Reading and interpretation - Essay Example

John Russell Brown in his book, “Shakespeare and His Comedies” mentions very rightly about the comedies of Shakespeare, “Shakespeare’s early comedies up to and including ‘Twelfth Night’ have been described as ‘natural’, ‘true to nature’, ‘good-natured’; they have been called joyful, golden, wise; they have been praised for their gaiety, variety, and healthful sanity, and praised above all for their humanity–a characteristic at once enigmatical and profound”1. And, one of the foremost happily resolved and romantic comedies by the greatest playwright of all time is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Probably written between 1590 and 1596, set at the background of the forest inhabited by the domineering fairies of the play, it captivates proceedings which encircled the marriage between Duke of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta. The play is one of the most popular plays of Shakespeare and is performed across the globe for the enticement, magic and romance imbibed within the plot of the play. A Close Reading: A Mid Summer Night’s Dream At the outset of the play, a navigation through the plot of the comedy might give a feeling that the play centres round the adventures of the two couples of Athenian lovers and a group of novice actors six in number who are greatly manipulated by the fairies who are responsible for the manifestation of the magical element in the play.

Exuberant poetry, impeccable use of rhetoric and emphatic expressions at proper time builds the tone of the play extremely enchanting. However, there is very limited scope to state the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ a straightforward romantic comedy. A close introspection between the lines of the play confronts its readers with issues like love, complications with time, loss of individual entity, problem related with sexual ambiguity and staunch subjects like feminist bent of the play are latent within the main plot of the play.

The play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is magical and the magic is largely imparted in the play through the fairies. The poetic imagination of the playwright manifested through his indelible use of words launches the romantic comedy at a cosmic realm. Also, quite noteworthy at this point is the role of the minor characters which are so effectively synchronised within the main text of the play that those characters are not left limited with their role of being a catalyst to the main action of the play but also assumes characteristics of sub-plot within the play.

Critics consider Puck as the most important character in the play2. His humorous and mischievous nature sets many action of the play with magic. His intended pranks on the other characters of the play and misfortunate mistakes set the plot of the play into action. The role of Puck pervades the entire play till the closure of the action in the last scene as well. Act V scene I lines 425-440 projects one of the most eminent speeches of Puck. The extract runs like this: “Puck: If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have put slumber’d here While these visions did appear3.

The playwright meticulously intends to deliver the play’s mischievous epilogue that would demand the greatest applauds from the play’s most witty and mischievous character. The closing extract of the play is decked up with paradoxes and element of surprise that is completely coherent with the mood of the entire