Category: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedic masterpiece that raises questions on power, gender, and the deception of love which facilitates the drama culmination. Elizabethan norms included patriarchal authority, which Shakespeare not only questioned throughout the play, but also challenged. During Elizabethan times, the predominant role that women played was that of…

Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is widely regarded as nothing more than a romantic tale of light drama. Although the play is beautiful and funny, there’s also a clear trace of dark themes and violence, a twisted underside that’s distinct from its loving themes. Midsummer may conclude with a series of happy weddings, but…

Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, gender stereotypes prevail as a main source of comedy. As the audience, we notice this common theme between character relationships in certain scenes and events that occur within the play and the many film adaptations. It ultimately provides this idea of men having more control and greater power over women.…

In the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, one of the many themes of the play is love. During the play, there is a major wedding happening for The Duke and Amazon Queen, Theseus and Hippolyta. The play takes place in Athens, Greece, and is mainly focused around four lovers: Helena, Demetrius, Hermia,…

This passage from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is situated at the beginning of the play and forms part of the exposition. In it, Lysander and Hermia are together alone for the first time on stage. They are both upset because Hermia is forced, by her family, to marry Demetrius or to become…

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by William Shakespeare, several characters reveal selfish and self-centered behaviour that result in unhealthy relationships. To begin with, Helena demonstrates self-centered behaviour when she exposes Hermia and Lysander’s plan to run away. In addition, Hermia’s behaviour towards Helena shows selfishness when she blames Helena for Lysander and Demetrius loving her…

The works of William Shakespeare evince great fascination and entertainment for the overarching themes orchestrated by the plot and characters. The theme of illusion versus reality is employed in many Shakespearean plays, allowing for the saturation of dramatic irony. In this way, the audience becomes increasingly aware of the feelings, motives, and behaviours of each…

In Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has many comedic moments and the acting is quite humorous. There is also plenty of chaos ( love and hate relationship) between lovers that is resolved by the end, resulting in marriage. However, as a reader, I find that whole idea about women is not so humorous when…

To what extent does A Midsummer Night’s Dream endorse male superiority? A Midsummer Night’s Dream amplifies gender tensions that derive from problematic family and romantic relationships. When the play begins, a young woman squabbles with her father for the right to choose her own husband, the duke is set to marry a woman he overthrew…

William Shakespeare is well-known for commonly utilizing the motif of characters trying to outsmart fate—Macbeth denying the prophecies of the three witches, Romeo and Juliet falling in love when the world is against them, etc.—and this remains true in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, this text is likely the one with the most explicit use…