abstract This paper discusses the play, "A MidsummerNight's Dream" by William Shakespeare. The paper examines how the play employs the same parallels that exist in reality within the make-believe world of the enchanted forest. The paper explains how the placement of a play within a play superimposes life's small episodes within the larger framework of reality. While the play is a comedy about life, the paper contends that it also alludes to the absurdity of resolving conflict.
From the Paper "The two sets of lovers that enter the forest leave the reality of Athens for the magic of the fairyland. Unbeknownst to them, it is the magic of the fairies that sorts out their tangled relationships while they sleep. In the real world of Athens, the harsh reality is that Hermia must either wed the man her father wishes her to, live the life of a cloistered celibate, or be put to death. The acquiescence of Theseus and his persuasion of Hermia's father to permit the wedding between Hermia and Lysander, allow the returning lovers and Demetrius and Helena to remain partners. The four lovers are changed from an uncertain future in Athens to a life together after spending the night in the forest. This is a fairy-tale story from many viewpoints. It is the fairies that have worked their magic on the couples making the outcome viable. The pairing that results is the best for all involved. Although it appears Demetrius remains under the spell of the love juice even after they return to the city, the other individuals are now guided by their own passions, and any misguided love has been redirected to the appropriate partner."
