A Midsummer.. (critical Analysis) 293t6m

Floribeth G. Rellen

B3-3

Critical Analysis: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy play, written by William Shakespeare around 1594 or 1595. It is about the adventures of four young lovers and a group of local workman and their interactions with woodland fairies. Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, so the couple came up with a plan and decides to elope. Hermia informs her best friend Helena who was once betrothed with Demetrius but Helena revealed the plan to Demetrius. In the forest there are some local workmen who are deciding to perform a play for Theseus as a way to celebrate his wedding with Hippolyta. Soon all find their lives changed by the doings of Oberon and Titania, the warring king and queen of the fairies, when Oberon ordered Puck to use a magical flower to Titania to make her fall in love with the first thing she sees. Puck plays cupid on the four lovers, he applies the magical flower on Lysander and Demetrius trying to solve their problems but it makes it worst. Now both loves Helena and Hermia is feeling unloved, and then starts the romantic and confusing chase in the forest. A Midsummer Night’s Dream deals with the theme of love and its complications. The story takes place in Athens, Greece so the stage is Greek styled. A Midsummer Night's Dream features young lovers who fall

amusingly in and out of love in a ridiculously brief period of time, over the course of a midsummer night. The dialogues being thrown by the actors in the play are both witty and romantic. The play starts by introducing us about the love quadrangle of the characters. Conflict arises in the forest when Oberon instructs his servant Puck to bring him a magic flower, that when sprinkled in one’s eyes, will fall in love with the first creature you see upon awakening. Puck's mistakes and pranks are the start of complications in the story. The climax of the play was the fight between Lysander and Demetrius; Helena and Hermia. During this scene in the woods, some harsh words are thrown around, and ugly things get brought up. Finally, Oberon decides that all of these must come to an end, and stops the chaos by putting them to sleep, and giving them the antidote. There are three groups of characters being introduced in the play. First are the group of lovers, next are the fairies, and lastly are the workmen. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest to a protagonist, with his magic, pranks, and mistakes; he makes the play exciting. The

play

ends happily,

the

workmen

performed

their play

successfully and the couples are happy with their partners. The ending for me is okay, though I’m not really fond of happy endings, because in reality not everyone ends up happily. Basically in the play you can contrast reality and a dream, as the title would tell it is a dream (A Midsummer Night’s Dream); the fairies, magic, and potions in reality doesn’t exist. But

above all else it is a nice play, it’s fictional, but still it’s a nice romantic comedy play. It tackles the nature of romantic love. It explains to us that love can make us irrational and foolish. As Lysander said, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Shakespeare suggests that love really is an obstacle course that makes us crazy.