Egeus calls on Athenian law, which states that a girl must accept her father’s choice of a suitor or else face death. The play’s first scene shows us Hermia, a spirited young woman who refuses to marry Demetrius, the man her father (Egeus) has chosen for her. The first is the planned marriage between Duke Theseus and the Amazonian queen, Hippolyta the second involves a mad scramble between four young lovers who fall in and out of love with each other in the depths of the forest and the third involves the marriage between Titania and Oberon, two fairies who reside in the forest of Athens. It has three interlocking plots, all involving marriages. SynopsisĪ Midsummer Night’s Dream was written between 15. In fact, the characters of the lovers are only slightly individualized, so that they may further the plot their larger purpose, however, is to provide a generalized image of the unreason of love, and to prove that love is governed more by nature and the seasons than by the contents of the lovers’ hearts. Of course, the enchantment of the audience and the perspective that we gain into the world of magical sprites primarily serves to satirize the classic conundrum of powerless lovers. The mysterious aspect of the kingdom and its mischievous creatures attribute an unfamiliar and potentially threatening aura to the world of the play. ![]() The nearby woods that encompass the fairy kingdom are traditionally English, as well as mythological. Despite its celebratory purpose, however, many of the fantastical elements of the play are both whimsical and strangely dark. This comedy is perhaps the most fantastical of Shakespeare’s plays, and most scholars agree that, if it is not the product of his finest dramatic genius, the Bard certainly had a good time writing it. Ovid’s Metamorphoses is also evident both in the overarching theme of transformation, and in the introduction of the story of Pyramus and Thisby, which is then butchered in a performance by the players in the final scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For example, Chaucer’s “The Knights Tale” from Canterbury Tales was a prominent influence in the story. The themes in the play generally accommodate the light-hearted merriment that is established by this setting, but there are of course layered intellectual influences as well. Furthermore, despite the elusiveness of the specific day or month of the summer night, the title still suggests that the argument of the play is associated with two traditional English country festivals: May-Day and summer solstice. Most scholars believe that it was the Bard’s original wedding play, and that it was written for entertainment to accompany a marriage celebration. ![]() By contrast, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a largely original work.Īs one of Shakespeare’s early comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was probably composed in 1595 or 1596. Although Shakespeare usually receives credit for the rich stories and interweaving plots that compose his plays, the vast majority of these are influenced by and borrowed from existing plays, narrative poetry, historical chronicles, or other primary source material. It is a successful comedy, and therefore undoubtedly an audience pleaser, but it is also unique, not only from the rest of Shakespeare’s comedies, but from his entire collection of dramatic works. The People's Party: BIPOC Affinity NightsĪ Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most commonly performed works of the Bard, and for good reason.Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really. ![]() ![]() Liberace & Liza Holiday at the Mansion (A Tribute).
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