William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was
the greatest dramatist of English Literature during Elizabethan Age. His most
famous works are- A Midsummer Night’s dream, The Merchant of Venice,
Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, As You Like It, Hamlet etc. Dryden remarks,
Shakespeare
was the man of all modern and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most
comprehensive soul.
Ben Jonson also quotes, He was
not of an age but for all times.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream a romantic comedy was probably
written and performed in 1590s. It has lot of love, fun, laughter and also
fairies. Shakespeare emphasises the fairies non-human status by making them
speak mostly in couplets which are farthest from ordinary human speech. The
play is interpreted in different way that is psychoanalytically, historically
and according to its poetry.
The fairies are the unusual
characters in the play. The time when Shakespeare wrote this play nearly
everyone believed in the existence of supernatural creatures. As they believed
the witches of Macbeth, similarly they believed the fairies of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream. In both cases the supernatural powers are
liked by the mortal world playing provocative roles. ‘Puck’ an odd creature
from fairy world is very mischievous. He plays pranks on innocent people and is
also called as ‘Robin goodfellow’.
When Puck was asked to put the love
juice in the eyes of Demetrius for Helena, he made a mistake which was not
sinister but genuine. He poured the love juice in Lysander’s eyes and thus
arise confusion and anger. As a result, both Demetrius and Lysander ran after
Helena to express their love leaving back Hermia. This makes Hermia irrelevant
and rose to rivalry against Helena. This can be seen in the following lines:
Hermia: You juggler! You
canker-blossom! You thief of love! What have you come by night and stolen my
love’s heart from me?
Helena: Fine, I ‘faith! Have you no
modesty, no maiden shame, no touch of bashfulness?
What will you hear…Impatient answers
from my gentle tongue.
Puck is also the one who enchants the
weaver, Bottom, turning his head into that of a donkey, and much to King
Oberon’s amusement, when Titania awakes under the magic spell; it is the
donkey-headed weaver with whom she falls madly in love. Puck also plays provocative
role in arising anger between Oberon and Titania. On the command of Oberon, he
stole the boy child under Titania’s charge; thus, making fun of her for not
giving due attention to Oberon. As a result, Oberon and Titania are locked in
rivalry.
These tricks create the provocative
situations in the play, but no one is harmed and everything ends well. In fact,
no story in the play exit without the presence of the fairies and the magic
they provide.
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