William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is his most famous comedy, second only to A Comedy of Errors. Readers are commonly drawn to its dream-like quality and its many references to dreams. Shakespeare, a master of metaphor, emphasizes the fluid nature of reality in his use of the sky. While it is tempting to analyze Shakespeare’s references to individual aspects of the sky (e.g., the moon), Shakespeare alludes to so many features of the sky or the heavens, that it becomes apparent that all individual components of the sky serve to inform one many-layered metaphor. For the audience, this multi-layered metaphor creates the illusion of otherworldly-ness. The audience is struck by an almost incomprehensible reality. It is something out
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Lysander notices Hermia’s pale and anxious look, and asks why she is so, to which Hermia replies “Belike for want of rain, which I could well/Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.” (1.1.130-131). She has a revelation that she will either be without the man she loves or without her life. Shakespeare connects the anxiety and sadness of her revelation to the rain. He connects the way she tries to hide her emotions before they burst out with the way that the skies hold water until it comes literally storming onto the ground. Continuing the conversation about the cruel and confusing nature of love, Lysander says it is “Brief as the lightning in the collied night/That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth.” (1.1.145). Lysander is infuriated by the fact that love can happen in an instant and yet its consequences to one’s life are tremendous. This is yet another example of a sky metaphor, describing the sky’s overwhelming and uncontrollable qualities. Before the end of the first scene, Shakespeare has introduced the sky as a key element of the play, using variations such as the moon and thunderstorms, to indicate the one overarching concept of the
Lysander notices Hermia’s pale and anxious look, and asks why she is so, to which Hermia replies “Belike for want of rain, which I could well/Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.” (1.1.130-131). She has a revelation that she will either be without the man she loves or without her life. Shakespeare connects the anxiety and sadness of her revelation to the rain. He connects the way she tries to hide her emotions before they burst out with the way that the skies hold water until it comes literally storming onto the ground. Continuing the conversation about the cruel and confusing nature of love, Lysander says it is “Brief as the lightning in the collied night/That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth.” (1.1.145). Lysander is infuriated by the fact that love can happen in an instant and yet its consequences to one’s life are tremendous. This is yet another example of a sky metaphor, describing the sky’s overwhelming and uncontrollable qualities. Before the end of the first scene, Shakespeare has introduced the sky as a key element of the play, using variations such as the moon and thunderstorms, to indicate the one overarching concept of the