1. A midsummer nights dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's early "festive comedies,"" written around 1595-6. 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. The play's title, for instance, refers to an English holiday custom: on "Midsummer Eve,"" or the night of the summer solstice on June 23, English men and women would spend the night outdoors around bonfires, telling supernatural tales of fairies and witchcraft. The play not only suggests this holiday, but also refers to "the rite of May,"" or "maying- - a similar English tradition that took place on the first night of May, when young men and women would engage in singing, dancing (and possibly more amorous pursuits) in the woods outside their towns. In other words, the play's title and plot recall English traditions in a way that suggests a combination of Halloween (Puck and the fairies) and a big rave (with love-juice instead of Ecstasy). 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. By making the play have a happy ending after all its midsummer madness, Shakespeare might seem to be defending such traditions against their critics, suggesting that they are actually benign, or even desirable. .
It is thought that Shakespeare wrote this play to be performed first at the country house of a young nobleman, as part of his wedding festivities. If this is true, A Midsummer Night's Eve presents an astonishingly complex set of self-referential scenes. When Shakespeare's company performed Act V, for instance, the noble men and women in the first audience of the play would be watching other noble men and women (Hippolyta, Theseus, Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander) doing on stage exactly what they themselves were doing in real life: watching a play meant to entertain them at a wedding.
A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream is a classic love story about two young would-be couples, and an aspiring actor named Bottom who end up being caught in the middle of a lovers quarrel between Oberon, the king of the fairies and Titania, his Queen. ... Just like how Michael Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream is based on a dream world, so are these little magical creatures named fairies. ... Peter Hall and Michael Hoffman are both very prestigious filmmakers and both of their versions tend to depict a very distinct image...
A Midsummer Nights Dream In Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the mortal teenage characters fall in love foolishly, and the character Bottom states, "O what fools these mortals be". ... Then let us teach or trial patience, Because it is a customary cross, As due to love, as thoughts and dreams and sighs, Wishes and tears, poor fancy's followers." ... William Shakespeare's A Midsummers Night's Dream shows how childishly foolish lovers can be....
William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play primarily on the difficulty of love. ... As the title alludes to, dreams are an important theme in A Midsummer Night's Dream; dreams are an important theme in the play. Hippolyta first words in the play show how essential dreams will be; "Four days will quickly steep themselves into night, Four nights will quickly dream away the time... Shakespeare loves the inter-workings of dreams, how they occur, and even the sense of lost time in dreams. ... In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare creates of wo...
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is just one of Shakespeare's many masterpieces. ... There are many different themes in "A Midsummer Nights Dream", and I will describe all of them to you. ... Conclusion So, in conclusion, "A Midsummer Nights Dream" has many qualities to it. ... I think "A Midsummer Nights Dream" is a popular play because of the qualities within it, and Shakespeare was defiantly ahead of his time when he wrote this for the stage....
The complex circle of love in A Midsummer Nights Dream', that Shakespeare portrays, contains both a crude and chaotic love, such as with Bottom and Titania, and a symbolic love, such as with Lysander and Hermia representing chastity. ... On the contrary Hippolyta feels the four days leading up to their wedding day is racing by, "Four will quickly steep themselves in night; four nights will quickly dream away the time."" ... In A Midsummer Night's Dream, love is a token thing dispersed by a sprite. ...
In A Midsummer Night's Dream there are 5 acts, even though it is not really necessary to have the last act due to the fact that a good amount of the action ends at the final scene of act 4. ... Almost one-half of the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, was the play, Thisbe & Pyramus. ...
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer night's dream", presents us with a complex and twisting plot, which is fairytale like and magical. ... Another occurring theme throughout the play is dream versus reality. ... So we are quickly led out of Athens and into the "dream world" into the woods. ... Though there is little character development of Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and no true protagonist, critics generally point to as the most important character in the play. ... "A midsummer night's dream" is a v...
SHAKESPEARE"S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT"S DREAM "THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH" The course of true love in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" never did run smooth. From not being able to marry the love of your choice Egeus is determined that his daughter, Hermia, will m...
Critique of A Midsummer Night's Dream I went to see Nevada Ballet Theatre's rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Friday October 4, 2002 at UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre. ... A Midsummer Night's Dream focuses around the tangled web of four lovers who are the subjects of Duke Theseus' court, and who get accidentally mixed up in the magical world of elves and fairies. ... Overall I really enjoyed watching A Midsummer Night's Dream. ...