The play “A Midsummer Night's Dream” maybe was not the greatest comedy written by Shakespeare, but it was certainly an important piece of work to him as the drama was performed originally before the English noble audiences, including Queen Elizabeth I. In this play, Shakespeare boldly included abundant inappropriate contexts towards the queen, the newlyweds and as well as the entire upper-class audiences. This could be the reasons why he decided to end the play with an apology. As the most distinguished guest of the play, Queen I was one of the main targets of Shakespeare’s offensive comments. In the play, Theseus says to Hermia, “To live a barren sister all your (Hermia) life/… (to) Grow, live, and die, in single” threatening her to become
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Back in 1600s England, most noble class marriages were arranged by the couple’s parents. This was fully reflected in the play when Hermia’s father, Egeus, showed his preference of the desirable pattern for Hermia, “Stand forth, Demetrius.../This man hath my consent to marry her (Hermia)”. Whereas Lysander, who Hermia really loves, was deemed by Egeus as a thief of love, “Stand forth, Lysander.../This hath bewitch’d the bosom of my child,” and forced Hermia to marry Demetrius, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her—/Which shall be to this gentleman (Demetrius).” If the noble marriage was also arranged by their parents, this scene would presumably remind the newlyweds of some unpleasant memory about the arrangement to a person he/she never had affection for, and created awkwardness on the wedding day. However, if the young couple were rooted in true love, they would feel indignant about their embodiments in the play---Lysander and Hermia---being separated, even put to death, as the judgment made by Theseus, “Either to die the death or to abjure/Forever the society of men” further clarifies the consequences for pursuing a romantic relationship. In any case, the contents seem inappropriate to be included in a wedding play for it would offend the lovers in the wedding …show more content…
In the original performance, many actors were delegates and were supposed to represent some audience watching the play. For example, Tiantian and the Fair Queen have many comments with Queen Elizabeth I. In the play, Puck was the servant of King Oberon, and the nobles were under the administration of the queen, due to their similar status, Puck to some extent represents the nobles. In the woods, Puck saw the rehearsal of the play by the workmen and commented, “What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here” disrespecting the workers, which simultaneously reflected on the attitude of nobles towards the working class. For instance, the nobles evaluated people irrationally by their outfit, which showed how levity they were. Furthermore, Puck used the word “swaggering” in an ironic manner to describe the workmen, suggesting that they should stay cautious and reverent due to their worker status. Ironically however, it was Puch who covertly put the love juice on Lysander’s eyes, and then hid in the shadow. Even as superior as fairies, like Titania said, “We are their (humans) parents and original,” they can not live under the sunlight like a bunch of ignoble workmen, which implies that the nobles were not as honorable as they considered themselves to be. Furthermore, when Theseus was about to choose the worker’s play to be performed in the wedding’s day, Philostrate the
Back in 1600s England, most noble class marriages were arranged by the couple’s parents. This was fully reflected in the play when Hermia’s father, Egeus, showed his preference of the desirable pattern for Hermia, “Stand forth, Demetrius.../This man hath my consent to marry her (Hermia)”. Whereas Lysander, who Hermia really loves, was deemed by Egeus as a thief of love, “Stand forth, Lysander.../This hath bewitch’d the bosom of my child,” and forced Hermia to marry Demetrius, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her—/Which shall be to this gentleman (Demetrius).” If the noble marriage was also arranged by their parents, this scene would presumably remind the newlyweds of some unpleasant memory about the arrangement to a person he/she never had affection for, and created awkwardness on the wedding day. However, if the young couple were rooted in true love, they would feel indignant about their embodiments in the play---Lysander and Hermia---being separated, even put to death, as the judgment made by Theseus, “Either to die the death or to abjure/Forever the society of men” further clarifies the consequences for pursuing a romantic relationship. In any case, the contents seem inappropriate to be included in a wedding play for it would offend the lovers in the wedding …show more content…
In the original performance, many actors were delegates and were supposed to represent some audience watching the play. For example, Tiantian and the Fair Queen have many comments with Queen Elizabeth I. In the play, Puck was the servant of King Oberon, and the nobles were under the administration of the queen, due to their similar status, Puck to some extent represents the nobles. In the woods, Puck saw the rehearsal of the play by the workmen and commented, “What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here” disrespecting the workers, which simultaneously reflected on the attitude of nobles towards the working class. For instance, the nobles evaluated people irrationally by their outfit, which showed how levity they were. Furthermore, Puck used the word “swaggering” in an ironic manner to describe the workmen, suggesting that they should stay cautious and reverent due to their worker status. Ironically however, it was Puch who covertly put the love juice on Lysander’s eyes, and then hid in the shadow. Even as superior as fairies, like Titania said, “We are their (humans) parents and original,” they can not live under the sunlight like a bunch of ignoble workmen, which implies that the nobles were not as honorable as they considered themselves to be. Furthermore, when Theseus was about to choose the worker’s play to be performed in the wedding’s day, Philostrate the