Symbolism in “A Midsummer Dream” Essay Example

take place in the woods and characters are confused in taking their marriage partners so that none of them marries the person they love.

The major characters in the film include Puck who plays an important role in the story. Puck is mischievous and quick witted. His character traits are important as the set the whole play into motion as he posses magic. He makes pranks that are deliberate on the human characters for instance where he turns the head of Bottom into that of an ass. He also uses mistakes that are unfortunate for instance where he smears love portion on the eyelids of Lysander instead of those of Demetrius. Puck has good command of language which when combined with capricious spirit create a good atmosphere for the play. Puck has different character traits which make the play more interesting. Puck is not like the other fairies as he is more of graceful than saccharine. On the other hand, Nick Bottom is overconfident about himself and his life is surrounded by comedy that is hilarious. Bottom, unlike other characters, strongly believes in his abilities and dominates over others. He is comically incompetent as he makes many grammar mistakes while giving a speech. He is a character surrounded by humor as a result of his being unaware of his speechlessness. He tends to believe that every other character takes him in a serious manner just like himself. Helena is the other main character is Helena who is madly in love with Demetrius. She is the only character who deeply thinks about love and its nature.

The whole story in the film is a dream that has other

dreams within it. An example of a dream is when Hernia dreams of having fallen in love with what she describes as an ass. When the play almost comes to an end, Puck discloses the truth that nothing of the sought had happened in the play. From the title of the story, it is possible to tell the time period within which it took place. It is also possible to tell the nature of the story as it is described as a dream in the title. At the wedding, there is a play that takes place which is described as a play within a play. There are three categories of Shakespeare’s stories namely tragedy history and comedy (Shakespeare, 93). A midsummer dream is a play which consists of 5 subplots. The subplots include lovers where all characters are in love with each other. They are dedicated at ensuring that their love grows stronger and that their lives are better with their partners. The fairies are the other subplot and this is portrayed by mysteries that happen within the lives of different characters. Interlude is presented by things that happen at the end of the story.

There is the use of symbolism, imagery and allegory in the play. Love juice is used in scene 1 of the second act where Oberon uses juice from pansy that is fetched by Puck. Oberon describes it as ‘The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid. Will make or man or woman madly dote. Upon the next live creature that it sees (Shakespeare, 172)’. The stuff is used and seems to be working for many characters as they forget the ones they

love and become attracted and fixated on others. In real life, love takes the same course where teenagers easily fall in love with each other as a result of their bodies being controlled by hormones. They also fall out of love instantly and move on with other people. Roses are used as a symbol of virginity as Theseus tells Hernia ‘But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd, than that which withering on the virgin thorn. Grows lives and dies in single blessedness. (Shakespeare, 77)’ in this case, nuns are seen as holy and blessed. However, virginity is likened with the withering of a rose as it eventually fades. Based on this argument, virginity is seen as a temporal part of women life.

Shakespeare has used a dark tone in the beginning of the play where Hermia is faced with choosing between living as a nun or dying. This is after she tends to disobey her father by refusing to get married to the man he chose for her. As the play gets deeper, humor is revealed where lovers face challenges such as the love portion. The tone is changed to being lighthearted as the reader makes fun of the lovers (Bloom, 97). From the pitfalls that lovers go through in the play, Shakespeare makes it clear to the audience that there are many weird things that people do as a result of love. For instance, Titania falls deeply in love with a jackass, literally.

In conclusion, Shakespeare is successful in explaining the theme of love in the story. He explains the different challenges that face people who are already in love or are falling in love. Besides the

theme of love, he has also explained other themes such as gender and reality. The incorporation of different literal styles and themes has enabled Shakespeare to be successful in delivering the message behind the play home. Shakespeare has good command for language and his piece is interesting to the reader.

Work cited

• Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. , 2013. Print.
• Sobran, Joseph. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. Print.
• Bloom, Harold, and Janyce Marson. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2008. Print.