A Midsummer Night's Dream Figurative Language Essay

Shakespeare uses figures of speech to give his beautiful poetry a boldness of imagery. Throughout the play, metaphors and similes masterfully serve to create a vision by comparing two things. Both are literary techniques used by Shakespeare to create hidden meanings and stories within his work. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a great example of how Shakespeare uses figurative language to discuss underlying meanings within the play. Shakespeare’s comparisons give the reader relatable emotion because of how thought- provoking they are. He uses these literary tools throughout his work to illustrate the tension between characters and magnify conflicts in his stories. A Midsummer Night’s Dream proves to be no different in that regard from Shakespeare’s …show more content…
By the end of the play, though, the dreams in the forest end up transcending reality. It’s those dreamy visions, and not the Athenian Law, that governs and guides the actions of the characters. The question arises then, if it was the inexplicable fantasies in the forest that solved the problems in the story, why is reason and rule considered more valuable than dreams? Through similes and metaphors that require the reader to think beyond what’s written, Shakespeare uses the story to offer an alternative to what people think of dreams. He proposes, that instead of being simply irrational illusions in our sleep, they can offer revelations from which people can gain tremendous insight. Dreams can actually transform reality through the power of transforming thoughts.
Robin’s final words to the audience are a good example of how Shakespeare uses metaphors in his plays. In this instance he compares the events in the play, or what appeared as reality, with a dream. The reference to shadows, visions and slumber gives the audience the feel of a dream and an option to act as though everything that has happened was only a dream and the characters were mere