A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM

William Shakespeare
Context
The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to
a successful middle-class gloe-maker in Stratford-upon-!on, England" Shakespeare attended
grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further" #n 15$% he married an older
woman, !nne &athawa', and had three children with her" !round 15() he left his famil' behind
and traeled to *ondon to work as an actor and pla'wright" +ublic and critical success ,uickl'
followed, and Shakespeare eentuall' became the most popular pla'wright in England and part-
owner of the -lobe Theater" &is career bridged the reigns of Eli.abeth # /ruled 155$016)12 and
3ames # /ruled 16)1016%52, and he was a faorite of both monarchs" #ndeed, 3ames granted
Shakespeare4s compan' the greatest possible compliment b' bestowing upon its members the
title of 5ing4s 6en" Wealth' and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at
the age of fift'-two" !t the time of Shakespeare4s death, literar' luminaries such as 7en 3onson
hailed his works as timeless"
Shakespeare4s works were collected and printed in arious editions in the centur' following his
death, and b' the earl' eighteenth centur' his reputation as the greatest poet eer to write in
English was well established" The unprecedented admiration garnered b' his works led to a
fierce curiosit' about Shakespeare4s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left man'
details of Shakespeare4s personal histor' shrouded in m'ster'" Some people hae concluded
from this fact that Shakespeare4s pla's were reall' written b' someone else89rancis 7acon and
the Earl of :;ford are the two most popular candidates8but the support for this claim is
oerwhelmingl' circumstantial, and the theor' is not taken seriousl' b' man' scholars"
#n the absence of credible eidence to the contrar', Shakespeare must be iewed as the author of
the thirt'-seen pla's and 154 sonnets that bear his name" The legac' of this bod' of work is
immense" ! number of Shakespeare4s pla's seem to hae transcended een the categor' of
brilliance, becoming so influential as to profoundl' affect the course of Western literature and
culture eer after"
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Written in the mid-15()s, probabl' shortl' before Shakespeare turned to Romeo and Juliet, A
Midsummer Nights Dream is one of his strangest and most delightful creations, and it marks a
departure from his earlier works and from others of the English <enaissance" The pla'
demonstrates both the e;tent of Shakespeare4s learning and the e;pansieness of his imagination"
The range of references in the pla' is among its most e;traordinar' attributes= Shakespeare draws
on sources as arious as -reek m'tholog' /Theseus, for instance, is loosel' based on the -reek
hero of the same name, and the pla' is peppered with references to -reek gods and goddesses2>
English countr' fair' lore /the character of +uck, or <obin -oodfellow, was a popular figure in
si;teenth-centur' stories2> and the theatrical practices of Shakespeare4s *ondon /the craftsmen4s
pla' refers to and parodies man' conentions of English <enaissance theater, such as men
pla'ing the roles of women2" 9urther, man' of the characters are drawn from dierse te;ts=
Titania comes from :id4s Metamorphoses, and :beron ma' hae been taken from the medieal
romance Huan of Bordeaux, translated b' *ord 7erners in the mid-151)s" ?nlike the plots of
man' of Shakespeare4s pla's, howeer, the stor' in A Midsummer Nights Dream seems not to
hae been drawn from an' particular source but rather to be the original product of the
pla'wright4s imagination"
Plot Overview
Theseus, duke of !thens, is preparing for his marriage to &ippol'ta, ,ueen of the !ma.ons, with
a four-da' festial of pomp and entertainment" &e commissions his 6aster of the <eels,
+hilostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion" Egeus, an !thenian nobleman, marches
into Theseus4s court with his daughter, &ermia, and two 'oung men, @emetrius and *'sander"
Egeus wishes &ermia to marr' @emetrius /who loes &ermia2, but &ermia is in loe with
*'sander and refuses to compl'" Egeus asks for the full penalt' of law to fall on &ermia4s head if
she flouts her father4s will" Theseus gies &ermia until his wedding to consider her options,
warning her that disobe'ing her father4s wishes could result in her being sent to a conent or
een e;ecuted" Aonetheless, &ermia and *'sander plan to escape !thens the following night and
marr' in the house of *'sander4s aunt, some seen leagues distant from the cit'" The' make their
intentions known to &ermia4s friend &elena, who was once engaged to @emetrius and still loes
him een though he Bilted her after meeting &ermia" &oping to regain his loe, &elena tells
@emetrius of the elopement that &ermia and *'sander hae planned" !t the appointed time,
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@emetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her loer> &elena follows behind
him"
#n these same woods are two er' different groups of characters" The first is a band of fairies,
including :beron, the fair' king, and Titania, his ,ueen, who has recentl' returned from #ndia to
bless the marriage of Theseus and &ippol'ta" The second is a band of !thenian craftsmen
rehearsing a pla' that the' hope to perform for the duke and his bride" :beron and Titania are at
odds oer a 'oung #ndian prince gien to Titania b' the prince4s mother> the bo' is so beautiful
that :beron wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses" Seeking reenge, :beron sends his
merr' serant, +uck, to ac,uire a magical flower, the Buice of which can be spread oer a
sleeping person4s e'elids to make that person fall in loe with the first thing he or she sees upon
waking" +uck obtains the flower, and :beron tells him of his plan to spread its Buice on the
sleeping Titania4s e'elids" &aing seen @emetrius act cruell' toward &elena, he orders +uck to
spread some of the Buice on the e'elids of the 'oung !thenian man" +uck encounters *'sander
and &ermia> thinking that *'sander is the !thenian of whom :beron spoke, +uck afflicts him
with the loe potion" *'sander happens to see &elena upon awaking and falls deepl' in loe with
her, abandoning &ermia" !s the night progresses and +uck attempts to undo his mistake, both
*'sander and @emetrius end up in loe with &elena, who beliees that the' are mocking her"
&ermia becomes so Bealous that she tries to challenge &elena to a fight" @emetrius and *'sander
nearl' do fight oer &elena4s loe, but +uck confuses them b' mimicking their oices, leading
them apart until the' are lost separatel' in the forest"
When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is 7ottom, the most ridiculous of the !thenian
craftsmen, whose head +uck has mockingl' transformed into that of an ass" Titania passes a
ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaer" Eentuall', :beron obtains the #ndian bo',
+uck spreads the loe potion on *'sander4s e'elids, and b' morning all is well" Theseus and
&ippol'ta discoer the sleeping loers in the forest and take them back to !thens to be married
8@emetrius now loes &elena, and *'sander now loes &ermia" !fter the group wedding, the
loers watch 7ottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their pla', a fumbling, hilarious ersion
of the stor' of +'ramus and Thisbe" When the pla' is completed, the loers go to bed> the fairies
briefl' emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protectie charm and then disappear" :nl'
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+uck remains, to ask the audience for its forgieness and approal and to urge it to remember the
pla' as though it had all been a dream"
Character Lit
P!c" - !lso known as <obin -oodfellow, +uck is :beron4s Bester, a mischieous fair' who
delights in pla'ing pranks on mortals" Though A Midsummer Nights Dream diides its action
between seeral groups of characters, +uck is the closest thing the pla' has to a protagonist" &is
enchanting, mischieous spirit perades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for man'
of the complications that propel the other main plots= he mistakes the 'oung !thenians, appl'ing
the loe potion to *'sander instead of @emetrius, thereb' causing chaos within the group of
'oung loers> he also transforms 7ottom4s head into that of an ass"
O#eron - The king of the fairies, :beron is initiall' at odds with his wife, Titania, because she
refuses to relin,uish control of a 'oung #ndian prince whom he wants for a knight" :beron4s
desire for reenge on Titania leads him to send +uck to obtain the loe-potion flower that creates
so much of the pla'4s confusion and farce"
Titania - The beautiful ,ueen of the fairies, Titania resists the attempts of her husband, :beron,
to make a knight of the 'oung #ndian prince that she has been gien" Titania4s brief, potion-
induced loe for Aick 7ottom, whose head +uck has transformed into that of an ass, 'ields the
pla'4s foremost e;ample of the contrast motif"
L$an%er - ! 'oung man of !thens, in loe with &ermia" *'sander4s relationship with &ermia
inokes the theme of loe4s difficult'= he cannot marr' her openl' because Egeus, her father,
wishes her to wed @emetrius> when *'sander and &ermia run awa' into the forest, *'sander
becomes the ictim of misapplied magic and wakes up in loe with &elena"
De&etri! - ! 'oung man of !thens, initiall' in loe with &ermia and ultimatel' in loe with
&elena" @emetrius4s obstinate pursuit of &ermia throws loe out of balance among the ,uartet of
!thenian 'ouths and precludes a s'mmetrical two-couple arrangement"
Her&ia - Egeus4s daughter, a 'oung woman of !thens" &ermia is in loe with *'sander and is a
childhood friend of &elena" !s a result of the fairies4 mischief with :beron4s loe potion, both
*'sander and @emetrius suddenl' fall in loe with &elena" Self-conscious about her short
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stature, &ermia suspects that &elena has wooed the men with her height" 7' morning, howeer,
+uck has sorted matters out with the loe potion, and *'sander4s loe for &ermia is restored"
Helena - ! 'oung woman of !thens, in loe with @emetrius" @emetrius and &elena were once
betrothed, but when @emetrius met &elena4s friend &ermia, he fell in loe with her and
abandoned &elena" *acking confidence in her looks, &elena thinks that @emetrius and *'sander
are mocking her when the fairies4 mischief causes them to fall in loe with her"
E'e! - &ermia4s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus= Egeus has
gien @emetrius permission to marr' &ermia, but &ermia, in loe with *'sander, refuses to
marr' @emetrius" Egeus4s seere insistence that &ermia either respect his wishes or be held
accountable to !thenian law places him s,uarel' outside the whimsical dream realm of the
forest"
Thee! - The heroic duke of !thens, engaged to &ippol'ta" Theseus represents power and
order throughout the pla'" &e appears onl' at the beginning and end of the stor', remoed from
the dreamlike eents of the forest"
Hi((ol$ta - The legendar' ,ueen of the !ma.ons, engaged to Theseus" *ike Theseus, she
s'mboli.es order"
Nic" )otto& - The oerconfident weaer chosen to pla' +'ramus in the craftsmen4s pla' for
Theseus4s marriage celebration" 7ottom is full of adice and self-confidence but fre,uentl'
makes sill' mistakes and misuses language" &is simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful
Titania4s sudden loe for him and unawareness of the fact that +uck has transformed his head
into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance"
Peter *!ince - ! carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen4s attempt to put on a pla'
for Theseus4s marriage celebration" Cuince is often shoed aside b' the abundantl' confident
7ottom" @uring the craftsmen4s pla', Cuince pla's the +rologue"
+ranci +l!te - The bellows-mender chosen to pla' Thisbe in the craftsmen4s pla' for Theseus4s
marriage celebration" 9orced to pla' a 'oung girl in loe, the bearded craftsman determines to
speak his lines in a high, s,ueak' oice"
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Ro#in Starvelin' - The tailor chosen to pla' Thisbe4s mother in the craftsmen4s pla' for
Theseus4s marriage celebration" &e ends up pla'ing the part of 6oonshine"
To& Sno!t - The tinker chosen to pla' +'ramus4s father in the craftsmen4s pla' for Theseus4s
marriage celebration" &e ends up pla'ing the part of Wall, diiding the two loers"
Sn!' - The Boiner chosen to pla' the lion in the craftsmen4s pla' for Theseus4s marriage
celebration" Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience"
Philotrate - Theseus4s 6aster of the <eels, responsible for organi.ing the entertainment for
the duke4s marriage celebration"
Peae#loo&, Co#we#, Mote, an% M!tar%ee% - The fairies ordered b' Titania to attend to
7ottom after she falls in loe with him"
Anal$i o- Ma.or Character
Puck
Though there is little character deelopment in A Midsummer Nights Dream and no true
protagonist, critics generall' point to +uck as the most important character in the pla'" The
mischieous, ,uick-witted sprite sets man' of the pla'4s eents in motion with his magic, b'
means of both deliberate pranks on the human characters /transforming 7ottom4s head into that
of an ass2 and unfortunate mistakes /smearing the loe potion on *'sander4s e'elids instead of
@emetrius4s2"
6ore important, +uck4s capricious spirit, magical fanc', fun-loing humor, and loel', eocatie
language permeate the atmosphere of the pla'" Wild contrasts, such as the implicit comparison
between the rough, earth' craftsmen and the delicate, graceful fairies, dominate A Midsummer
Nights Dream" +uck seems to illustrate man' of these contrasts within his own character= he is
graceful but not so saccharine as the other fairies> as :beron4s Bester, he is gien to a certain
coarseness, which leads him to transform 7ottom4s head into that of an ass merel' for the sake of
enBo'ment" &e is good-hearted but capable of cruel tricks" 9inall', whereas most of the fairies are
beautiful and ethereal, +uck is often portra'ed as somewhat bi.arre looking" #ndeed, another
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fair' mentions that some call +uck a Dhobgoblin,E a term whose connotations are decidedl' less
glamorous than those of Dfair'E /##"i"4)2"
Nick Bottom
Whereas +uck4s humor is often mischieous and subtle, the comed' surrounding the
oerconfident weaer Aick 7ottom is hilariousl' oert" The central figure in the subplot
inoling the craftsmen4s production of the +'ramus and Thisbe stor', 7ottom dominates his
fellow actors with an e;traordinar' belief in his own abilities /he thinks he is perfect for eer'
part in the pla'2 and his comical incompetence /he is a terrible actor and fre,uentl' makes
rhetorical and grammatical mistakes in his speech2" The humor surrounding 7ottom often stems
from the fact that he is totall' unaware of his own ridiculousness> his speeches are oerdramatic
and self-aggrandi.ing, and he seems to beliee that eer'one takes him as seriousl' as he does
himself" This foolish self-importance reaches its pinnacle after +uck transforms 7ottom4s head
into that of an ass" When Titania, whose e'es hae been anointed with a loe potion, falls in loe
with the now ass-headed 7ottom, he beliees that the deotion of the beautiful, magical fair'
,ueen is nothing out of the ordinar' and that all of the trappings of her affection, including
haing serants attend him, are his proper due" &is unawareness of the fact that his head has
been transformed into that of an ass parallels his inabilit' to perceie the absurdit' of the idea
that Titania could fall in loe with him"
Helena
!lthough +uck and 7ottom stand out as the most personable characters in A Midsummer Nights
Dream, the' themseles are not inoled in the main dramatic eents" :f the other characters,
&elena, the loesick 'oung woman desperatel' in loe with @emetrius, is perhaps the most full'
drawn" !mong the ,uartet of !thenian loers, &elena is the one who thinks most about the
nature of loe8which makes sense, gien that at the beginning of the pla' she is left out of the
loe triangle inoling *'sander, &ermia, and @emetrius" She sa's, D*oe looks not with the
e'es, but with the mind,E belieing that @emetrius has built up a fantastic notion of &ermia4s
beaut' that preents him from recogni.ing &elena4s own beaut' /#"i"%142" ?tterl' faithful to
@emetrius despite her recognition of his shortcomings, &elena sets out to win his loe b' telling
him about the plan of *'sander and &ermia to elope into the forest" :nce &elena enters the
forest, man' of her traits are drawn out b' the confusion that the loe potion engenders=
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compared to the other loers, she is e;tremel' unsure of herself, worr'ing about her appearance
and belieing that *'sander is mocking her when he declares his loe for her"
The&e, S$&#ol, / Moti-
The&e
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary or!"
Love Di--ic!lt$
DThe course of true loe neer did run smooth,E comments *'sander, articulating one of A
Midsummer Nights Dream4s most important themes8that of the difficult' of loe /#"i"1142"
Though most of the conflict in the pla' stems from the troubles of romance, and though the pla'
inoles a number of romantic elements, it is not trul' a loe stor'> it distances the audience
from the emotions of the characters in order to poke fun at the torments and afflictions that those
in loe suffer" The tone of the pla' is so lighthearted that the audience neer doubts that things
will end happil', and it is therefore free to enBo' the comed' without being caught up in the
tension of an uncertain outcome"
The theme of loe4s difficult' is often e;plored through the motif of loe out of balance8that is,
romantic situations in which a disparit' or ine,ualit' interferes with the harmon' of a
relationship" The prime instance of this imbalance is the as'mmetrical loe among the four
'oung !thenians= &ermia loes *'sander, *'sander loes &ermia, &elena loes @emetrius, and
@emetrius loes &ermia instead of &elena8a simple numeric imbalance in which two men loe
the same woman, leaing one woman with too man' suitors and one with too few" The pla' has
strong potential for a traditional outcome, and the plot is in man' wa's based on a ,uest for
internal balance> that is, when the loers4 tangle resoles itself into s'mmetrical pairings, the
traditional happ' ending will hae been achieed" Somewhat similarl', in the relationship
between Titania and :beron, an imbalance arises out of the fact that :beron4s coeting of
Titania4s #ndian bo' outweighs his loe for her" *ater, Titania4s passion for the ass-headed
7ottom represents an imbalance of appearance and nature= Titania is beautiful and graceful,
while 7ottom is clums' and grotes,ue"
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Ma'ic
The fairies4 magic, which brings about man' of the most bi.arre and hilarious situations in the
pla', is another element central to the fantastic atmosphere of A Midsummer Nights Dream"
Shakespeare uses magic both to embod' the almost supernatural power of loe /s'mboli.ed b'
the loe potion2 and to create a surreal world" !lthough the misuse of magic causes chaos, as
when +uck mistakenl' applies the loe potion to *'sander4s e'elids, magic ultimatel' resoles
the pla'4s tensions b' restoring loe to balance among the ,uartet of !thenian 'ouths"
!dditionall', the ease with which +uck uses magic to his own ends, as when he reshapes
7ottom4s head into that of an ass and recreates the oices of *'sander and @emetrius, stands in
contrast to the laboriousness and gracelessness of the craftsmen4s attempt to stage their pla'"
Drea&
!s the title suggests, dreams are an important theme in A Midsummer Nights Dream# the' are
linked to the bi.arre, magical mishaps in the forest" &ippol'ta4s first words in the pla' eidence
the prealence of dreams /D9our da's will ,uickl' steep themseles in night, F 9our nights will
,uickl' dream awa' the timeE2, and arious characters mention dreams throughout /#"i"G0$2" The
theme of dreaming recurs predominantl' when characters attempt to e;plain bi.arre eents in
which these characters are inoled= D# hae had a dream, past the wit of man to sa' what F
dream it was" 6an is but an ass if he go about t4e;pound this dream,E 7ottom sa's, unable to
fathom the magical happenings that hae affected him as an'thing but the result of slumber"
Shakespeare is also interested in the actual workings of dreams, in how eents occur without
e;planation, time loses its normal sense of flow, and the impossible occurs as a matter of course>
he seeks to recreate this enironment in the pla' through the interention of the fairies in the
magical forest" !t the end of the pla', +uck e;tends the idea of dreams to the audience members
themseles, sa'ing that, if the' hae been offended b' the pla', the' should remember it as
nothing more than a dream" This sense of illusion and gau.' fragilit' is crucial to the atmosphere
of A Midsummer Nights Dream, as it helps render the pla' a fantastical e;perience rather than a
hea' drama"
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Moti-
Motifs are re$urring stru$tures, $ontrasts, and literary devi$es that $an help to develop and
inform the texts ma%or themes"
Contrat
The idea of contrast is the basic building block of A Midsummer Nights Dream" The entire pla'
is constructed around groups of opposites and doubles" Aearl' eer' characteristic presented in
the pla' has an opposite= &elena is tall, &ermia is short> +uck pla's pranks, 7ottom is the ictim
of pranks> Titania is beautiful, 7ottom is grotes,ue" 9urther, the three main groups of characters
/who are deeloped from sources as aried as -reek m'tholog', English folklore, and classical
literature2 are designed to contrast powerfull' with one another= the fairies are graceful and
magical, while the craftsmen are clums' and earth'> the craftsmen are merr', while the loers are
oerl' serious" Hontrast seres as the defining isual characteristic of A Midsummer Nights
Dream, with the pla'4s most indelible image being that of the beautiful, delicate Titania weaing
flowers into the hair of the ass-headed 7ottom" #t seems impossible to imagine two figures less
compatible with each other" The Bu;taposition of e;traordinar' differences is the most important
characteristic of the pla'4s surreal atmosphere and is thus perhaps the pla'4s central motif> there
is no scene in which e;traordinar' contrast is not present"
S$&#ol
&ym'ols are o'%e$ts, $hara$ters, figures, and $olors used to represent a'stra$t ideas or $on$epts"
Thee! an% Hi((ol$ta
Theseus and &ippol'ta bookend A Midsummer Nights Dream, appearing in the da'light at both
the beginning and the end of the pla'4s main action" The' disappear, howeer, for the duration of
the action, leaing in the middle of !ct #, scene i and not reappearing until !ct #I, as the sun is
coming up to end the magical night in the forest" Shakespeare uses Theseus and &ippol'ta, the
ruler of !thens and his warrior bride, to represent order and stabilit', to contrast with the
uncertaint', instabilit', and darkness of most of the pla'" Whereas an important element of the
dream realm is that one is not in control of one4s enironment, Theseus and &ippol'ta are alwa's
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entirel' in control of theirs" Their reappearance in the da'light of !ct #I to hear Theseus4s
hounds signifies the end of the dream state of the preious night and a return to rationalit'"
The Love Potion
The loe potion is made from the Buice of a flower that was struck with one of Hupid4s misfired
arrows> it is used b' the fairies to wreak romantic haoc throughout !cts ##, ###, and #I" 7ecause
the meddling fairies are careless with the loe potion, the situation of the 'oung !thenian loers
becomes increasingl' chaotic and confusing /@emetrius and *'sander are magicall' compelled
to transfer their loe from &ermia to &elena2, and Titania is hilariousl' humiliated /she is
magicall' compelled to fall deepl' in loe with the ass-headed 7ottom2" The loe potion thus
becomes a s'mbol of the unreasoning, fickle, erratic, and undeniabl' powerful nature of loe,
which can lead to ine;plicable and bi.arre behaior and cannot be resisted"
The Cra-t&en Pla$
The pla'-within-a-pla' that takes up most of !ct I, scene i is used to represent, in condensed
form, man' of the important ideas and themes of the main plot" 7ecause the craftsmen are such
bumbling actors, their performance satiri.es the melodramatic !thenian loers and gies the pla'
a purel' Bo'ful, comedic ending" +'ramus and Thisbe face parental disapproal in the pla'-
within-a-pla', Bust as &ermia and *'sander do> the theme of romantic confusion enhanced b' the
darkness of night is rehashed, as +'ramus mistakenl' beliees that Thisbe has been killed b' the
lion, Bust as the !thenian loers e;perience intense miser' because of the mi;-ups caused b' the
fairies4 meddling" The craftsmen4s pla' is, therefore, a kind of s'mbol for A Midsummer Nights
Dream itself= a stor' inoling powerful emotions that is made hilarious b' its comical
presentation"
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