A Look into "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Why it's my Favorite Shakespeare Play
I first read A Midsummer Night's Dream in my 11th grade English class where the narrative and story told completely enthralled me. I fell deep into the wild realm Shakespeare was creating with vibrant words and vivid imagery.
Shakespeare creates a space where an insane reality is suddenly imaginable.
Shakespeare takes us on a fantastical journey of love, tragedy (as always), and overall exquisite fun. The play is considered a comedy because even when you feel like crying or screaming, you still want to laugh at the satirical humor. The play can be confusing, as it centers around five separate plots that somehow all intertwine to connect to the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. Before continuing, let's break down the characters and their love interests. The first character we see is Hermia who is deathly in love with Lysander, an unwanted love interest for Hermia. Hermia is demanded to marry Demetrius throughout the play, a strong-willed, typical male of the time. Although nothing about this play is typical. One of the most important characters is the Duke or King, if you will, Theseus who is marrying Hippolyta. Another important character is Helena, a desperate woman in love with Demetrius with no hope in sight. There are plenty of other characters with interesting storylines, but three more important characters are Puck, a mischievous fairy-like creature, Titania, Queen of the fairy world, and Oberon, King of the fairy world.
To make things short, Puck, in his devilish ways creates a plan for love to prevail only to end up having both Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with the same girl. Although the plot goes much deeper, I would love to leave it open to viewers to read, as it's worth it!
For me, literature, words, writing, etc. is an escape, and more often than not, Shakespeare is where I go to find tranquility and passion. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that made me absolutely fall in love with Shakespeare and his ability to turn words into a somewhat imaginable reality. Shakespeare's rigid portrayal of love and how blinding it can be through a tale of absolute chaos is almost calming. It takes absurd fiction and makes it seem like real life because the underlying message is so applicable to our everyday lives, which is something that makes Shakespeare so admirable.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite play because it doesn't take a typical historical or romantic plot/storyline, instead, it takes everything you think you know about love and throws it into a whirlwind, or blender for that matter of illusion, nightmare, and fun. Without continuing to give away too much about the plot, the play takes a stance that is overly modernized for the time (the 1600s) and allows you to feel totally lost while totally at ease. The play sucks you in and spits you out fifty times over, which seems more chaotic than ever, but as most films and theater have taught us, being unhinged is more fun than not (respectfully speaking).
My final point is to stress that literature can often be an escape from reality. I understand Shakespeare is not liked by all and there are plenty of avid non-Shakespeare readers out there, but this play offers an outlet of distraction. Shakespeare can often be seen as hard to read because of the overly emotional nature of his pieces, but, in juxtaposition to that point, A Midsummer Night's Dream creates a joyful and often delirious environment where creativity is consistently explored.
Disclaimer: This is an opinion blog. Anything said here are my own opinions. Any facts presented have sources attached and included.
Sources:
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/plays-of-shakespeare-gm184986309-18699039