They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare's comedies. ... Oberon's plan is carried out, but the potion is also placed on Lysander's eyes. ... When men don't make women happy, they turn to their friends for what they need, whatever it may be. ... Since men have stronger bonds with each other, they exclude women from participation in tings in which they care about; they assume that woman, if granted the opportunity would do the same. ... This fairy kingdom is essentially a dream, which appears whenever reason goes to sleep, and during this time Oberon...

• Word Count: 2837
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

They function in a larger cultural context and are products of their society, with which they interact. ... However, on closer examination they are heterogeneous. ... They are explanatory figments of the imagination. ... "Tales, description and anecdotes of the fairies from all over the country and, indeed, from all over the world, make it clear that they are not generally conceived as existing in a independent and self-contained state, but have great concern with mortal things" (Briggs, The Fairies in Tradition and Literature, 95). ... Miller, author of the critical essay, "A M...

• Word Count: 9832
• Approx Pages: 39
• Grade Level: High School

Despite the many thematic references to "dreams- and the fantastic setting of the Athenian forest, the play also contains a fair amount of commentary on Shakespeare's contemporary English world. ... At the time that the play was written, these traditions had come under attack by the English Puritans, who thought that they were "pagan- practices that gave the people too much opportunity for mischief. ... Hippolyta counters with the more sympathetic idea that even impossibilities can be powerful and moving when they are represented well. ... Rather than marry a man she despis...

• Word Count: 10864
• Approx Pages: 43
• Grade Level: High School