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This is why Shakespeare included a character and plot of such low comedy in a play with such far-reaching and complex themes; in the end, all of the complexity boils down to a few very simple facts bout humanity. As Valerie Traub notes, "early modern England was a culture of contradictions, with official ideology often challenged by actual social practice," and Midsummer makes this exceedingly clear (131). Such contradictions necessarily lead to complications, as the central plot of the play (that of the lovers) clearly illustrates, and though these complications are comedic in their own way it is also hysterical watching someone who is unabashedly human -- and quite asinine in several senses because of it. His transformation is yet one more piece of honesty that Shakespeare includes in his commentary on humanity.
This aspect of both the character and the pay is captured brilliantly in Michael Hoffman's 1999 film adaptation of a Midsummer Night's Dream, with Kevin Kline playing the role of Bottom. Bottom becomes a much more central role in the film than he is in the script, which accentuates the degree to which he represents the other characters. Kline's natural charisma as an actor...
The amount of time it would take to apply and remove each piece that made up Bottom's transformation into a true ass in the film would simply take too much time in the theatre. The effect, however, has the od effect of exaggerating both the animalistic and the human qualities of the character, and thus emphasizes the essential animal qualities of all humans. The lovers are truly no less base than Bottom; they are looking for love, ostensibly, but the play suggests that this endearment is really just so much artifice invented by culture and society to restrain the abandon of lust observed in the animal kingdom.
It is impossible to determine precisely what Shakespeare meant to be the primary message or conclusions of his play, if indeed he intended any. What is clear in the text, however, is the willingness of human beings to be blinded by love and/or lust, and the fools that this willingeness makes of mortals.
Works Cited
Evans, G. Blakemore and M. Tobin, eds. The Riverside Shakespeare. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the Riverside Shakespeare.
Traub, Valerie. "Gender and Sexuality in Shakespeare." The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. New York: Cambridge University Press 2001
Works Cited
Evans, G. Blakemore and M. Tobin, eds. The Riverside Shakespeare. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the Riverside Shakespeare.
Traub, Valerie. "Gender and Sexuality in Shakespeare." The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. New York: Cambridge University Press 2001
He forgives her and order is restored in the fairy world thanks to the proper balance of love between head and heart. As for the actors who go into the woods to prepare for their play before the king and queen of Athens -- they too show a side of love. Bottom shows what happens when one lacks imagination: he is the most unimaginative actor in the history of theater
Midsummer and Elizabeth A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedic drama that centers on marriage. Indeed, it is traditionally held that Shakespeare penned the play for a friend's wedding; therefore, it should be no surprise to find that the theme of marriage runs through and through Midsummer, from the young adults to the nobility (and even to the fairy world, where marital strife is encountered). Yet, being penned in an age
Even fairies struggle with love and romance. Oberon and Titania bicker; because of Puck's potion, Titania even falls in love with an ass. Puck's potion illustrates the fleeting nature of sexual attraction, too. At the opening of a Midsummer Night's Dream, Demetrius is in love with Hermia but Hermia is in love with Lysander. Lysander returns the affection. Hermia's best friend Helena, on the other hand, does love Demetrius and
The soul of girl/woman Jenna is returned to normal at the end of the film, and the girl's knowledge about working as an adult editor on a magazine, the true nature of her chief junior high school tormenter, and Matt's worth as an older man make her a more mature thirteen-year-old, thus the delving into fantasy make the real world 'better,' as in "Midsummer," and more moral and thus more
There are many elements of Renaissance England seen in the play as well as some elements that refer to Ancient Greece that suggest a combining of worlds. The play, from a humanistic perspective, suggests that everyone is out for themselves and for succeeding in their own quest for love -- despite what the object of his or her affection wants. Midsummer also seems to suggest that humans don't have much
Midsummer Night's Dream The difficulty of love is one of the predominant themes in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. While love itself is not a theme of the play, Shakespeare uses romantic elements, and troubles stemming from romance throughout the play. Shakespeare's characters successfully distance themselves from the emotional side of love to keep the play lighthearted and funny. There is much more fun in poking fun, apparently. There are internal