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A Midsummer Night's Dream Essays

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To what extent does A Midsummer Night’s Dream endorse male superiority? A Midsummer Night’s Dream amplifies gender tensions that derive from problematic family and romantic relationships. When the play begins, a young woman squabbles with her father for the right to choose her own husband, the duke is set to marry a woman he overthrew in battle, and the King and Queen of Fairies are fighting with each other, executing a battle of the sexes so intense it rattles the...
3 Pages 1524 Words
Shakespeare’s objective of illusions and reality play upon the context of his play and the management of liminal spaces throughout his work. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ composed by William Shakespeare was written in 1595/1596 and published in 1600 (this was during the Renaissance) explores the liminal distance between reality and illusions through literary materials such as characterisation and setting. In this Analytic study, I will review these components and how they will illustrate the process of liminal spaces and their...
2 Pages 728 Words
Introduction to Archetypes and Myths in Shakespeare's Comedy “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Crowther, ed., 2005). Nor do dreams; a series of thoughts, images and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. A Midsummer Night’s Dream gives us a conscious fantasy, a doubting reality. The plot revolves around the desire for well-matched love and the struggle to achieve it, with love and marriage being two fundamental points which make up the beginning and the end...
4 Pages 1696 Words
The spaces between reality and illusion in theatre are important for shaping the audience’s perceptions of the world. The Bell Shakespeare team describes this as “the ultimate ‘liminal spaces’, neither reality nor pure illusion”. William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ explores the aspect of liminality by blurring the boundaries of the real word with fantasy. This is done through many contrasts in the play, two major aspects being the states of time and the conflicted worlds of the fairy and...
2 Pages 949 Words
Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is widely regarded as nothing more than a romantic tale of light drama. Although the play is beautiful and funny, there's also a clear trace of dark themes and violence, a twisted underside that's distinct from its loving themes. Midsummer may conclude with a series of happy weddings, but along the way, it clearly shows how male to female relationships are portrayed to show a large amount of violence, throughout Shakespearian times. At some...
2 Pages 764 Words
This passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is situated at the beginning of the play and forms part of the exposition. In it, Lysander and Hermia are together alone for the first time on stage. They are both upset because Hermia is forced, by her family, to marry Demetrius or to become a nun when she is completely against it. However, Hermia is passionately in love and physically attached to Lysander, we can see this from the...
2 Pages 991 Words
“Whether the spirit of greatness / Or of woman I know not, but it shows / A fearful madness. I owe her much of pity”. Cariola’s choric commentary at the end of Act 1 Scene 1 of ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ reflects her uncertainty of whether to see the Duchess’ bid for self-determination as “greatness” of spirit or as “madness”, for she is moving beyond the bounds of socially accepted behaviour with no clear path to guide her. As Joseph...
5 Pages 2180 Words
Shakespeare was definitely a man of culture who's oft credited for several things ranging from tropes present in our media, our modern language, and some of the most renown works that have stood the test of time with several adaptations and interpretations. One of the tropes that Shakespeare liked to tinker with often in his works would have to be the 'Pastoral' trope. First and foremost, what is the Pastoral trope; or rather - Pastoral literature? Pastoral literature is the...
2 Pages 832 Words
The essay title I have chosen to discuss for this final essay is ‘The Suddenness of Love’. I intend to discuss this title with reference to material covered over the course of the Shakespearean Comedies module. The suddenness of love is a theme used by William Shakespeare in several of the comedies he wrote such as Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. For this essay I will discuss the suddenness of love in relation to...
2 Pages 1030 Words
In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by William Shakespeare, several characters reveal selfish and self-centered behaviour that result in unhealthy relationships. To begin with, Helena demonstrates self-centered behaviour when she exposes Hermia and Lysander’s plan to run away. In addition, Hermia’s behaviour towards Helena shows selfishness when she blames Helena for Lysander and Demetrius loving her instead. Furthermore, Oberon shows signs of being self-centered when he wants to take the Indian boy from Titania. Overall, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” contains characters...
1 Page 552 Words
William Shakespeare is well-known for commonly utilizing the motif of characters trying to outsmart fate—Macbeth denying the prophecies of the three witches, Romeo and Juliet falling in love when the world is against them, etc.—and this remains true in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, this text is likely the one with the most explicit use of the natural world (plants, animals, and humans) directly interacting with the divine world (gods). As a result, the inherent course of the spiritual world...
3 Pages 1482 Words
The play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is delightful due to its course of fairies and magical powers. However, focusing on its amusements and to ignore its “paradox is to do an injustice to the play’s complexity”. The play opens up with Theseus and Hippolyta waiting eagerly for their “nupital hours”. Although this very event seems a sight of merriment, becomes dark as soon as Theseus says “I wooed thee with my sword, And, won thy love doing thee injuries...” An...
1 Page 505 Words
Introduction to Symbolism in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream Society fuels the idea of how people should live their lives through many vessels, including the likes of social media and advertising. People positioned higher class or celebrities display lives that everyone holds on a pedestal, as a building block to live up to, meaning everyone wants to advance to their level. While these standards are not technically bad and do indeed help people succeed, the influence of these factors builds a...
4 Pages 1922 Words
Shakespeare is a well-known writer, poet, and play write who accomplished many fine works throughout his lifetime. He wrote stories of great tragedies and famous comedies while incorporating the theme of love. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a brilliant play that shows elements of romance and comedy, presenting the audience with various aspect of love portrayed through numerous couples in various situations. Love is portrayed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as unpredictable and unreasonable while conveying the negative outcomes as...
2 Pages 1124 Words
Love is a cruel game that has no rules. The play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, is about the unstable and conflicted relationships between four couples. The play is set in Athens where everything starts to go wrong with the upcoming wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, which is happen in four days. Lysander and Demetrius change their feelings of love and commitments for both Hermia and Helena in this short period of time. Through these characters, Shakespeare shows...
3 Pages 1490 Words
For some people, love may be something good, but for others, it can be an emotion that causes fear. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses “Daphne and Phoebus,” The Elder’s “Apollo and Daphne,” and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, you are able to find Differences across themes, like reversed roles, characters, dialogues, and images. Also, there are similarities across themes, topics, and tone. In all, both the painter and writers want to let the audience know that love can cause fear. To begin...
3 Pages 1200 Words
Introduction A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. 1594–1595) belongs to the period from Shakespeare’s experimental, a similar comedy to his mature, romantic, philosophical, jolly vein. The play develops the motif of love as an imaginative journey from reality into a fantasy world created by the one and only artist, Shakespeare. Plot Summary A Midsummer Night’s Dream involved four plots elaborating four groups of characters: the court party of Theseus, the four young lovers, the fairies and the rude mechanicals or would-be...
3 Pages 1197 Words
In Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare portrays this idea of love as being a hardship where the character Helena represents the sad truth of a one-sided love. For example, Helena loves Demetrius but he has his eyes set on Hermia. Meanwhile, Hermia loves Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Throughout the play we see that women are ready to give up everything to chase after a man for the assurance of love. Helena is a character who falls...
1 Page 616 Words
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedic masterpiece that raises questions on power, gender, and the deception of love which facilitates the drama culmination. Elizabethan norms included patriarchal authority, which Shakespeare not only questioned throughout the play, but also challenged. During Elizabethan times, the predominant role that women played was that of a housewife. Women were subservient to men and had no will of their own, thus they remained completely dependent on their male relatives, as they...
3 Pages 1546 Words
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, gender stereotypes prevail as a main source of comedy. As the audience, we notice this common theme between character relationships in certain scenes and events that occur within the play and the many film adaptations. It ultimately provides this idea of men having more control and greater power over women. More specifically, the relationship between Helena and Demetrius. In his writing, Shakespeare depicts some women to be submissive and dependent on the men in their...
2 Pages 815 Words
In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, one of the many themes of the play is love. During the play, there is a major wedding happening for The Duke and Amazon Queen, Theseus and Hippolyta. The play takes place in Athens, Greece, and is mainly focused around four lovers: Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the main types of love shown are false, sexual, and parental which should not triumph all. False love...
3 Pages 1298 Words
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, the differences between comedy and tragedy are often mentioned throughout this comedy. Although it is often described as a comedy; however, it can also be looked at as a tragedy as well. William Shakespeare focused on the aspects of the character Bottom and him being a perfect example of a fool, but also often viewing comedies as tragedies. Shakespeare centers in on comedic elements in the book by showing happy events such...
2 Pages 1045 Words
The works of William Shakespeare evince great fascination and entertainment for the overarching themes orchestrated by the plot and characters. The theme of illusion versus reality is employed in many Shakespearean plays, allowing for the saturation of dramatic irony. In this way, the audience becomes increasingly aware of the feelings, motives, and behaviours of each character and their situation as the plot advances. This enhances the play as it can evoke humour, suspense, or empathy. Throughout Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s...
2 Pages 722 Words
Imagery is one of the literary devices that used all throughout literature, it consists of detailed descriptive languages that function as a way to guide and help the reader create the world the piece of literature creates. Imagery creates and add symbolism to the literature. Its known that Imagery deals with the five senses throughout literature, taste, smell, sound and sight, these all work together to help readers create, again, that mental image. The greatest writer in the English language...
2 Pages 959 Words
In Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has many comedic moments and the acting is quite humorous. There is also plenty of chaos ( love and hate relationship) between lovers that is resolved by the end, resulting in marriage. However, as a reader, I find that whole idea about women is not so humorous when you look at a plot closely. Throughout the play, women are constantly involved in severe mental suffering due to complex of love with male characters....
3 Pages 1261 Words
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