Shakespearean Comedy, a Midsummer Night\'s

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of the writer's best known comedies and it is principally remarkable for the series of elements it covers, as it deals with aspects ranging from courtship to fantasy. Conventional matters such as love and marriage are typically presented from a different perspective by Shakespeare, as he emphasizes concepts that would seem incredible to most of his readers with the probable purpose of showing people that they should not employ traditional thinking in dealing with them. Simple love and society's rules are overturning when Puck, the nature spirit, intervenes and influences most characters in the play to put across unordinary behavior. Shakespeare practically breaks away from tradition in an attempt to have readers understand that they should concentrate on accepting new ideas, regardless of how extreme they appear to be.

The play begins by acquainting the audiences with Theseus and Hippolyta and with their upcoming wedding ceremony. The plot later develops as Egeus enters the scene and presents the royal couple with his condition, demanding that Theseus should impose an ancient Athenian law concerning a father's influence over his daughter. Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of fairies, bring fantasy into the play as the former sends Puck, a court jester, to remedy matters and to have Demetrius fall in love with Helena. Conditions become critical as Puck mistakes Demetrius for Lysander, only to recover when Oberon intervenes and makes it possible for the royal couple to see Lysander love Hermia while Demetrius expresses his love toward Helena. Shakespeare further contributes to relieving tension by presenting the unintentionally amusing group of lower-class actors with Nick Bottom in charge of them. At the end of the play, Puck speaks to the audience, telling people that they cannot be certain regarding whether what they had just experienced was real or whether it was a dream.

One of the play's characteristic features is the fact that romance is in most cases involving the characters detrimental for them, as they encounter severe problems as a result of wanting to express their love toward others. Even with the fact that the fantasy aspect of the play makes some of the affairs irrational, the writer demonstrates that love can be more powerful than conventional values and that both humans and fairies can fall victim to it. A contemporary public is likely to consider that Shakespeare's times made it difficult for the writer to put across an account regarding women as being equal to men. From the very first moments of scene one it becomes obvious that the individuals in the play consider Hippolyta to be rather insignificant, despite of her position and of the fact that she is about to become Theseus' wife. As the play advances, the woman proves to have a lesser contribution to the overall chain of events and rarely intervenes in situations where Theseus is actively engaged. The relationship between Oberon and Titania can also be associated with Shakespearean gender roles, considering how the former manages to trick the latter into falling in love with Nick Bottom.

The audience is gradually brought to a stage where they understand the occurrences in the play and where they regard its characters with an air of superiority. Its comedic nature is virtually responsible for making it possible for audiences to comprehend everything that happens and to eventually join the Duke and the Duchess as they watch "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The events in the play are all meant to celebrate the union between the two individuals, further contributing to the concept that Shakespeare incorporated some of his characteristic features into "A Midsummer Night's Day." The playwright does not just want his audiences to be entertained by amusing happenings, as he supports love using insight, making it more difficult for viewers to differentiate between comedy and drama.

Love is taken to a whole new level in this play, primarily because of the fact that Shakespeare uses imagination as one of the main elements to sustain love through its relationships with the characters. "The course of true love never did run smooth" (Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1). Shakespeare's practically promotes this concept throughout the play, further reinforcing it by using the tension that emerges from the unusual relationships between some of the characters. It is not necessarily love that creates this tension, as it is actually the difficulty related to it that appeals to individuals watching the play. When love initially experiences progress in the play, fantasy prevents characters from being happy because of it, as it is asymmetrical, with two men loving the same woman while another woman is left with no one to love her. Titania's passion for Bottom makes matters even more confusing, considering that it seems very improbable for her to really want to put across any feelings toward the unsuccessful actor. Bottom contrasts Titania through his physical ugliness and through the fact that he is not as refined as the fairy queen. The overall implausibility for such relationships to exist and the complexity of love are definitely Shakesperean in character.

The comedic elements in the play refresh the concept of love and make it less sober. Youthful love is one of the main concepts that makes love in general seem serious, given that it is irrational and sometimes foolish. Comedy takes audiences through a chain of events without allowing them to fall victim to their own mistakes, as they eventually mature as a result of the unnatural world intervening in their lives. In spite of the fact that they come across great impediments in finding their love, they come to understand what love means and, with the help of Theseus and Hippolyta, they manage to be reunited with the persons they love. Shakespeare uses comedy as a means to have people understand more complex matters that are not actually amusing. The experiences that the lovers come across while in the forest appear to be a very important part of their maturing process, especially given that they all find peace once they are no longer under the influence of Puck's magical substances. The comedic experience in the play is strongly related with the relationships that emerge between its characters and with the overall celebration atmosphere.

Shakespeare is much like Puck when considering his tendency to involve humor in any situation. He does not hesitate to have audiences confused as a result of sending mixed messages meant to have them think that they too are dreaming and that it is very likely that what they are seeing is unreal. Courtship is a consequence of people's decision to start a relationship with the individuals that they feel passionate about. Typical for Shakespeare, the Lysander-Hermia couple and the Helena-Demetrius couple come to exist because of the fact that these young people are unhesitant about acting against their parents' wishes (Meader, 1954, p. 170).