William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play packed with mischief and mayhem. It is often referred to by modern-day scholars as the Elizabethan Inception, as there are multiple examples of “play within a play” devices, each embodying several themes and concepts. Among these are examples of the contrast of tragedy and comedy, the dynamics of the written and spoken word, and imagination vs. reality.
The final scene of the play opens with the reappearance of Theseus and Hippolyta, who are pondering the elaborate and outlandish tale told by the Athenian lovers. Theseus dismisses it as a dream that they all concocted, a story “more strange than true”(). Hippolyta rebuts that statement, making the point that it is odd for all four people …show more content…
Along with their separate reasons of what really happened in the woods, they argue over the effectiveness of the “Pyramus and Thisbe” play performed by the workmen. Hippolyta is of the opinion that because of the amateur actors’ lack of talent, the true message and sentiment of the story cannot be conveyed. Theseus disagrees, saying that the actor’s intentions are the responsibility of the audience to interpret. He likes the simplicity of the play, which is brought out by the actors’ inexperience. This outlook of Theseus is interesting because, while at the beginning of Act I he was the voice of reason, and was dedicated to carrying out the law of the land, here he also has a soft spot for the ridiculous, choosing the "tedious brief" and "tragical mirth" () play because of the paradox in its …show more content…
He tries to manipulate the situation so that Helena gets her love, Lysander and Hermia stay together, and he can teach Titania a lesson on how to be a submissive and adoring wife. However, just as the laborers' play turns a tragic drama into a comedy, so does Oberon's when Puck accidentally puts the love-potion on the eyes of the wrong man. And yet Oberon's play also serves a counter purpose to the laborers' play. While the laborers' awful performance seems to suggest the limit of the theater, Oberon's play (or the events of A Midsummer Night’s Dream) altered the lives of the same mortals who mock the laborers' play, suggests that theater really does have a magic that defies
The final scene of the play opens with the reappearance of Theseus and Hippolyta, who are pondering the elaborate and outlandish tale told by the Athenian lovers. Theseus dismisses it as a dream that they all concocted, a story “more strange than true”(). Hippolyta rebuts that statement, making the point that it is odd for all four people …show more content…
Along with their separate reasons of what really happened in the woods, they argue over the effectiveness of the “Pyramus and Thisbe” play performed by the workmen. Hippolyta is of the opinion that because of the amateur actors’ lack of talent, the true message and sentiment of the story cannot be conveyed. Theseus disagrees, saying that the actor’s intentions are the responsibility of the audience to interpret. He likes the simplicity of the play, which is brought out by the actors’ inexperience. This outlook of Theseus is interesting because, while at the beginning of Act I he was the voice of reason, and was dedicated to carrying out the law of the land, here he also has a soft spot for the ridiculous, choosing the "tedious brief" and "tragical mirth" () play because of the paradox in its …show more content…
He tries to manipulate the situation so that Helena gets her love, Lysander and Hermia stay together, and he can teach Titania a lesson on how to be a submissive and adoring wife. However, just as the laborers' play turns a tragic drama into a comedy, so does Oberon's when Puck accidentally puts the love-potion on the eyes of the wrong man. And yet Oberon's play also serves a counter purpose to the laborers' play. While the laborers' awful performance seems to suggest the limit of the theater, Oberon's play (or the events of A Midsummer Night’s Dream) altered the lives of the same mortals who mock the laborers' play, suggests that theater really does have a magic that defies