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Metaphors In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play written by one of the greatest playwrights, William Shakespeare. Like almost all writers, Shakespeare uses a wide variety of literary elements to create the story’s components. A major literary element within A Midsummer Night’s Dream is metaphor. Merriam-Webster defines metaphor as “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them” (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated). In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses metaphor to refer to topics such as historical events, love, and the weather. Shakespeare stay true to the meaning of a metaphor and does not use “like” or “as”. For example, in Act 2, Scene 1, lines 124-127, Shakespeare …show more content…

And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands, Marking th’ embarkèd traders on the flood” (Shakespeare). William Shakespeare was born in Stratford, England on April 23, 1564 (Biography.com). Over half a century before his birth, England was involved in the notorious Spice Trade. This trade route was a key part in the British economy. British merchants established a trade route with India, in which they would trade spices for gold and vice versa. Many people became very wealthy in a relatively short amount of time, leading others to test the waters in this market. As the British economy began to rapidly increase, people had fantasies of growing rich and living a prosperous life. In the play, Queen Titania uses the metaphor “spicèd Indian air” to describe her time in India. India had become a land of hope and dreams for people due to the vast amount of economic success with the Spice Trade, making it seem fairytale-like. Shakespeare cleverly makes the Queen of the Fairies uses this metaphor so that he can portray the feeling of how India was. “Neptune's yellow sands”

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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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Throughout history, men have always dominated. They never let a woman rise to power or have the same rights. This sexism has been ingrained in society for thousands of years, so much so that it has defined some of the most famous works of literature, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This play was written during the Elizabethan Era, an era in which a woman had all the power imaginable (Queen Elizabeth), and yet, women were still severely discriminated against. Women had no say whatsoever in their society; they were not allowed to vote and they had very few legal rights (Papp, Joseph, Kirkland).

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Some people feel that it`s quite challenging locating differences between a written story and its film, though, however, some people find it considerably simple to detect differences between the pair. A Midsummer Nights Dream was undoubtedly great cinematic film made in 1999. However, the written play of A Midsummer Nights Dream was much more detailed and more informational. The differences I noticed were the following: The Indian boy and his role, the setting, characters and examples of similarities. First of all, the primary anomaly I noticed implies the Indian boy and his role during the piece.

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Philosophical approach on the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream Submitted to: Prof. Eliezer V. David Submitted by: Jan MarveManaligod KristianDacara Bryan RonhellTangonan MarckRacell Diego BSME-2C Philosophy is the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience. In every story there is a philosophy. It is the way of the author to show the moral lesson of the play.

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“And though she be but little, she is fierce” -William Shakespeare. In today’s day and age, one of the greatest topics of debate is gender roles. It is evident everywhere, from cyberspace to the streets of home, from online petitions to marches across the country such as the Women’s March. Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan Era of England, where Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen ruled.

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In A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare let the readers to explore his imagination and bring them to fantasies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream implies a world of imagination, illusion and unconsciousness through the word ‘dreams’. In the last scene of the play, act V scene I, the audience experience there is different thought of Theseus and Hippolyta in interpreting the love stories of Hermia, Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and the imaginations of many other characters. The scene of Theseus talking to Hippolyta lead to a controversy about the value of imagination and reason. From the play, the audience indeed witnesses magical incidents in the fairies’ forest, where the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, rule over the natural processes.

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Shakespeare used extensive vocabulary, and powerful imagery contained within his works which demonstrate the phenomenal story telling ability of the English playwright. Exposure to these devices provides students with a broad knowledge of literary style and technique, while serving to develop and improve writing skills, which is why Shakespeare should be taught in schools. Shakespeare uses timeless themes and emotions in his stories that are still relevant today, some themes include comedies, tragedies, tragicomedies, histories and romances. Shakespeare explains his characters point of views, their struggles and reasons without being judgemental.

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The use and misuse of magic are of great importance in the play, A Midsummer Night 's Dream. It is a recurring theme that is mostly seen with Puck. The use of magic by Puck helps in creating conflict, humor, and balance in play. Shakespeare employs this device in his play to mainly build and establish the theme of love. The role of magic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is seen as an interference with the human world, however it is still separate from the human protagonists (Noone, 2010).

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In the real world, love is a very fragile force. Love can be easily broken and manipulated by multiple other outside forces. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the two most basic themes are the chaos and order that are the causes of all the actions that take place. Chaos versus order in A Midsummer Night’s Dream also is a representation of Yin and Yang. Yin, represents the bad or darkness in the world, this is the chaos in the play.

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Importance of Dreams As the title indicates, dreams are an important theme in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A dream is not real, although it does seem real when we experience it. Shakespeare seems to be interested in the workings of dreams.

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Emotions are like an infection in the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. An infection that spreads to the purest of characters and the most vile ones. Shakespeare writes beautiful and well-thought-out scenes about questioning people’s emotions and how irrational people can be the cause of chaos. Emotions run high throughout the play and envy, anger and devotion to love lead the characters to act irrationally and go against their better judgment. Jealousy is an amazing example to start off the chaos inflicted by this emotion.

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Today, men and women have equal rights, but that does not mean life has always been simple for both genders. When Shakespeare writes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are roles, behaviors, and expectations for the dominant men and submissive women. This literature portrays the major changes in the lives of both sexes throughout the years, which shows the advances women gain with time. The gender issue of men being dominant and women being submissive used in the drama, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shows the differences in the roles, behaviors, and expectations appropriate for each gender and is an example of an outdated stereotype.

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In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the female characters' desire to question the law of Athens and select their own husbands drives most of the conflict in the play. In a way, Hermia, Helena, and Titania are the protagonists of the play because each of their desires are being thwarted by the patriarchal structure of the society in which they live. The way the women try to overcome such hurdles does not sit well with the men. Accordingly, the men get on edge when their patriarchy is disrupted, so they make strict laws to try and keep the women under their control.

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