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Transformation In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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William Shakespeare was powerfully inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses while Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream it is blatant just how much Ovid’s work was admired by Shakespeare however while drawing for inspiration he still remained very unique and different from the source he pulled from. Shakespeare took old stories and changed the themes or altering characters so that his audience was better able to relate while still keeping the original essence. Shakespeare uses Ovid’s themes from Metamorphoses for inspiration and to make the story more relatable to people during his time. It is not surprising then that many transformations take place in a Midsummer Night’s Dream since Shakespeare is …show more content…

His human condition changes into something unimaginable, a human with a donkey’s head. Unlike Ovid in which each transformation requires passion it seems that Shakespeare’s transformations need opposition. Bottom is a bumbling naive man who is taken advantage of by Puck a crafty person who enjoys playing tricks. After becoming an ass Puck places a spell on Titania, queen of the fairies so that she will become enamored with him. This transformation of her sight is also created out of opposition as she is incredibly beautiful and Bottom, now a donkey, is presumably ugly. “I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again: mine ear is much enamored of thy note; so is mine eye enthralled to thy shape; and thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me on the first view to say, to swear, I love thee” Here Titania has just awoken and with the flower’s juices placed in her eyes she sees Bottom as someone incredibly handsome. Titania attempts to seduce Bottom and in this way Shakespeare extracts yet another theme of goddesses falling in love with mortals. This mirrors the story of Venus who is enamored with Adonis a human and within this love Titania shows the same primal sexual desire that Ovid’s tales are well known for. “Come, wait upon him; lead him to my

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