In Act 1 Scene 2, a group of actors are planning a play for the duke. They meet for the first time, decide parts, and sort out lines, and Bottom is one of these actors.
One of Bottom’s characteristics is being rather unintelligent. This is shown in his use of many oxymorons, such as ‘Monstrous little voice’. The adjective ‘Monstrous’ gives the impression of something hideous and large, which contradicts the adjective ‘little’. Little gives the impression of something beautiful and tiny. A voice can’t be both monstrous and little, which shows us that Bottom doesn’t always understand what he’s saying. Furthermore, Bottom writes in prose. When you compare his lines with the fairies’ lines, there is a large difference, as the fairies speak in alternate rhyming couplets, and in iambic pentameter. On the other hand, Bottom’s lines have mostly no rhyme, and an unclear beat. This shows he is incapable of poetry and beat, implying that Bottom is not clever. …show more content…
This is shown in the way he uses malapropisms, such as ‘call them generally, man by man’. Generally means calling them all together, whilst man by man means one by one. It is impossible to call them both altogether and one by one, so it doesn’t make sense. What Bottom most likely meant to say was individually. The use of this malapropism, as well as showing us he is unintelligent, also shows us how comical he can be. Another malapropism is where he says ‘aggravate my voice’ after Quince tells him that he will scare the ladies. The verb aggravate means to make worse. However, Bottom is responding to being too scary. If Bottom was to aggravate his voice, his voice would be worse, which is the opposite of what he wanted to do. Bottom probably confused moderate with aggravate, since they sound rather similar. This shows us how Bottom may not understand the meaning of what he
One of Bottom’s characteristics is being rather unintelligent. This is shown in his use of many oxymorons, such as ‘Monstrous little voice’. The adjective ‘Monstrous’ gives the impression of something hideous and large, which contradicts the adjective ‘little’. Little gives the impression of something beautiful and tiny. A voice can’t be both monstrous and little, which shows us that Bottom doesn’t always understand what he’s saying. Furthermore, Bottom writes in prose. When you compare his lines with the fairies’ lines, there is a large difference, as the fairies speak in alternate rhyming couplets, and in iambic pentameter. On the other hand, Bottom’s lines have mostly no rhyme, and an unclear beat. This shows he is incapable of poetry and beat, implying that Bottom is not clever. …show more content…
This is shown in the way he uses malapropisms, such as ‘call them generally, man by man’. Generally means calling them all together, whilst man by man means one by one. It is impossible to call them both altogether and one by one, so it doesn’t make sense. What Bottom most likely meant to say was individually. The use of this malapropism, as well as showing us he is unintelligent, also shows us how comical he can be. Another malapropism is where he says ‘aggravate my voice’ after Quince tells him that he will scare the ladies. The verb aggravate means to make worse. However, Bottom is responding to being too scary. If Bottom was to aggravate his voice, his voice would be worse, which is the opposite of what he wanted to do. Bottom probably confused moderate with aggravate, since they sound rather similar. This shows us how Bottom may not understand the meaning of what he