Plays - Fiction, Sunday Editions, New York Times

May True Love Prevail

By Katherine G Published March, 2014

Royals. Fairies. Misfit Mechanicals. An ass. Whats not to like? In A Midsummer Nights Dream, or AMND, young playwright William Shakespeare spins a wonderful combination of action, romance, comedy, and fantasy. With this fascinating play, he has made his grand entrance into the world of literature. Torn between her lover Lysander and her fathers choice, Demetrius, Hermia struggles to make a choice. In a desperate chance to escape, a little intervention from fairies entangle the Athenians and a rehearsing Mechanical into a confusing tangle. In this story, love is truly put to the test in A Midsummer Nights Dream to remember. _________________________________________________________________________ For fictional readers like myself, this story is a thrilling ride. In some parts, it is a little quirky, for example, when the Titania, the fairy queen, falls in love with Bottom the ass. As Puck (a playful but naughty fairy) puts it, Titania waked and straightway loved an ass(Act 3, Scene 2). Shakespeare has a subtle humor in his words that have a literal and ironic meanings. For example, Bottom becomes an ass, both words meaning the same thing. Yet in these surprisingly unique moments, his writing has an exuberance that is both alluring that kept me guessing what will occur next in this magical and twisted world. From fast and upbeat to slow and dreamlike, I found the pacing of this play varying in several ways. It does slow down momentarily, only to pick up where the pacing left off. The plot is awe-striking though, and the scenes details, the language, the actions, are carried out beautifully. Notice the difference in language, prose for the commoners and verse for the royals. Not to mention, Shakespeare also uses the method of iambic pentameter: a steady ten syllable rhythm to keep the flow smooth and entrancing, like a dream. As well as the iambic pentameter, Shakespeares old English gives it a sort of old and performance-like feel that really gives off a great start. It was not confusing at all. For example, the quote Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword, And won thy love, doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph and with revelling. This is from the first Act and Scene (the old english starts at the very beginning all the way to the very end). The words thee and thy imply old English and the shortened word, wood means the word wooed. Furthermore, the setting of the story takes place in a land near Athens, where Theseus is the duke. The brilliant maze conquerer of the Minotaur,Theseus is a minor character. Hippolayta, former Queen of the Amazons, is also Theseus soon-to-be wife. This shows that Shakespeare takes off from some Greek heroes . He certainly takes the usage of these Greek characters to his full advantage and gives his writing a professional, yet mystical vibe, exactly like a dream.

Theseus also plays a role in the conflict, giving Hermia a deadline to decide who to marry which leads to the lovers attempting to escape which leads to Helena and Demetrius following them into the woods which leads to Puck making a love potion mistake which leads to mixed up love confessions. A chain reaction set off by the order of occurrence, these events mix up the lovers and who they should love. The conflict results in the theme of the play, which is love. The best way to describe it is a quote from Lysander, saying The course of true love never did run smooth. Indeed, Lysander, indeed. Loves course does not run smoothly if it involves a pesky fairy and magic love potions. As for characters, Shakespeare certainly defines their personalities and traits straight off the top. Puck, a highly mischievous fairy, is the character that mixes up who he was supposed to give the love potion to. Puck, when finding fault in his actions, does not seem put down by the mistakes he makes. Instead, he finds amusement in making even more trouble. It shows in Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook. Did you not tell me I should know the man By the Athenian garment be had on? And so far blameless proves my enterprise, That I have nointed on Athenian eyes; And so far am I glad it so did sort As their jangling I esteem a sport. (Act 3, Scene 2) Another character I want to point out is Bottom the weaver, who gets turned into an ass by Puck and becomes the newfound love of Titania. A very dramatic and slightly pompous Mechanical, Bottom always wants to be in the spotlight. Raising his nose high in the air, striking a pose, Bottom would say everything with a flourish in real life. He also adds to the humor of the play (he tends to speak with some innocence and unintentional improper use of complicated words). When he performs for the play and whenever Theseus makes a comment, he steps out of his acting to respond. No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me' is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes. (Act 5, Scene 1) Reading this play, I fell in love with the characters, especially with valiant Lysander. Rushing in to fight for Helena after proclaiming his love to Hermia, I find him a silly and sweet Athenian. I am glad that he ended up with Hermia at the end of the play. With curtains closing, and an thundering sound of applause, Shakespeares words are almost as powerful as the love potion itself.

If youre wondering how the lovers end up and who they end up loving, read this spectacular play by the spectacular playwright, William Shakespeare. Thank you, Will, for this wonderful story Ill never forget.