A Midsummer Night's Dream Research Paper (With Cited)

The play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, is about four lovers and their "dreamlike" adventure through a fairy ruled forest. There are many different characters in this play and they each play their own individual role in how the play is performed and read. Three main characters that showed great characteristics are: Puck, Tom Bottom, and Helena. The play, "A Midsummer Nights Dream" by William Shakespeare, uses characters and their conflicts to give meaning to this piece of literature.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" was written in the early part of William Shakespeare's life in 1596. It was written to be played at artistic carnivals and tried to please all parts of society; the carpenters to please all the galleries, the theme of the "nature of love" to please women, and characters like Puck and Nick Bottom to please all children. The way Puck sweeps the dust at the end of the play is suppose to relate the English monarchs to lower class people.

It is a very sweet and beautiful play filled with plenty of music and dancing. It is also extremely hard to act out because of all the characters and the way it is suppose to be performed. This type of play was composed to be a comedy but at times it seems to almost resemble a tragedy.

The plot may seem more complex, but briefly it's about four lovers who each, because of their own conflicts, can't be together. Two of the lovers try to elope in a forest ruled by fairies, while the other two lovers follow because of jealousy and love. When all goes wrong because of a love potion given to the wrong person, one of the main characters, Puck, tries to undo his mistake. Since the play is a comedy the play ends with a happy ending and all the right lovers with the right person.

There are many different characters in this play separated by two different regions: the Athenian's and the characters in the forest. Egeus is the stubborn father of Hermia. He wants her to marry Demetrius but she is in love with Lysander. Because of Hermia's selfish father she and Lysander are forced to elope and go through the forest to Lysander's aunt's house. Lysander loves Hermia but so does Demetrius, initially. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia's head if she flouts her father's will. The law will be followed out by Theseus the heroic duke of Athens. Demetrius and Helena both end up going through the forest also stalking Lysander and Hermia. The pursuit of Hermia by Demetrius throws off the balance among the youths and foreshadows the symmetrical two-couple arrangement.

Puck, Oberon (king of the fairies) jester, is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. He is the single-most important person in the play. Puck is described as a bizarre looking "hobgoblin" which connotations are definitely less glamorous than those of the other fairies. He is very mischievous and likes to pull pranks on mortals, good hearted but capable of being cruel. Wild contrasts implicit comparison between the rough, earthy craftsmen and the delicate, elegant fairies, dominate the play. Puck seems to illustrate many of these contrasts within his own character: he is graceful but not as sweet as the other fairies, and he is given to a certain crudeness, which leads him to transform Bottom's head into that of an ass just for enjoyment. He is responsible for moving things into action with his magic and the main conflict; putting the love potion in the wrong persons eyes. More importantly the fun-loving spirit and evocative language of Puck sets the atmosphere, which is hard to create and why the play is hard to act out. This is a quote from the last line of the play from Puke, "And, as I'm 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."

Nick Bottom is another comical character that makes the audience laughs from his overconfidence in him. He is one of the central figures in the subplot of the production of the "Pyamus and Thisbe" story. He brings his comedy from his extraordinary belief in his own abilities.

...