Topic: In some of Shakespeare’s plays fate is the unseen motivator of mortals. Which character acts as fate or the motivator in ‘A Midsummer’s Nights Dream? Shakespeare’s known for many of his plays, such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. One of his favourite themes for his plays is fate, but to activate that theme/idea he requires a character to act out as an unseen motivator of fate. The play Midsummer’s Night Dream is no exception.
Friar Lawrence: Unnoticed Importance In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, many secondary characters play an essential role in the play. Friar Lawrence is one of the most important secondary characters in the play. He marries Romeo and Juliet, helps Romeo and Juliet grow in their love for one another, and eventually helps end the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. He helps the characters in the play grow in a way they would not have on their own. Friar Lawrence affects the action of Romeo and Juliet by marrying Romeo and Juliet, helping Romeo escape Verona safely, and helping them reunite by giving Juliet a sleeping potion to fake her death.
In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the two main protagonists are very similar in based of personality traits, but it is also shown that they are still very different individuals and whose characteristics have a bigger impact on the play. Romeo, the son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague, whose actions have escalated the family feud between his family and the Capulets. Romeo was love struck the moment she saw Juliet, that the same day “[they] met, [they] woo’d, and made exchange of vow” (Shakespeare, Act 2 Scene 3 62). In a sudden action of haste, he asked Friar Lawrence “that thou consent to marry us today” (Act 2 Scene 3, 64); all of this because of what he has been feeling ever since he met her. Not only he is impulsive, but he is also devoted.
This, to the audience, will seem ridiculous and unnecessary creating a subtle sense of humour. Nearing the end of Act 2 we learn about Viola’s plans for her disguise in order to appear less vulnerable. She then goes on to say ‘thou shalt present me as an Eunuch to him’ which will yet again appear an overdramatic act to the audience. In act 3, Sir Toby Belch is introduced into the play. Shakespeare’s wit and word play used even for simply just the names of the characters can build up laughter.
William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright of all time. His gift for developing characters is one major aspect that accounts for this high acknowledgement. Shakespeare created various characters ranging from drunks and fools to kings and generals. The complexity of his characters is a perfect reflection of human nature thus allowing the audience to relate to them and to understand what they themselves are capable of. As a result of Shakespeare's true-to-life characters, the relationship between Katherine and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew is completely realistic, reflective of every aspect of the ever-present experience of sibling rivalry.
Of course MAAN follows Shakespeare’s traditional comedy structure but modern critics have their own agenda that a comedy, being such a complex genre, should conform to. Since the time of the ancient Greeks critics have struggled to define it, Plato described it as a series of events you would ‘blush to practice yourself’. Susan Snyder who writes for the Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Company, states that - ‘Comedy involves men of middling estate, its perils are small scale, its outcomes peaceful’. This is an excellent summary for the majority of Shakespeare’s plays; however it is not necessarily accurate in relation to MAAN. It is true to say that a comedy involves ‘men of a middling estate’, in MAAN the protagonists share the company of the Prince Don Pedro, and are socially superior to the watchmen such as Dogberry and Verges.
Shakespeare quite obviously plays with the conventions of Petrarchan characters and their views of desire throughout the play but most significantly towards the beginning. Romeo is introduced as a character that seems to be blinded by love, his desire for Rosaline is over powering, shallow and foolish – “He that is strucken blind cannot forget / The precious treasure of his eyesight lost” (1.1.225-226). Shakespeare has created Romeo to resemble the typical ‘Petrarchan lover’ speakers that are found in Petrarch’s sonnets, we hear Romeo obsessing over Rosaline whom like ‘Laura’ from Petrarch’s sonnets is unattainable to Romeo, as she is choosing to remain celibate - "She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow / Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (1.1.216-217) Shakespeare has purposefully created Romeo and Rosaline with these similarities to Petrarchan conventions in mind as he is able to successfully critique the discourse of desire through the growth of Romeo in the play and the introduction of Juliet. Shakespeare also relies on the fact that his audience are aware of ‘what’s in store’ for Romeo, allowing him to create a clichéd and conventional character - “The theatre audience knows that
Sally Nguyen English 12 Mrs. Heather Carreiro December 1st, 2014 Patriarchy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream In the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare illustrates the idea of patriarchy through characters like Theseus, Egeus and also in the fairy world through Oberon; this play shows what male domination is and what difference between genders in late of 16th century. The idea of patriarchy appears between relationships like marry couples, lovers or family, however there aren’t many choices available for women in general and specifically for women roles in this play. The play begins with the conversation between Hippolyta and Theseus about the wedding night. When Theseus pointed out, Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword And when thy love doing thee injuries. But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling.
Secondly when the play is set in the scene of Athens, Shakespeare has set the play in the day and shows this through the seriousness of the play when the play moves back to Athens rather than the woods. Athens is a place where the state and patriarchal authority is present and the power of the men over women is imposed in a savage way. This situation is reflected in Egeus authority over his daughter Hermia, who wants to marry Lysander but his father opposes. However when the play moves to the theme of the woods the audience sees a change in the play, this goes from the serious life of Athens to the mythical life of the woods, in which the audience are introduced to the fairies which shows the contrast between the life that the characters live in in Athens and the life that they live in the woods. This is
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream The stage production of William Arden Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by a British director Tim Supple was one in a million-that everyone talked about it and questions rode questions, on how the performance went. ‘It is the best production I have ever seen. What grapples me most, is the cast, ravaging with a rich choreography’, this was said by the British Ambassador to India in a chat with Times of India. The almighty dramatist play was sponsored for production by the British Council, India. Staged at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, on Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi, on the 3 of March, the old, but became-new play was performed by what Mr. Supple described as ‘an all Indian and Sri Lankan cast’, spoken in many languages, from English to Hindi and Bengali.