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A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

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“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare is a play that explores the differing representation of the two main settings. The city is seen as the “real” world where there are issues and resolutions that are rational, whilst the forest is seen as the “realm of dreams and imagination” and is where humans don’t have jurisdiction over what happens. This difference in worlds is shown when the protagonists act against their taught social and gender normalities when in the forest. The disparity between these two settings is reinforced when the fairies are present in the forest, with their actions having large impacts on the other protagonists. In the play the city is seen as real due to laws that are introduced that were most likely enforced …show more content…

When the protagonists are in or around the forest they do or say things that would have carried harsh punishments if they were in the city. An example of this is when Hermia and Lysander make the decision to elope at his aunt’s house past the city stating “and to that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us”. This decision shows the intelligence of the characters, as they understand that this choice would not be accepted in the city and move into the forest to pursue one of their dreams. This directly sets the forest as a …show more content…

These actions only take place in the forest setting, furthering the thought that the forest is a place when dreams and imagination run rampant. Evidence of this is when Oberon and Puck have an argument as Puck has put the love potion in Lysander’s eyes in place of Demetrius’. This displays how the fairies have control over the humans, with the humans having no input on what happens. This could be seen as part of a dream or an imagination as we have mentally positioned ourselves as in control of all other living things, whereas this play puts us in the position of being controlled by something else, making us feel as though it’s not in the real world, the

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In Act 2 The fairies are introduced. The queen of them being Titania and king being Oberon. Both have conflict between eachother, Oberon wants Titania’s boy she inherited from her dead friend to train as a knight; however Titania simply refuses. On the other side Titania suspects Oberon of loving Hippolyta since his wishes to bless her wedding. at the end scene both are scorned by each other, both going different approaches; Titania remained settled and neutral while Oberon seeks revenge, doing so by putting a love potion on Titania’s eyes then sending Puck (his servant) to use this potion on Demetrius, in the intend of mending relationships with Helena (previous lover and best friend of Hermia).

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This point of view stays the same throughout the story even though the way the story is narrated changes. “And now, if any are offended with this story of fairies and their pranks, as judging it incredible and strange, they have only to think that they have been asleep and dreaming, and that all these adventures were visions which they saw in their sleep: and I hope none of my readers will be so unreasonable as to be offended with a pretty harmless Midsummer Night's Dream.” This part of the story shows how the point of view of the story is still from the narrator even though now the story has changed to first person

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Many authors have published articles that treats the subject based upon one aspect of the play. One important element of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the disparity that is distinguished between reality and a world inhabited by fairies and other magical beings and forces.

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With the mass amount of entertainment and media that gets shoved in our faces on a daily basis, it can be a difficult task to look between the lines and see what’s really going on. While many of our favorite shows, movies, and books seem like light entertainment, they often carry hidden messages meant to sway us into a particular worldview. Blackmail in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, drug abuse and promiscuity in Scooby Doo, and mistrust and paranoia in If You Give A Mouse A Cookie are just a few examples of why we need to be consciously aware of what media is trying to tell us. William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night’s Dream shows us that he thought slavery was okay.

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Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream film adaptation creates a fantastical spin on the well-known Shakespeare play. The director is able to create an effective dream-like setting with the use of projections, lighting, and puppetry. From the beginning, there is a sense of wonder created, as without word or introduction, Puck, played by Kathryn Hunter, glides onto stage and lays down on a mattress supported by branches. Puck is then lifted into the air and a large white sheet consumes the stage. Even for those familiar with the play, such as myself, it immediately commands your mind to travel to the dream world Taymor has created.

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Toba Beta once said: "“Justice could be as blind as love.”   Shakespeare 's play A Midsummer Night 's Dream captures the blindness of both love and justice.   Egeus, a respected nobleman in Athens, arranged for his daughter, Hermia, to marry nobleman Demetrius.   Egeus tells his daughter that she must obey his wishes: If she does not, she can either choose to become a nun, or die.

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Toba Beta once said: "“Justice could be as blind as love.”   Shakespeare 's play A Midsummer Night 's Dream captures the blind bias of both love and justice.   Egeus, a respected nobleman in Athens, arranged for his daughter, Hermia, to marry nobleman Demetrius.   Egeus tells his daughter that she must obey his wishes: if she does not, she can either choose to become a nun, or die.   Hermia, much to her father 's dismay, is deeply in a mutual love with a different nobleman, Lysander.

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Athens and the forest are the two settings for A Midsummer Night’s Dream because they represent the oppositions between reality and magic, order and chaos, and rationality and imagination. In Athens and the forest there is a clear distinction between reality and magic. We know that Athens is realistic because there is law and order in the community as well as leaders of Athens. An example of members of the community and the leaders of Athens having order is when Egeus goes to Theseus for guidance.

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In the first Act of A Midsummer Night's Dream, main characters are introduced in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the play. Egeus' first speech, found on lines 23 to 46, is a perfect example of this; through his speech themes of domination and control, and his accusatory themes, he affirms the accepted positions of power of his time. Language and grammar used here all give the reader an important first impression. Starting with the first line, Egeus states "Full of vexation come I". By placing the phrase "full of vexation" first, the vexation — vexation over the disobedience of his daughter — is emphasized.

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Puck is Oberon’s servant, the king of the fairies, and when Oberon sees how Demetrius is mistreating Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the love potion on his eyelids. However, Puck encounter’s Hermia and Lysander and he thinks that he is Demetrius and spreads the juice on his eyelids instead of Demetrius’s eyelids. Unfortunately, Lysander upon waking up sees Helena and falls deeply in love with her abandoning Hermia. Hermia believes Helena has acted to steal Lysander’s love from her. Hermia is appalled at Helena, threatening to scratch her eyes

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More specifically the fairies. Rather than the free-spirited lovers of life bestowed in the text, the fairies in the film are whimpering, frivolous, petulant party animals. This is strikingly true of Puck who has been converted from a boyish charmer into a rude, middle-aged lizard who revels in taking a leak in the forests after drinking too much wine. Thus changing the mood of the story and its perspective by the reader or viewer.

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The Ironic Scenes of Shakespeare’s Famous Play “Never did mockers waste more idle breath,” cried Helena, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, incorrectly thinking she was being mocked (Shakespeare 3.2 170). This is one of multiple examples of dramatic irony in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows more about a character 's situation than the character does. This is one of three types of irony, the other types are situational and verbal.

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Dreams are wild, magical, and mysterious. The majority of Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is spent in a heavily wooded forest full of fairies and irrational young lovers, creating a night only fallible as a dream. The story contains a royal wedding about to take place and the young lovers Hermia and Lysander provoked to eloping because Hermia’s father will only let her marry Demetrius. Hermia’s best friend Helena, who loves Demetrius, tells Demetrius Hermia and Lysander’s plot to escape to the forest nearby so that she may follow him. Local townsmen also decide to meet in the forest to rehearse for a play to be performed at the royal wedding.

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