Puck

“A bushel and a peck...a bushel and a peck...a bushel and a peck with a hug around the neck!” My grandpa Richard would make sure he sang that tune to us before my brother, my two cousins, and myself would leave our weekly visits. His sharp whiskers and toothpick coming out of the side of his mouth gave an odd sense of comfort as he nuzzled our cheeks with his own. He had smoked for over 15 years. After multiple, frustrating arguments he abandoned his addiction cold turkey in replacement for the…

An unknown author once said, “Some people create their own storms, then get upset when it rains.” Irony can be seen in three different ways, which include dramatic, verbal, and situational irony. Verbal irony is when the opposite of what is meant, is said. Dramatic irony is when the audience or some characters know something that others don’t. Situational irony is when when the opposite of what you expect to happen, happens. During the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia and Lysander were in…

Would you rather be single or be with the wrong person? In the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, the Swedish singer Christine Daae is torn in a weird love triangle between two men: the handsome, rich, yet controlling and jealous Raoul, the Viscount of Chagny and the mysterious, talented, yet ugly and violent Erik, the Opera Ghost. Raoul was Christine’s childhood sweetheart and he wants to win her back. Erik is a masked man that slowly falls in love with Christine, while he hides…

William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is a well-known comedy, a tale of lovers, haters and everything in between. The play focuses on two lovers who are captivated by each other’s looks the two care for little more in each other. On the other hand, another two lovers, Beatrice and Benedick, challenge each other’s quick wit and on the surface, seem to be a pain or burden to one another, yet they always find themselves talking or thinking about the other. Throwing insults, or witty humor…

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is commonly known as one of literature’s finest romances, but it is actually one literature’s most ironic romances. While it is a well-written piece of literature, it is a very unrealistic and sudden story of how two star-crossed lovers meet and end. Since Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is formed during a few days, the two are not truly in love. The couple was not truly in love, but rather they were carried away with their emotions, tried to escape their…

“Why are you grown so rude? What change is this, / Sweet love?” (Shakespeare 2.3.272-273) Hermia responds to Lysander’s change in feelings caused by a love potion. Hernia is a static character while Lysander is dynamic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this play written by Shakespeare, there are many characterizations, dramatic techniques, and themes. Likewise, playwright Henrik Ibsen used many of the same techniques in A Doll’s House. One prominent technique used by both playwrights is…

“A tragedy is a tragedy, and at the bottom, all tragedies are stupid. Give me a choice and I'll take A Midsummer Night's Dream over Hamlet every time. Any fool with steady hands and a working set of lungs can build up a house of cards and then blow it down, but it takes a genius to make people laugh.” In comedy, the only characteristic shared between comedies is their want to make people laugh, and it can be difficult to pull off such a seemingly simple task. As defined by the New Oxford…

Cate: Lysander and Helena Avery: Demetrius and Hermia Lines 190-345 Lysander: I had to find Helena as quickly as I could because I love her. Why are you looking for me? Do you think I don’t like you anymore? Hermia: What you are saying must be false. Helena: Hermia, you are trying to trick me too! You are all trying to play this trick on me. Hermia, why would you do this to me, we have been friends forever! You are like a sister to me! Why do you want to destroy our friendship to hurt me!…

A Midsummer’s Nightmare Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream suggests that its relationships are happy ones, but this suggestion is complicated. In fact, the interplay between each of the couples indicates a nefarious quality present in all these relationships. This sinister quality can become even undeniably present in productions of this play. Brown writes that while scholars cannot consider any performance to be an authoritative adaptation, every performance brings interpretative…

The fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are much like the mythological water beasts sirens. Both are manipulative, humanlike, and romantically inclined. Despite their similarities, both their motives and their means of interaction with humanity vary- as do their appearances. Shakespeare’s fairies are playful and mischievous, but ultimately not evil creatures. They cause both harm and good, indeed both the conflict and resolution of the story are caused by the fairy’s shenanigans. Fairies…