Natalie Tham

A Midsummer Nights Dream

A Midsummer Nights Dream is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is
a comedic play, and is thought to have been written between 1595 and 1596.
The play revolves around three central parties- The Athenians, The Fairies, and
The Mechanicals. The play tells the story of Hermia, Lysander, Helena and
Demetrius, four young Athenian lovers who all run off into the woods, trapped in
a complicated love-square (as opposed to a love triangle). These events unfold
as Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, the
Queen of the Amazons. The play is set mostly in a mystical forest, where The
Mechanicals and fairies reside. The play draws on various historical contexts
during Elizabethan times, some of which I will be exploring in the paragraphs
that follow.
The title of the play is said to make a direct reference to Midsummer Eve,
also known as St Johns Day, which is celebrated on June the 23 rd during the
summer solstice (however specific dates vary between cultures). The festival is
celebrated on a fairly large scale, with the lighting of bonfires to keep evil spirits
at bay, as well as lots of partying outdoors, drinking, and collecting medicinal
herbs. It is associated with the spirit realm, as it is thought that this was the time
when spirits roamed about causing mischief. This is significant as the fairies play
a very important role in the play and can be said to be directing the plot. Citing
The William Shakespeare Book Club, midsummer dew was also said to have
special magical healing powers, and women often bathed in dew to make
themselves more fertile. There is a belief that a special plant flowers only during
the night of Midsummer Eve, which gave the person who picked it the ability to
understand the language of the trees. It was not uncommon for young girls to
place flowers under their pillows in hopes of dreaming about their future lovers.
The play is set in Athens in early Greece, which was very recognizable as
educated people at the time were familiar with the plays and myths of ancient
Greek and Roman literature. Many stories were told about fairies and pucks,
which made the play all the more relatable. Some critics believe that the play
was written for particularly and performed at a wedding, to which Queen
Elizabeth I was a guest. This is again important as the play opens with wedding
preparations for the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. Shakespeare did not
come up with these characters himself, and was instead heavily influenced by
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-400), an extremely famous English poet. In his poem
The Knights Tale, he writes about Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and his wife
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. It tells the tale of how Theseus won over
Hippolyta by conquering the powerful female warriors: the Amazonians. Theseus
also brings back Hippolytas sister Emeyle, who was being sought after by
Palamon and Arcite. The two men met in the middle of the woods to fight over
Emeyle. In comparison, in the Midsummer Nights Dream, Lysander and
Demetrius end up fighting over Helenas love. It is also widely speculated that
Shakespeare was inspired by the great literary works at the time, namely
Plutarchs Life of Theseus and Ovids Metamorphoses, from which he obtained
inspiration for the characters Pyramus and Thisbe.
Fairies and spirits were significantly popular figures in sixteenth-century
Elizabethan stories. Many people then believed that fairies existed, especially
those in a lower class. In Elizabethan folklore, Puck, also known as Robin

Natalie Tham
Goodfellow, is a household sprite who constantly plays aggravating tricks on
people, however sometimes helped them with household chores. Fairies were
thought to be evil spirits who kidnapped children and sacrificed them to the
devil. However, Shakespeare redefined fairies into fairly tamer, more gentle
spirits, although they still get up to all sorts of mischief. Looking at the political
and historical context of the play, it is useful to note that Queen Elizabeths
nickname was The Fairy Queen, known as Titania in the play.