Shakespeare and A Midsummer Night's Dream: Life and Play

William Shakespeare: Life and Legacy

Born on April 26, 1564, William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet widely considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. He is regarded as the national poet of England and is frequently referred to as "the Bard." Shakespeare's thirty-eight plays have been translated into every major language and are performed around the world to this day. 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, where he married Anne Hathaway at the age of eighteen. The two went on to have three children, including twins Judith and Hamnet — Hamnet would die at a young age (Schoenbaum 224). Around this time, Shakespeare began working as an actor and writer for the theater company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which later became 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 Career and Reputation

Shakespeare's most famous plays were composed between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were largely historical dramas and comedies — A Midsummer Night's Dream, discussed below, 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 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 — as well as Macbeth and King Lear. The third and final phase of his career was devoted to a hybridization of the first two phases; tragicomedies were the fruitful, if occasionally ambiguous, result of the Bard's labors during this period.

Throughout his lifetime, Shakespeare's works were published sporadically. 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 nineteenth century that his reputation grew to what it is today. It was largely thanks to the Romantic Movement in literature that Shakespeare's genius was firmly affirmed. The Victorians also placed his works on a pedestal. In the twentieth century, Shakespeare's plays were repeatedly performed and adapted for the cinema, and his work became the focus of extensive academic scholarship. His popularity continues to endure; his plays are constantly performed, studied, and reinterpreted, making him the most revered playwright of all time and across cultures. In 1999, Shakespeare was voted the best writer of the millennium by the BBC ("Shakespeare Voted Millennium's Best Writer"). His influence can be seen in such writers as William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy (Millgate 38; Kolin 124).

Overview of A Midsummer Night's Dream

A 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 evoke an atmosphere of magic and absurdity, as well as love and the unknown. Throughout the course of the play, characters from vastly different social backgrounds interact, and against the setting of a magical night forest they come into contact with a band of mischievous fairies whose pranks temporarily transform some characters while making others' dreams come true.

Plot Summary: The Lovers and the Fairies

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, but Hermia is unhappy with the decision. To rebel, she runs away from Athens into the magical forest surrounding the city alongside her lover Lysander, with whom she hopes to elope. Hermia tells her best friend Helena of her plans. Helena, who is in love with Demetrius, informs him of Hermia's whereabouts, hoping to earn his affection. 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, led by King Oberon and Queen Titania — a kind of nighttime parallel to the "real world" royalty introduced at the play's opening. Unlike Theseus and Hippolyta, however, Oberon and Titania are quarrelling over the Queen's refusal to give up her Indian pageboy to Oberon for use as a henchman.

Seeking a way to punish Titania, Oberon enlists the services of the mischievous fairy Puck. Puck puts a spell on Titania while she sleeps that will make her fall in love with the first living thing she sees upon waking. Since she sleeps in the forest, Oberon believes she will fall in love with some forest creature, and during this period of distraction he will be able to claim the pageboy.

Meanwhile, Helena continues to pursue Demetrius through the forest until Demetrius snaps at her, clearly annoyed. Oberon witnesses this scene and orders Puck to cast the same spell on Demetrius while he sleeps. Puck gets confused, however, and puts the spell on Lysander instead. When Lysander awakens, he falls in love with Helena.

When Oberon sees that Demetrius is still pursuing Hermia rather than Helena, 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. Feeling that they are mocking her, her feelings are hurt. This leads to a massive quarrel among Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, and Lysander. Demetrius and Lysander vow to duel each other to the death, so Oberon keeps Puck busy ensuring that the two cannot catch up with each other in the forest.