A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. Dictating the stories of multiple different groups of people of very different classes, Shakespeare's play focuses on groups whose lives collide in every which way. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a great example of a comedy that enhances the audience's view of the world because it can appeal to so many different audiences. In the play, there is everything from magic and spells to royalty and manipulation, all that moves the characters forwards. The play is a bit different from a typical comedy, however, because the "main" character is not so simple to be determined. in King Lear, Lear himself was the hero, but in this play, it can be argued that many characters would appear to be the sympathetic central character. Although all of these interpretations are merited and credible, I personally believe that Puck is the most like the sympathetic central character that a comedy requires. Puck brings characters together and ultimately, is one of the most powerful characters in the entire play. A Midsummer Night's Dream also has the happy ending that is necessary to be a comedy. The four main lovers end up in two happy pairs and the magical and mischievous couple also end up together. Everyone ends the play in happy moods and little of their imminent fates is left to be desired. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream enhances our view of the world through its depiction of connections, conflict, and eventual resolution. Puck, as I stated before, has much of the power in the play, and while he makes a few mistakes, he is eventually able to correct them and give everyone the happy ending that they deserve. At first, it seems like there may not be much of a message to be gained from this play besides "don't use magic to manipulate people," but it actually represents manipulation and trickery as a whole. Even in its most simple and seemingly harmless form, any kind of trickery can be detrimental, and A Midsummer Night's Dream warns of these dangers. Another more obvious message has to do with love and affection. Sometimes, the person that has the best first impression and that someone thinks may be the one for them is not actually a good fit at all. Finally, touching on the magic aspect and referring back to other books that we have read so far in the year, appearance and reality and how seeing is not truly believing. The appearance of something good may turn out to be the complete opposite and vise versa. I believe that A Midsummer Night's Dream is an amazing example of a comedy that is a meaningful work of art, not only because of the language that Shakespeare used, but the meaning that he put into that language as well.