The Mechanicals Play Analysis

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The scenes with The Mechanicals add to the play in a variety of ways. For instance, they represent important aspects and themes of the story, a different storyline that intertwines with the main one, a comedic tone/aspect throughout their scenes, and an underlying irony.
The Mechanical scenes portray important ideas and themes of the main plot. Their play was about Thisbe and Pyramus. Events that occurred to Thisbe and Pyramus also happened to the Athenian lovers. For example, Thisbe and Pyramus faced parental disapproval regarding their relationship as did Hermia and Lysander (Scene 1 Act 1, Line 56: “Wanting your father’s voice, the other [Demetrius] must be held the worthier”). This shows that Egeus approves of Demetrius marrying Hermia, but not Lysander. Thisbe and Pyramus also experience grief and confusion through the night just as the Athenian lovers did. For example, in
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This is due to the fact that their play is described, by Quince, as “the most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe” (Act 1 Scene 2, line 11-12). The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is tragic and most certainly not a comedy. However, the Mechanicals’ poor acting and choreography skills make the play itself amusing rather than the actual storyline. The Mechanicals themselves are also ironic pertaining to their names. For example, Quince is the leader/director of the play, yet his writing and directing is appalling and he follows more of Bottom’s ideas. another example is of Snug because he gets to play the part of a lion. However, he’s worried about learning his lines even though he just has to roar. Shakespeare also incorporates the Mechanicals in the play to form a foundation for the ironic structure of the entire play. For example, the whole situation with the Athenian lovers and how everyone’s feelings got mixed

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