Term Paper on "Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare"

Term Paper 6 pages (1791 words) Sources: 10 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

William Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare the Artist

Born on the 26th of April 1564, William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet who is widely considered to be the English language's greatest writer. He is regarded as the national poet of England, and is frequently referred to as "the bard" for short. Shakespeare's thirty-eight plays have been translated into every single language and are frequently performed to this day around the world. In addition to his prolific dramatic output, Shakespeare also authored over a hundred sonnets and two long narrative poems.

Shakespeare was born in the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon. There, he married Anne Hathaway when he was only eighteen. The two would go on to have three children, including twins Judith and Hamnet (Hamnet would die at a young age) (Schoenbaum 224). Around this time, Shakespeare began to work as an actor and writer for the theater company the Lord Chamberlain's Men; later, they would become known as the King's Men. Shakespeare retired in 1613, and passed away three years later. Very little is known about Shakespeare's personal life, a fact that has given rise to much speculation about his religious beliefs and true sexual orientation over the years (Casey; Pequigney), not to mention countless theories that many of his greatest works were in fact authored by others, such as Edward de Vere, Christopher Marlowe, and Francis Bacon (Gibson 48, 72, 124).

Shakespeare's most famous plays were composed between the years of 1590 and 1613. Shakespeare's early plays were largely historical dramas and comedies; a Midsummer Night's Dream, which we will discuss later, fits into this second category. By the end of the sixteenth century, Shakespeare had raised both the historical drama and the comedy to a level of sophistication that by far exceeded earlier efforts in both genres.

The next phase of Shakespeare's career was largely devoted to the writing of tragedies. During this period, he composed Hamlet - arguably the best-known play in the English language. He also wrote Macbeth and King Lear during this period.

The third and final phase of Shakespeare's career was devoted to a sort of hybridization of the first two phases; tragicomedies were the fruitful, if not occasionally ambiguous, result of the bard's labors during this period.

Throughout his lifetime, Shakespeare's works were published sporadically. But it was not until 1623 - seven years after his death - that the definitive First Folio of his collected works was published by two of his former colleagues.

While Shakespeare was certainly respected as a writer in his own era, it was not until the 19th century that his reputation rose to what it has become in the present day. It was largely thanks to the Romantic Movement in literature that Shakespeare's genius was affirmed. The Victorians also placed the works of Shakespeare on a pedestal.

In the 20th century, the plays of Shakespeare were repeatedly performed and adapted for the cinema. His work also became the focus of extensive academic scholarship. Shakespeare's popularity continues to endure; his plays are constantly performed, studied, and reinterpreted, making him the most revered playwright of all time and across all cultures. In the year 1999, Shakespeare was voted the best writer of the millennium by the BBC ("Shakespeare Voted Millennium's Best Writer"). The influence of Shakespeare can be seen in such writers as William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy (Millgate 38; Kolin 124).

II. A Midsummer Night's Dream

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. Helena is in love with Demetrius, so she informs him, thinking that this will warm him to her. He reacts by chasing Hermia into the forest, with Helena close behind him all the while. Meanwhile, Hermia and Lysander fall asleep in the forest, believing themselves to be at a safe distance from their pursuers.

At this point in the play, a band of forest fairies appears. King Oberon and Queen Titania - providing a sort of nighttime parallel to the "real world" royalty introduced in the beginning of the play, lead them. Unlike Theseus and Hippolyta, however, Oberon and Titania are currently quarrelling over the fact that the Queen refuses to give up her Indian pageboy to Oberon for use as a henchman.

Oberon, seeking a way of punishing Titania, enlists the services of mischievous fairy Puck. Puck puts a spell on Titania while she is sleeping that will make her fall in love with the first living thing she sees when she wakes up. Since she will sleep in the forest, Oberon believes that she will fall in love with some forest creature, and during this period of distraction, he will be able to wrestle the pageboy away from her.

Meanwhile Helena continues to pursue Demetrius through the forest until Demetrius snaps at her, clearly annoyed. Oberon is witness to this spectacle and orders Puck to put the same spell on Demetrius as he sleeps that he put on Titania. Puck gets confused, however, and winds up putting the spell on Lysander, instead. When Lysander awakens, he winds up falling in love with Helena.

When Oberon sees that Demetrius is still pursuing Hermia, he reacts with rage. He sends Puck to fetch Helena while he charms the eyes of Demetrius. Helena arrives to find that both Lysander and Demetrius are now pursuing her. She feels that they are both mocking her, however, and her feelings are hurt. This all leads to a massive fight among Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, and Lysander. Demetrius and Lysander vow to duel each other to the death; Oberon thus keeps Puck busy making sure that the pair are not able to catch up with each other in the forest.

As if all this drama were not enough, a gang of amateur actors arrives in the forest in order to rehearse a play that they will perform at Theseus's wedding the following day. The actors are clearly untalented, so their seriousness provides a farcical diversion from the main action of a Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck transforms one of them, Bottom, into a donkey. When Titania awakes, she is the first one she sees, so she instantly falls in love with the donkey-headed geek. In this amorous state, Titania bumps into Oberon and gladly hands over her pageboy. At this point, Puck is instructed to remove the ass's head from Bottom. The spell is also removed from Lysander, but remains on Demetrius in order to allow him to finally reciprocate the love of Helena.

The following morning, the Duke and his soon-to-be wife arrive in the forest as part of an early hunt. There, they find the four lovers and Bottom (the fairies have disappeared.) as Demetrius is no longer in love with Hermia, the Duke overrules Egeus's insistence that they marry. Instead, he orders a group wedding, where the two couples will marry alongside he and Hippolyta. When looking back on the previous night's events, everyone - including Bottom, who has also awoken - decide that such strange things had occurred that they must have been dreaming (hence, the title of the play.)

The action then moves to Athens, where the amateur actors perform their hilariously bad play - but everyone is so happy that no one seems to notice. After the celebration, Oberon and Titania come together to bless everyone. Then Puck appears and delivers his famous final soliloquy to the audience:

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend:

if you pardon, we will mend:

And, as I am an honest Puck,

If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends ere long;

Else the Puck a liar call;

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends (Shakespeare 283).

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,… READ MORE

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