THE WORLD OF FAIRIES

As the title itself says, A Midsummer Night's Dream is a sort of 'dream'. In fact, most action takes place at night in the moonlight, the characters continuously fall asleep and dream, they do not control their thoughts and words, but act under the influence of illusion and enchantment.

However, as the other part of the title suggests, A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play pervaded with 'superstition'; on Midsummer Night (24th June) herbs were thought to have special virtues and fairies were believed to be more powerful. The eve of May Day, during which most of the play is set, was also fitted to the supernatural events which take place in the wood, because on that night as well, magic was supposed to be practised. The form of the 'supernatural' employed in the play is represented by the fairies. Shakespeare used them in an original way, mixing them freely with mortals and making them responsible for the wonderful complication and interferences which take place throughout the play. In creating these aery beings, he drew inspiration from the Greek nymphs and fauns and changed the repulsive, evil fairies of the Elizabethans into mischievous, but benevolent creatures. These fairies are immortal, they can change their appearance or vanish at will, they move very fast without constraints of time and space. They also influence the weather, and their quarrels can have disastrous effects on the climate. They share mortal activities such as eating, drinking, dancing and singing. They are especially associated with flowers. Their presence in the play provides the link to connect the three worlds: the one of the lovers, the workmen's world and the magic world of the wood. Oberon is the king of the fairies, Titania is their beautiful queen, and Puck the court jester who performs malicious tricks.

The name of the little fairies- Peasblossom, Mustard-seed, Cobweb, Moth- confirm that Shakespeare's use of the supernatural in the play was lively and entertaining.

Another main theme of A Midsummer Night's Dream is 'love', seen as an unpredictable, inconstant feeling. Connected with it there is the theme of 'change and transformation', embodied by the character of Bottom, the weaver who is transformed into an ass and with whom Titania falls in love. Thus, love is represented as the result of enchantment, rather than the effect of deep passion and affection. The sense of romance is enhanced by the constant presence of the moon, which provides a background to almost all the action in the play.

Nature is a rich source of imagery with the varieties of flowers and animals which inhabit the wood.

STRUCTURE

A Midsummer Night's Dream represented a masterpiece within Shakespeare's early comedies because of the blending into one story of a series of plots that are apparently unrelated. Speech varies according to the characters involved: Teseo and Ippolita speak in blank verse; the lovers in, and even the play Pyramus and Thisbe has a metre of its own.

Moreover, songs are interspersed here and there in the play adding on the atmosphere of ; the fairies usually employ rhymed verse, but use blank verse when they quarrel; the rustic actors use prose enchantment. The special introduction of music and dance is an element taken from the tradition of the masque, as is the farcical interlude of the play-with-the play.

This device has the purpose of parodying the main story by replacing delicate and poetic feelings with rudeness and comedy. Moreover, it enables the author to comment on artistic creation and especially on dramatic art.