Hamlet and a Midsummer Nights Dream - 1870 Words

In one of AMND’s most enduring passages, Lysander states (Act one scene one, line 134) ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ The conflict that is inevitably born out of love is a central theme at the heart of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream and Hamlet, but is extended by Shakespeare not only to romantic relationships, but to familial bonds as well. The conflict is ultimately resolved in diametrically opposing ways in each play, according to the conventions of their respective genres. Hamlet is a tragedy, and therefore can result only in death, but AMND, as a comedy, uses the traditional method of marriage to resolve its conflict. Shakespeare opens AMND with the relationship between Athenian Duke Theseus and Amazonian warrior†¦show more content†¦When Polonius finds out that Ophelia has been conducting a romance with Hamlet, he insists that she no longer have contact with the prince: ‘I will teach you. Think yourself a baby.’ (1.3.105) Polonius convinces Ophelia that she has been naà ¯ve and stupid to believe Hamlet’s professions of love: ‘Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl.’ (1.3. 101) In Polonius’s dialogue, Shakespeare repeatedly employs images of Ophelia as a child to portray how her father psychologically controls her, by making her dependent on his commands, as a young child would: ‘I shall obey, my lord.’ (1.3.136) In AMND Shakespeare constructs a similar conflict around a father-daughter relationship, as Egeus wants his daughter Hermia, to marry Demetrius and not her lover, Lysander. Shakespeare draws upon ancient Greek mythology to portray his characters and their respective philosophies. Egeus displays Apollonian attributes as he paternalistically favours a strict adherence to the law above all else, even to the point of death: ‘As she is mine, I may dispose of her†¦or to her death according to our law.’ (1.1.43) Egeus commoditises his relationship with his daughter, as he considers her a possession to be controlled and exploited. Like Polonius who commands Ophelia to ‘set your entreatments at a higher rate’ (1.3.122), Egeus’s diction is replete with the language of commerce as he tries to trade his daughter: ‘and she isShow MoreRelatedSimilarities Between Hamlet And A Midsummer Nights Dream1324 Words   |  6 Pagesplot-drivers in the plays, Haml et and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the concept of a play within a play. This concept helps create suspension because both plays critically involve the topic death, but they also shed light unto Shakespeare as a poet because it plays with the idea of meta-theatre. Another similarity between the two plays is that they include a message regarding absurd love. â€Å"Pyramus and Thisbe† focuses on two doomed lovers in a comical way, whereas â€Å"The Mousetrap† in Hamlet doesn’t address theRead MoreEssay on Human Nature in Hamlet and a Midsummer Nights Dream1314 Words   |  6 Pagesthe famous playwright, William Shakespeare. In both Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare exhibits how love can control a person. To understand how love controls a person, one must understand that human nature is the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans. All humans have exhibit love in one way or another, which explains how human nature relates t o the controlling aspect of love. In Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, conflicts between loyalty to family and friends, lackRead MoreSimilarities And Differences Between Hamlet And A Midsummer Nights Dream1834 Words   |  8 Pages One of the reoccurring plot-drivers in the plays, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the notion of a play within a play. This concept helps build suspension because both plays critically involve the topic of eternal rest, but they also shed light unto Shakespeare as a poet because it plays with the idea of meta-theatre. It is the concept of mirroring other characters, and this is prominent in both plays. Another similarity between the two plays is that they include a message regarding absurdRead MoreThe Antagonist, Shakespeare1405 Words   |  6 Pagesantagonists can be especially exciting.†(Hansen) Shakespeare develops his antagonists in a way that makes them interesting to the audience and does so especially well in his plays Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet. Each play has an antagonist, or something near one in the case of Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the villains can be very different from one another and strikingly alike depending on the situation. Shakespeare’s creation of profound antagonists helps the audience to identify withRead MoreEssay on Compare and Contrast Comedy and Tragedy914 Words   |  4 PagesCompare and Contrast Comedy and Tragedy In a comparison of comedy and tragedy, I will begin by looking at narrative. The narration in a comedy often involves union and togetherness as we see in the marriage scene at the end of Midsummers Night Dream. William Hazlitt tells us that one can also expect incongruities, misunderstandings, and contradictions. I am reminded of the play The Importance of Being Ernest and the humor by way of mistaken identity. Sigmund Freud tells us to expect excessRead MoreModern-Day Adaptations of Shakespearian Plays3263 Words   |  14 Pages Two Shakespearian plays that have been adapted many times are A Midsummer Nights Dream and Hamlet. Both plays deal with the difference between reality and the semblance of reality and the madness that can occur if we confuse the two. While A Midsummer Nights Dream deals with the reality-distorting drug known as love, Hamlet is about accepting artifice for reality. Two interesting adaptations of A Midsummer Nights Dream are the 1999 film directed by Michael Hoffman and the issue by NeilRead MoreDefining The Terms Renaissance And Humanism875 Words   |  4 Pageswell-known poet of all time, wrote thirty-seven plays during his lifetime, according to the Internet Shakespeare Editions article â€Å"Fast Facts about Shakespeare†. Notably, some of his most famous works are Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, a Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Julius Caesar (Internet Shakespeare Editions). 5. What is the setting of Romeo and Juliet? According to Romeo and Juliet (Modern) by William Shakespeare, the setting of William Shakespeare s’ famous play Romeo and Juliet liesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Play A Midsummer Night s Dream1558 Words   |  7 PagesTo Quote Hamlet, Act Three, Scene Three, Line Eighty-Seven, â€Å"No.† (An analyzation of true love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) Examples of true love in literature can be found in a myriad of oeuvres and opuses. It is extremely popular in the contemporary era to include romance in a novel. An exemplary case of an instance of true love in modern writing would be the affiliation of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully in George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. These two characters share an intense romanceRead MoreMetatheatre in a Midsummer Nights Dream1805 Words   |  8 PagesMETATHEATRE IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (SHAKESPEARE). The term metatheatre is used to refer to any instance in which a play draws attention to itself as a play, rather than pretending to be a representation of â€Å"reality.† Various uses of metatheatrical devices can be found in the works of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare’s favorite such devices is the â€Å"play-within-a-play.† With this device, the theatre audience finds itself watching an audience (on stage) watching a playRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare and Mythology Essay552 Words   |  3 Pagesmagic help to build the imagery and world each story creates. Shakespeare catered to the beliefs during the Elizabethan Era by using these mythical characters to draw the reader deeper into his stories. In A Midsummer Nights Dream Shakespeare used several fairies to differeniate between the dream world and the real world. The king of the fairies, Oberon had the power to help or hurt human beings. He was commonly known as the Dwarf King. Oberon made his first appearance in Huon de Bordeaux, an old French