Analyzing The Character Of Puck In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Being clever and proud of oneself is healthy, but an egotistic nature and slyness is not. In William Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck, a fairy and servant of Oberon, exhibits these traits. He is self-centered and loves to make a joke out of others by fooling them. Through Puck’s speech and actions, he can be characterized as mischievous and arrogant.
Puck is displayed as mischievous through his actions done on other characters. When Puck is communicating with an unnamed fairy, the fairy states that Puck “Mislead night wanderers, laughing at their harm?” (2.1.40). The phrase, “mislead night wanderers” demonstrates his mischief because when night wanderers ask Puck for directions, he misguides them by telling them the wrong directions. Besides the fact that Puck deceives people, he “laughs at their harm” as well, thinking that his duplicity is humorous and funny. Through his actions, Puck is depicted as a sly and cunning character.
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When the fairy asks if Puck is “that shrewd and knavish sprite” (2.1.33), Puck proudly responds that he is. He states, “I am that merry wanderer of the night” (2.1.43). The key words phrase, “I am” suggests how proud he is to be that person who tricks people. Because Puck is proud of the fact that he tricks people, he simply continues to do more. He describes himself as a “merry wanderer” which indicates that Puck titles himself as an important person in society. When Puck describes himself as important, it signifies that he is an arrogant character. Through his speech with other characters, Puck is portrayed as

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