Womans And Shakespeare Essay, Research Paper

A Critical Analysis of? A Midsummer Night? s Dream? William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest authors in literature. He dies in 1616 after finishing many sonnets and dramas. One of which is? A Midsummer Night? s Dream. ? They say that this drama is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare? s comedies. The subjects of the drama are dreams and world, love and thaumaturgy. This extraordinary drama is a play-with-in-a-play, which maestro authors merely write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a maestro author. Critics find it a undertaking to explicate the intricateness of the drama, audiences find it really delighting to read and watch. ? A Midsummer Night? s Dream? is a comedy uniting elements of love, faeries, thaumaturgy, and dreams. This drama is a comedy about five twosomes who suffer through love? s unusual games and the immorality behind the oblique fast ones. This drama begins as Theseus, the Duke, is fixing to get married Hippolyta. He woos her with his blade. Hermia is in love with Lysander. Egeus, Hermia? s male parent, forbids the relationship with Lysander and orders her to get married Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia, but she does non love him. On the other manus, Helena is in love with Demetrius. To settle the confusion, Theseus decides that Hermia must get married Demetrius or go a nun. In revenge to her male parent? s bid, Hermia and Lysander run off together. Amidst all the jobs in the human universe, Titania and Oberon, the faery queen and male monarch, continually argue about their assorted relationships that they have taken portion in. ( Scott 336 ) Titania leaves Oberon as a consequence of the statements. Oberon is hurt and wants retaliation on Titania. So he tells Puck, Oberon? s retainer, to set a thaumaturgy flower juice on her palpebras while she is kiping. This potion causes the victim to urgently in love with the first animal that they see. Oberon? s program is carried out, but the potion is besides placed on Lysander? s eyes. Lysander awakes to see Helena, who is aimlessly walking through the forests, and immediately falls in love with her. She thinks that he is doing merriment of her being in love with Demetrius, so she leaves and Lysander follows. This leaves Hermia to wake up entirely. Puck now has journeyed to the country where several histrions are practising. He uses his thaumaturgy to turn one of them into a donkey, in hopes that Titania will wake up to see it. Merely as planned, she awakes and falls in love with the donkey. Oberon and Puck overhear Demetrius and Hermia reasoning about their relationships and recognize that they had made a error. In hopes of work outing the job, Puck places charming juice on Demetrius while he is kiping. He awakes to Helena, who now has two work forces in love with her. Hermia is devastated because Lysander does non love her anymore. Helena and Hermia argue because Helena thinks that Hermia is in on the work forces? s? joke. ? All four argue and leave. Puck persuades them to kip all together and more of the counterpoison is placed on the eyes of Lysander. Titania besides receives another dosage of the potion, and awakes to her hubby Oberon. A ternary nuptials is planned and everyone is happy. ( thinkquest.com 1-3 ) Throughout the drama there are many mentions to the gender and sex functions of the characters. As described in the critical essay by Shirley Nelson Garner, the ruling male power and unusual sex functions of the characters is fluid throughout the drama. The ordination of the faery, human, and natural universes is a motion toward fulfilling work forces? s psychological demands ; but it besides disrupts adult females? s bonds with each other. The statement between Titania and Oberon arises from Titania? s focal point of attending toward a stolen Indian male child. Oberon uses his authorization to coerce Titania to give up the male child, and he is shocked when she disobeys him and leaves. Her fond regard to the male child is titillating, because she treats him similar to Bottom after she falls in love with him by a enchantment. The implicit in ground for Oberon? s ailment of Titania and the male child? s relationship is that he in secret wants the male child for himself. Oberon takes action because his power is threatened by Titania? s love for the male child. He needs her excessively, so he wins the male child for himself to do her feel inferior. In other words, Titania gave up something that she loved to do her hubby happy. This is seen in mundane life, adult females give up their wants to do their work forces happy. Titania? s forfeit for Oberon cost her to lose both her Indian male child and his female parent, her adult females lover. When work forces wear? Ts make adult females happy, they turn to their friends for what they need, whatever it may be. ( Scott 370-373 ) Male domination non merely exists between hubby and married woman, but besides between male parent and girl. Theseus will non let Hermia to get married Lysander. Theseus wants her to get married Demetrius. Egeus, a swayer, will coerce Hermia to go a nun unless she marries Demetrius. In revenge to his demands, Lysander and Hermia run off together. Hermia is scolded by Egeus for being in love with the adult male she chooses. This suggests that work forces cause adult females to experience forced and obligated to make as they say. ( Scott 373 ) Another illustration of male domination is the matrimony of Theseus and Hippolyta. Theseus? first married woman was frail and giving up, and he divorced her. Hippolyta has been a warrior, and Theseus? triumph over her makes her unable to defy. By suppressing the female warrior and get marrieding her, he fulfills his demand for the sole love of a adult female while fulfilling his homoerotic desires. Close adhering fulfills this homoerotic desire with a male comrade, such as Demetrius and Egeus. ( Scott 373-373 ) Male green-eyed monster and demand for laterality ruins adult females? s relationships with friends and besides turns to ferociousness. Hermia and Helena were one time intimate friends, but Helena is leery of Hermia? s engagement in the work forces? s? joke. ? Chemical bonds between adult females are merely every bit of import as work forces? s bonds with each other, but jealousy leads to the terminal of adult females? s felicity. When Helena pursues Demetrius, his male ferociousness is revealed when he rejects her for another adult female, diss her, and threatens to ravish her. Besides, when the work forces fall in love with her, she feels like the? butt of a joke. ? This stirs female insecurity and hurting, once more caused by old maltreatment from work forces. The submissive nature of adult females enables Hermia and Helena to bear their lover? s maltreatment. ( Scott 374-376 ) The rapprochement between Titania and Oberon, at the terminal of the drama, brings blessing to the human universe. This suggests that the felicity of the universe depend on the sum of love between twosomes. The jobs caused propose the heterosexual bonding is best. Merely as adult females have insecurities, work forces feel that if adult females joined together there will be no demand for work forces, perchance excepting them or preferring the friendly relationship and love between adult females to a man-woman relationship. This fright is partly based on world, but besides by projection. Since work forces have stronger bonds with each other, they exclude adult females from engagement in tinkles in which they care about ; they assume that adult female, if granted the chance would make the same. Work force? s chief belief is that dividing and suppressing adult females is the lone manner to maintain their power. ( Scott 376 ) The essay written by George A. Bernard shows the phantasy and world issues in the drama. The fantasy universe and existent universe exist apart from each other, ne’er meeting at any point. The dwellers of the fairy universe are unreal in the sense that they lack feelings and intelligence. The dream universe, beyond mortal? s comprehension, strongly influences the full kingdom of ordinary life. By nature of their humanity, Oberon? s power causes exposure in the human universe. This fairy land is basically a dream, which appears whenever ground goes to kip, and during this clip Oberon controls all things. Such semblances and dreams, created by Oberon, can be unsafe if they block out homo? s perceptual experience of world. As the drama proves, these dreams perform an of import map in life. ( Scott 381 ) Fairies, portion of the fantasy universe, live in the land in the vague, dream-like East. In this country, legends, myths, and impossible narratives originate. This placed is more normally called? the dream world. ? The East exists both during and after slumber. The faeries bring the narratives to you from the East. The faeries ne’er think and love, which explains all of the fraudulence and uneven events that go on during the drama. This is acceptable in their universe, because all the Torahs that govern the worl

d of reality have no existence in the dream world. The lover?s fall between these two worlds and are affected by both. The fairies make fools of the lovers, because humans are no accustomed to the fairy?s realm. In the real world, Hermia is sensible and Lysander is reasonable. They want to be together even against Egeus? commands, which is reasonable thinking. As soon as the two are alone, imagination takes control of them and they are blinded as to the misfortunes that are bound to cross the course of true love. This causes them to run away. (Scott 382-385) Mark van Doren explains the language and poetry in ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream? as an immense expanse of Shakespeare?s extraordinary poetic imagination. This imagination is vast enough to house fairy realms and the world of reality, including all the peculiar manifestations of either place. Also the ability to describe the separate and often quite dissimilar regions of the play?s universe by drawing on the rich resources of poetry. The words moon and water dominate the poetry of the play. (McIntosh 3) ??four happy days bring in another moon: but, O, me thinks, how slow. This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires? (McIntosh 1-3). As a result of their enormous allusive potential, these images engender am entire network of interlocking symbols that greatly enrich the text. The moon, water, and wet flowers conspire to extend the world of the play until it is as large as all imaginable life. The moon and water also explain the play?s mystery and naturality. The lover?s fall in and out of love like dolls, and like dolls they will go to sleep as soon as they are laid down. (McIntosh 3-4) Since the world is very large, there is plenty of room for mortals and fairies. Both are at home and sometimes seem to have exchanged functions with one another. Also, both mortals and fairies move freely in their own ?worlds.? In this world, the moon governs. (McIntosh 4) The choice of ballad emphasizes the enormous difference between the intellectual and cultural assumptions of Bottom, the author and the audience. Meanwhile the definite movement from spiritual transformation to dream is referred to as art. This mirrors the informing structure design of the play as a whole. The art form now becomes a way containing and triumphing over unbearable reality. ?Consider, then, we come but in despite. We do not come, as minding to content you, Our true intent is all for your delight, we are not here.? (McIntosh 5) ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream? is a play concerned with dreaming. Shakespeare reverses the categories of reality and illusion, sleeping and waking, art and nature, to touch upon the central theme of dreams. Dreams are truer than reality because it has a transforming power. Dreams are a part if the fertile, unbounded world of imagination. The Athenian lover?s flee to the wood and fall asleep, entering a charmed of dream. After their eyes were anointed, the world of supernatural at once takes over the stage, controlling their lives in a way they cannot guess at. The dreams come true, but are made to appear ?fruitless.? Without knowing the dimension of dream in our lives, there can be no real self-knowledge. (Garber 59-62) Delusion is the prelude to illusion. Lysander should produce this speech at a point when his actions are completely supernaturally or subconsciously controlled without the slightest hint of either reason or will. Reason has no place in the dream state, and when characters attempt to employ it, they frustrate their own ends. (Garber 62-63) The memory of the dream itself is vague, because as the mind tries to rationalize what has been dreamed it only distorts the image. The instinct of the mind sets boundaries, while the process of dream blurs and obliterates those boundaries. (Dutton 51) The pattern of the play is controlled and ordered by a series of vital contrasts: the conflict of the sleeping and waking states, the interchange of reality and illusion, reason and imagination, and the disparate spheres of the influence of Theseus and Oberon. All is related to the portrayal of the dream state. (Garber 65-72) In this dramatic world where dreams are a reliable source of vision and insight, consistently truer than reality, they seek to interpret and transform. (thinkquest.com 1) The imagery establishes the dream world in ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream.? The night creates a mysterious mood. At night, the fairy realm takes control. These fairies are brainless and deceitful, which leads to controversy between the mortals. The two worlds, united by moonlight, are active during their respectable times of the day. In the play, the fairy world is dominant, because there is only one scene containing daylight. The sounding of the horns while the sun rises announces the return of mortal sanity. The setting is imagery itself. The forest, with flowers, water, and the rest of nature seems to be away from the human world. This is a necessary setting for the dream world. (Draper 3173) The main theme in the play is dreams. As discussed before, dreams are truer than reality because they are part of the unbounded world imagination. (Magill 26) The fairies control the dreams; therefore they control your state of mind. Also a love-madness theme weaves together unrelated portions of the play. Shakespeare creates unity by flooding the play with moonlight. (Kenneth 29) Irony is a large element in the play. Many of the situations are ironic. Instead of attracting and falling in love with a gentlewoman, Theseus won Hippolyta with his sword. Also, Helena?s affection for Demetrius seems to make him hate her, but the hatred eventually turns to love. Helena constantly pursues Demetrius, just as deer chase tigers in the dream forest. Demetrius? cruel treatment ironically compels her to love him more. The fairy world has greater impact than the real world. This is ironic because the fairies have no intelligence or emotions like mortals. (Dutton 32-34) ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream? is said to be the most romantic of Shakespeare?s comedies. The fantasy world and erotic nature of the play draws interest to the play. This interest leads to the making of several different movies, and countless number of theater performances. The viewing of the play adds to its dramatic nature, allowing first hand contrast between how we felt and how someone else felt about the text. (Dutton 147-150) Shakespeare?s masterpiece, ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream,? parallels with ?Romeo and Juliet.? The similarity in characters and the plot suggest that ?Romeo and Juliet? was written before ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream.? This play is a natural reaction of Shakespeare?s mind to Romeo because of his attitude toward love and life. (Draper 3152) The similarities between the beginning of the Dream and the main situation of Romeo and Juliet are obvious. The forbidden love, deceit, and pain are all elements in the comparison. This suggests that Shakespeare borrowed and condensed material from ?Romeo and Juliet.? The two fathers, Capulet and Egeus, give the same orders to their daughters. Capulet: ?An you be mine, I?ll give you to my friend. An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets.? Egeus: ?As she is mine, I many dispose her: Which shall be either to this gentleman or to her death.? (Magill 72-75) Egeus is less brutal, but just as threatening as Capulet. Lysander and Hermia?s artificial complaint of love, the first in a series of hindrances in the course of true love. This is evidently a recollection of ?Romeo and Juliet.? Mercutio?s description of Queen Mab seems to have clearly been borrowed from ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream.? It has exquisite delicacy and daintiness of the Dream, but is not an integral part of ?Romeo and Juliet.? One element shared between the two plays directly is the moon. In ?Romeo and Juliet,? the moon brings the two star-crossed lovers together at night. The Moon unites the mortal and spiritual worlds in ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream.? The two catastrophes are almost identical, making it strange that he wrote a serious play directly after the comedy. (Magill 74-76) Many people, due to its ?magical? plot, read ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream.? Shakespeare wonderfully combines mystery, love, disaster, and comedy into one play. This play is the most romantic and intricate plays written by Shakespeare. Many people, past and present, find it to be popular due the interesting elements and storylines in the play.