Midsummer

What is love? Aside from being an excellent song by Haddaway, it is a favorite subject and theme of William Shakespeare’s work. In the play A Midsummer’s Night Dream, A tale of four people Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena who go into a forest and encounter some fairies and leave ready to marry each other which they do along with Theseus the king of Athens and his beloved Hippolyta queen of the amazons (no not the online shopping company). It also happens to be one of Shakespeare’s most…

Love is hopeless. Love is fruitless. Love is good. Love is stupid. Love is kind. Love is biblical. Love is spiritual. Love confuses me. Love is scary. Love can be described as nothing besides love. Love is always in the air, that’s why there are so many b***** children such as the demon, elf child Pearl in the Scarlet Letter. Teenage love is especially terrifying, due to its unpredictability. Do Romeo and Juliet ring a bell? That nymphomaniac Juliet had Romeo committing suicide for her, or was…

Oberon and Robin Oberon. I believe Oberon would be better suited for today's world. In Shakespeare’s Fantasy/Comedy A Midsummer's Night Dream, There are four intertwined lovers playing for each others hearts. Along with the lovers there are everyday people practicing for plays and royalty preparing for their weddings. Behind the scenes though there are fairies. A King, A Queen and their loyalists. These fairies are here to make all well, but as the king and queen bicker about custody of a child…

An Influence Never Forgotten Regardless of age or ethnicity, at some point during life, most people read and even quote Shakespeare. Through his writing, Shakespeare shaped many areas of modern life including speech, future writers, and standards of entertainment. His impacted the English language tremendously, coining many common phrases which people use in everyday language. In addition to this huge contribution on languages, Shakespeare created a well known style of sonnet which many poets…

Halloween is the only day of the year when wearing a scary costume, asking strangers for food, and scaring people is acceptable. Being a clown would be the best Halloween costume, even though it would be more tricks than treats. To the regular eye clowns seem cute and funny, but some see the real truth behind them. Clowns are sinister. A clown is one of the most scary things, making it the perfect Halloween costume. Clowns are real, unlike monsters or zombies. Clowns are at birthday parties,…

Throughout many Greek myths whether it is The Quest of the Golden Fleece or the heroic story of Theseus, love is a major player in the events that unfolds. Medea’s love for Jason and Ariadne’s love for Theseus had both played a big role in the success of each hero’s respective missions. The role of love may be important but the pursuit of love is just as important because it affects the characters emotionally and physically as well as lead to unanticipated events. In one particular myth, a…

Constantin Stanislavski was born in Russia in 1863 and disproved of the acting style at the time, he felt performances did not reflect reality as acting techniques were mechanical and lacked real feelings. To counter this overused system Stanislavski formed his own acting school and devised a system to help actors bring reality into their performances, today this is known as 'Method Acting' or more simply, 'The Method'. In the Shakespeare duologue my partner and I have produced I used some of…

In the play “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” written by William Shakespeare, all the lovers are swapped around exceedingly that they seem almost interchangeable. The similarities and confusion of love between characters causes love itself to seem like an illusion. The characters should have been clearly distinguished to make the play comprehensive, therefore, characters are not wrongly identified. Shakespeare should have used a technique in which the audience would be able to make not only…

Love is Overrated, Right? Saying one thing and doing another is a very common occurrence, and reveals one's true self. Though much of Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night is focused and revolved around Countess Olivia and what she does, her thoughts and actions prove to be very jellylike, allowing some to believe she is the most self-indulgent, overrated character in the play. One weakness that makes her an overrated character is her erratic behavior. In the very first scenes of the play, we…

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…