In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, William Shakespeare makes effective use of scenery to illustrate the recurring themes and motifs expressed throughout his play. The two biggest contrasts employed within this literary work are those of Athens and the forest. Athens, during the day, expresses the rationality and stability that is not seen elsewhere expressed throughout “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. On the other hand, the forest, especially at night, expresses the more mystical and magical side of the play. Finally, the wedding scene is employed to ridicule the lovers’ tiff in a satirical view of Shakespeare’s literary work. This literary analysis will guide the reader throughout the various scenes, and ultimately help bring him to a better
…show more content…
In the wedding, the newlyweds watch a play on Pyramus and Thisbe. The genre of the play is a great Greek tragedy, but since horrible actors act it, the newlyweds see only the ridiculousness of it. They mock the play, but that was their predicament the night before. For example, Theseus mocks lovers saying, “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact. One sees more devils than vast hell can hold—That is the madman” (Shakespeare 71). Nevertheless, he too is a lover—that of Hippolyta. They find the lovers’ plight very amusing, but that is only because they observe it as a spectator. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the lovers do not find their plight funny or amusing; the reader does and can thusly better understand the satirical jab Shakespeare was giving to his own work. That was the reason Shakespeare employed the play within the play concept. He wished to excuse himself if “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has found to be tiresome and overly ridiculous. This he expressed through Theseus at the wedding when he said, “The best in this kind [plays] are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them” (Shakespeare …show more content…
This was accomplished by introducing the two major scenes—Athens and the forest. It then continued by delving into what each was used to convey. Briefly, Athens was used to represent the more rational and controlled side of the play. The forest represented the more mystical side of the story. The three mystical attributes the forest represented were the fairies, love, and dreams. The paper then touched upon the use of the time in the day. Daytime was commonly employed during Athens and its rationality. On the other hand, nighttime was the usual period for the forest and the mystical. It was later shown that the mystical was not restrained by the time in the day, and actually seemed to overcome rationality. The last point the paper alluded to was the use of the wedding for satire. It excused the play of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through that of Pyramus and Thisbe. If this literary analysis “have offended, Think but this, and all is mended— That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream” (Shakespeare
In the wedding, the newlyweds watch a play on Pyramus and Thisbe. The genre of the play is a great Greek tragedy, but since horrible actors act it, the newlyweds see only the ridiculousness of it. They mock the play, but that was their predicament the night before. For example, Theseus mocks lovers saying, “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact. One sees more devils than vast hell can hold—That is the madman” (Shakespeare 71). Nevertheless, he too is a lover—that of Hippolyta. They find the lovers’ plight very amusing, but that is only because they observe it as a spectator. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the lovers do not find their plight funny or amusing; the reader does and can thusly better understand the satirical jab Shakespeare was giving to his own work. That was the reason Shakespeare employed the play within the play concept. He wished to excuse himself if “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has found to be tiresome and overly ridiculous. This he expressed through Theseus at the wedding when he said, “The best in this kind [plays] are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them” (Shakespeare …show more content…
This was accomplished by introducing the two major scenes—Athens and the forest. It then continued by delving into what each was used to convey. Briefly, Athens was used to represent the more rational and controlled side of the play. The forest represented the more mystical side of the story. The three mystical attributes the forest represented were the fairies, love, and dreams. The paper then touched upon the use of the time in the day. Daytime was commonly employed during Athens and its rationality. On the other hand, nighttime was the usual period for the forest and the mystical. It was later shown that the mystical was not restrained by the time in the day, and actually seemed to overcome rationality. The last point the paper alluded to was the use of the wedding for satire. It excused the play of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through that of Pyramus and Thisbe. If this literary analysis “have offended, Think but this, and all is mended— That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream” (Shakespeare