Many writers of the time were self-conscious literary artists but Shakespeare seemed to be more intent on the entertainment value of his plays and less on being a classicist. So he drew on various sources and themes from classical to popular culture. He used the literary traditions not just to give his characters beautiful poetry to recite but also to explore popular concepts; often this exploration used humour and satire to explore Elizabethan ideas.
In Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare explores the themes of courtly love and pastoral romance once again (see As You Like It) and with more comic effect. As a dramatist Shakespeare chose his stories from diverse sources, and then fitted it into the Elizabethan English stage. His main aim was …show more content…
It quickly went into two editions.
Midsummer in the European context refers to the summer solstice (June 21). In Shakespeare’s time it was on June 24, and also celebrated as the birthday of John the Baptist. The folk belief that summer heat could cause madness (we are talking of temperate regions here with far milder summers than the sub tropical or tropical regions) was perhaps rooted in the fact that mild sunstrokes could bring on hallucinations. It was also the night when the natural and supernatural worlds were believed to mingle.
This play is a dream - the whole play occurring over one midsummer night, when the world of men comes in touch with the world of the fairies. It is a light hearted fantasy which explores various kinds of love and its characters are mostly men and women in love.
Theseus and Hippolyta had their origins in Chaucer's "Knight's Tale. In Greek legend Theseus was the King of Athens sometime before the Trojan War. He is a hero who united the small kingdoms under him. However, here he is referred to as Duke of …show more content…
One of them is a weaver named Bottom. Puck comes across them and plays a prank. He gives Bottom the head of an ass, the other men run away in fear. Puck then anoints sleeping Titania’s eyes and together with Oberon, makes sure that she sees the ass-headed Bottom when she awakens. Titiana falls in love with Bottom.
Meanwhile Puck has mixed up Lysander and Demetrius and mistakenly anoints Lysander’s eyes. When Helena awakens him, he falls in love with her and rejects Hermia. There is much confusion. Oberon manages to anoint Demetrius with the potion. Now both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Helena and she thinks they are making fun of her.
The bewitched Titania has given Oberon the changeling and he undoes the magic; Bottom’s ass-head is removed and he returns to the city completely unaware of the incident.
The lovers who are now lost in the forest and busy chasing and confusing each other ultimately fall into an exhausted asleep. While they sleep, the fairies correct the mistake so that Lysander is back in love with Hermia and Demetrius remains in love with
In Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare explores the themes of courtly love and pastoral romance once again (see As You Like It) and with more comic effect. As a dramatist Shakespeare chose his stories from diverse sources, and then fitted it into the Elizabethan English stage. His main aim was …show more content…
It quickly went into two editions.
Midsummer in the European context refers to the summer solstice (June 21). In Shakespeare’s time it was on June 24, and also celebrated as the birthday of John the Baptist. The folk belief that summer heat could cause madness (we are talking of temperate regions here with far milder summers than the sub tropical or tropical regions) was perhaps rooted in the fact that mild sunstrokes could bring on hallucinations. It was also the night when the natural and supernatural worlds were believed to mingle.
This play is a dream - the whole play occurring over one midsummer night, when the world of men comes in touch with the world of the fairies. It is a light hearted fantasy which explores various kinds of love and its characters are mostly men and women in love.
Theseus and Hippolyta had their origins in Chaucer's "Knight's Tale. In Greek legend Theseus was the King of Athens sometime before the Trojan War. He is a hero who united the small kingdoms under him. However, here he is referred to as Duke of …show more content…
One of them is a weaver named Bottom. Puck comes across them and plays a prank. He gives Bottom the head of an ass, the other men run away in fear. Puck then anoints sleeping Titania’s eyes and together with Oberon, makes sure that she sees the ass-headed Bottom when she awakens. Titiana falls in love with Bottom.
Meanwhile Puck has mixed up Lysander and Demetrius and mistakenly anoints Lysander’s eyes. When Helena awakens him, he falls in love with her and rejects Hermia. There is much confusion. Oberon manages to anoint Demetrius with the potion. Now both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Helena and she thinks they are making fun of her.
The bewitched Titania has given Oberon the changeling and he undoes the magic; Bottom’s ass-head is removed and he returns to the city completely unaware of the incident.
The lovers who are now lost in the forest and busy chasing and confusing each other ultimately fall into an exhausted asleep. While they sleep, the fairies correct the mistake so that Lysander is back in love with Hermia and Demetrius remains in love with