A Midsummer Night's Dream
Some optimists have compared love to a blissful dream, but Shakespeare's clever intrigue shows what a confusing nightmare love can be. As the audience ponders the revelry they have just seen as the play comes to an ending, Puck steps forth to conclude the confusion:
If we shadows have offended
Think but this, and all is mended
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear
And this weak and idle theme
No more yielding than a dream.
The audience is left in as much ambiguity as felt throughout the performance, appropriately ending the play in a puzzling state of confusion. The theme of night activities and sleep-runs are found throughout the play. The majority of the plot takes place at night, even the rehearsal for the farcical play. All the mishaps occur during the midnight hours and the confusion is not cleared up until the next morning when the four lovers are discovered.
This setting of night allows for the audience to drift......
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Approximate Word Count: 1849
Approximate Pages: 8 (260 words per double-spaced page) |